This article lists most power stations that run on tidal power ; both tidal range (impoundment via a barrage) and tidal stream (harnessing currents). Since tidal stream generators are an immature technology, no technology has yet emerged as the clear standard. A large variety of designs are being experimented with, with some very close to large scale deployment. Hence, the following page lists stations of different technologies. While only a few schemes are operational or under construction, many more have been proposed, however some of these plans may never be constructed.
The following table lists tidal power stations that are in operation:
The following table lists tidal power stations that are currently under construction as of the date in each cited source.
Station | Capacity (MW) | Country | Location | Start | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Morlais (West Anglesey Demonstration Zone) | 240 MW potential | United Kingdom Wales | 53°18′23″N4°43′00″W / 53.30639°N 4.71667°W | Consented 2021 1st tidal device 2026 | [12] |
The following table lists tidal power stations that are at a proposal stage. Some of these scheme may not go ahead, but have not formally been cancelled.
Station | Capacity (MW) | Turbines | Country | Location | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
EURO-TIDES project | 9.6 | 4 × Orbital O2 (tbc) | United Kingdom | Fall of Warness, Orkney | [13] |
Garorim Bay Tidal Power Station | 520 | South Korea | Garorim Bay | [9] | |
Gulf of Kutch Project | 50 | India | Gulf of Kutch | [14] [15] | |
Incheon Tidal Power Station | 818 or 1,320 | South Korea | 37°29′48″N126°20′32″E / 37.49667°N 126.34222°E | [9] [16] | |
Mezenskaya Tidal Power Plant | 24,000 | Russia | Mezen Bay | [17] | |
Penzhin Tidal Power Plant Project | 89,100 | Penzhin Bay | |||
Seastar project | 4 | 16 × 250 kW Nova Innovation | United Kingdom | Fall of Warness, Orkney | [18] [19] |
Severn Barrage | 8,640 | 51°21′30″N03°06′00″W / 51.35833°N 3.10000°W | |||
Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay | 320 | Swansea Bay | [20] | ||
Tugurskaya Tidal Power Plant | 3,640 | Russia | Okhotsk Sea | [21] |
These schemes were proposed, but will not now go ahead in the form originally proposed because the developer has ceased trading, the technology is no longer being developed, or the consent has lapsed.
Station | Capacity (MW) | Country | Location | Status | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alderney tidal plant | 400 | Guernsey | 49°42′52″N2°12′19″W / 49.71444°N 2.20528°W | OpenHydro ceased trading | [22] [23] |
Kaipara Tidal Power Station | 200 | [[New Zealand|]] | 36°25′S174°10′E / 36.417°S 174.167°E | Project paused in 2013 and consent lapsed in 2021 | [24] |
Pempa’q In-Stream Tidal Energy Project | 1.26 | Canada | 45°20′36″N64°23′34″W / 45.34333°N 64.39278°W | Development halted following permitting issues | [25] [26] [27] [28] |
Skerries Tidal Stream Array | 10.5 | United Kingdom | 53°26′N04°36′W / 53.433°N 4.600°W approx. | MCT device no longer being developed | [29] |
Station | Capacity (MW) | Country | Location | Years | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Annapolis Royal Generating Station | 20 | Canada | 44°45′07″N65°30′40″W / 44.75194°N 65.51111°W | 1984-2019 | [30] |
Minas Passage OpenHydro | 2 | Minas Passage | 2016-2018 | [26] [31] | |
Eastern Scheldt Barrier Tidal Power Plant | 1.25 (5×0.25) | The Netherlands | 51°36′19″N03°40′59″E / 51.60528°N 3.68306°E | 2015-2023 | [32] [33] |
Strangford Lough SeaGen | 1.2 | United Kingdom | 54°22′04″N05°32′40″W / 54.36778°N 5.54444°W | 2008-2019 | [34] |
Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd is a UKAS accredited test and research center focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands, UK. The centre provides developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in wave and tidal conditions.
A tidal stream generator, often referred to as a tidal energy converter (TEC), is a machine that extracts energy from moving masses of water, in particular tides, although the term is often used in reference to machines designed to extract energy from the run of a river or tidal estuarine sites. Certain types of these machines function very much like underwater wind turbines and are thus often referred to as tidal turbines. They were first conceived in the 1970s during the oil crisis.
MeyGen is a tidal stream energy plant in the north of Scotland. The project is located in the Pentland Firth, specifically the Inner Sound between the Island of Stroma and the Scottish mainland.
SIMEC Atlantis Energy is a renewable energy company. It is incorporated in Singapore, but its operational headquarters are in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom. Initially, it was a developer of the tidal power turbines and projects, but after becoming a part of GFG Alliance it has expanded its business also to the waste-to-energy and hydropower.
Orbital Marine Power is a Scottish renewable energy company focused on the development and global deployment of its pioneering floating turbine technology. The O2 is Orbital's first commercial turbine and represents the culmination of more than 15 years of world leading product development in the UK. The 74 m long turbine is expected to operate in the waters off Orkney for the next 15–20 years with the capacity to meet the annual electricity demand of around 2,000 UK homes with clean, predictable power from the fast-flowing waters while offsetting approximately 2,200 tonnes of CO2 production per year. In a further ground-breaking element of the project, the O2 will provide power to the European Marine Energy Centre's onshore electrolyser to generate green hydrogen that will be used to demonstrate decarbonisation of wider energy requirements.
In 2019, Wales generated 27% of its electricity consumption as renewable electricity, an increase from 19% in 2014. The Welsh Government set a target of 70% by 2030. In 2019, Wales was a net exporter of electricity. It produced 27.9 TWh of electricity while only consuming 14.7 TWh. The natural resource base for renewable energy is high by European standards, with the core sources being wind, wave, and tidal. Wales has a long history of renewable energy: in the 1880s, the first house in Wales with electric lighting powered from its own hydro-electric power station was in Plas Tan y Bwlch, Gwynedd. In 1963, the Ffestiniog Power Station was constructed, providing a large scale generation of hydroelectricity, and in November 1973, the Centre for Alternative Technology was opened in Machynlleth.
Morlais is a grid connected tidal stream energy project located in the Irish Sea just off the west coast of Holy Island, Anglesey, Wales. It is being developed by the social enterprise agency Menter Môn. The site has the potential for up to 240 MW of renewable energy to be harnessed from the tides, using a mixture of seabed mounted and floating tidal energy devices from different companies.
Nova Innovation Ltd is a Scottish developer of tidal stream turbines, based in Leith, Edinburgh. They deployed their first 30 kW turbine in 2014. Since then, they have developed and tested a 100 kW seabed mounded two-bladed horizontal-axis tidal stream turbine, and plan to scale this up in future. Up to six of these turbines have been deployed simultaneously in the Bluemull Sound, Shetland since 2016.
Many tidal stream generators have been developed over the years to harness the power of tidal currents flowing around coastlines. These are also called tidal stream turbines (TST), tidal energy converters (TEC), or marine hydro-kinetic (MHK) generation. These turbines operate on a similar principle to wind turbines, but are designed to work in a fluid approximately 800 times more dense than air which is moving at a slower velocity. Note that tidal barrages or lagoons operate on a different principle, generating power by impounding the rising and falling tide.
Minesto AB is a Swedish developer of electricity producing tidal kite turbines, based in Gothenburg. They also have a manufacturing base in Holyhead, North Wales, and a test facility at Portaferry, Northern Ireland.
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