Alternative energy

Tidal power-stations
 What is a Tide ?

• Tides are the rising and falling of Earth's

ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of
the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans.
 What is the Tidal force ?

• The tidal force is the

vectorial difference
between the
gravitational force of
the Earth and the
gravitational force of
the Moon.
 About tidal power

• Tidal power, sometimes

called tidal energy, is a form
of hydropower that exploits
the movement of water caused
by tidal currents or the rise
and fall in sea levels due to the
tides.
• Although not yet widely used,
tidal power has potential for
future electricity generation
and is more predictable than
wind energy and solar power.
History of Tidal power stations
• An early attempt to build a
tidal power plant took place at
Aber-Wrac'h in the Finistere in
1925, but due to financial
problems, it was abandoned in
1930.
• Tidal mills have long existed
in areas affected by tides. In
Europe, tide mills have been
used for over a thousand
years, mainly for grinding
grains.
Principle of tidal power stations
• 1. Barrages make use of the potential energy from the difference in
height (or head) between high and low tides. Barrages suffer from the
problems of very high civil infrastructure costs, few viable sites
globally and environmental issues.
• 2. Tidal stream systems
make use of the kintetic
energy from the moving
water currents to power
turbines, in a similar way
to wind mills use moving
air. This method is
gaining in popularity
because of the lower cost
and lower ecological
impact.
Examples of tidal power stations
• La Rance: The first and largest tidal plant in operation is the
240 MW plant built for commercial production across the La
Rance estuary in north-western France between 1961 and
1967. The tidal power plant has 24 bulb-type Kaplan
turbines with a rated capacity of 10 MW each.
• Annapolis: The second commercially operated tidal power
plant built in 1984 in the Western hemisphere is a 18 MW
plant at Annapolis Royal on the Nova Scotia coast of the Bay
of Fundy in Canada.
• Other sites: Other plants include the 400 kW
experimental unit at Kislaya Guna, built in 1968 in
Russia on the Barents Sea, and the 3.4 MW Jianxia
station built in China between 1980 and 1986. Most
of the technically available tidal resources in Europe
are in the UK. The site in the Severn estuary in south-
western England represents a potential of 8 GW and
has been the object of several feasibility studies.
Large potential also exists in northern France, at the
Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy.
Advantages of using tidal power:
• Predictable source of “green" energy during lifetime of
barrage
• It produces no greenhouse gases or other waste; it
needs no fuel.
• Not expensive to maintain.
• Tidal energy has an efficiency of 80% in converting the
potential energy of the water into electricity
• Vertical-axis tidal generators may be joined together in
series to create a ‘tidal fence’ capable of generating
electricity on a scale comparable to the largest existing
fossil fuelbased, hydroelectric and nuclear energy
generation facilities
Disadvantages of using tidal power:

• A barrage across an estuary is very expensive to

build, and affects a very wide area - the
environment is changed for many miles
upstream and downstream
• it provides power for around 10 hours each day,
when the tide is actually moving in or out, which
is not very much
• Existing ecosystems would be heavily altered,
with new species moving in and perhaps
dominating old species
• Tidal power schemes have a high capital cost
 Global enviromental impact

• A tidal power scheme is a long-term source of

electricity. A proposal for the Severn Barrage, if
built, has been projected to save 18 million
tonnes of coal per year of operation. This
decreases the output of greenhouse gases into
the atmosphere.
• If fossil fuel resource is likely to decline during
the 21st century, as predicted by Hubbert peak
theory, tidal power is one of the alternative
source of energy that will need to be developed
to satisfy the human demand for energy.
Made by: Grec Marcel
Topliceanu Liviu