Tidal power or tidal energy is harnessed by converting energy from tides into useful forms of power, mainly electricity using various methods.
The Severn Barrage is any of a range of ideas for building a barrage from the English coast to the Welsh coast over the Severn tidal estuary. Ideas for damming or barraging the Severn estuary have existed since the 19th century. The building of such a barrage would constitute an engineering project comparable with some of the world's biggest. The purposes of such a project have typically been one or several of: transport links, flood protection, harbour creation, or tidal power generation. In recent decades it is the latter that has grown to be the primary focus for barrage ideas, and the others are now seen as useful side-effects. Following the Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study (2008–10), the British government concluded that there was no strategic case for building a barrage but to continue to investigate emerging technologies. In June 2013 the Energy and Climate Change Select Committee published its findings after an eight-month study of the arguments for and against the Barrage. MPs said the case for the barrage was unproven. They were not convinced the economic case was strong enough and said the developer, Hafren Power, had failed to answer serious environmental and economic concerns.
New Zealand has large ocean energy resources but does not yet generate any power from them. TVNZ reported in 2007 that over 20 wave and tidal power projects are currently under development. However, not a lot of public information is available about these projects. The Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association was established in 2006 to "promote the uptake of marine energy in New Zealand". According to their 10 February 2008 newsletter, they have 59 members. However, the association doesn't list its members.
Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station is the world's largest tidal power installation, with a total power output capacity of 254 MW. When completed in 2011, it surpassed France's 240 MW Rance Tidal Power Station, which was the world's largest for 45 years. It is operated by the Korea Water Resources Corporation.
EDF Renewables is a wholly owned subsidiary of the French utility EDF Group, specializing in renewable energy production. As an integrated operator, the Group develops and finances the construction of renewable energy facilities, and manages operations and maintenance for its own account and for third parties.
A tidal barrage is a dam-like structure used to capture the energy from masses of water moving in and out of a bay or river due to tidal forces.
The Grand'Maison Dam is an embankment dam on L'Eau d'Olle, a tributary of the Romanche River. It is located in Vaujany of Isère within the French Alps. The primary purpose of the dam is to serve as the upper reservoir for a pumped-storage hydroelectric scheme where Lac du Verney located lower in the valley is the lower reservoir. The dam was constructed between 1978 and 1985 with its power station being commissioned in 1987. With an installed capacity of 1,800 MW, it is the largest hydroelectric power station in France.
Le Pouget is a hydroelectric power station located at Le Truel, on the River Tarn, in the department of Aveyron in France. It uses the difference in height between the artificial lakes of Villefranche-de-Panat and Pareloup on the Lévézou plateau and the river 500 m below. It ranks as the 16th largest station in France. It is part of the complex system that connects the rivers Alrance, Ceor, Viaur, Bage and Violou with the Tarn.
Under its commitment to the EU renewable energy directive of 2009, France has a target of producing 23% of its total energy needs from renewable energy by 2020. This figure breaks down to renewable energy providing 33% of energy used in the heating and cooling sector, 27% of the electricity sector and 10.5% in the transport sector. By the end of 2014, 14.3% of France's total energy requirements came from renewable energy, a rise from 9.6% in 2005.
The Bissorte Dam is a gravity dam in the Maurienne Valley, in Savoie, France, about 7 km (4.3 mi) east of Valmeinier. It was built from 1930 to 1935 to supply a hydroelectric plant capable of generating 75 megawatts (MW) of power.
The Montézic Power Station is a pumped-storage power plant near the commune of Montézic in northern Aveyron, France. Its 910 megawatt capacity ranks it second among France's main pumped-storage facilities, and is the only one situated on the Central Massif.
La Coche Power Station, also known as Sainte-Hélène la Coche, is a hydroelectric power plant in the commune of Aigueblanche, in Savoie, France. It is one of the six main pumped-storage hydropower plants in France.
The Bâtiment des Forces motrices (BFM), French for "Power plant building", is the power house of a former hydro power plant and waterworks in Geneva called Usine des Forces Motrices, later Usine des Forces Motrices de la Coulouvrenière.
Xavier Ract-Madoux was a French hydraulician. He joined Electricité de France (EDF) in 1947 and remained with them for the rest of his working life. He became Controller General of EDF in 1973, and later became a vice-director. He was a member of the Société Hydrotechnique de France and the General Secretary of the French Committee of Large Dams.
François Lempérière is a French civil engineer who built and/or designed 15 dams in France and other countries. He invented solutions such as Fusegates, Piano Keys Weir, Twin Dams and Tidal Gardens. He received his education at Ecole Polytechnique and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
The Moukoukoulou Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Bouenza River in the Republic of the Congo, built by Chinese technicians and commissioned in 1979 to supply energy to Pointe-Noire. It is the main source of power to the south of the country. Due to fluctuating water levels and to poor maintenance of the plant and transmission network it often delivers far less than its nominal 74 megawatts.
The Mersey Barrage is a proposed scheme for building a tidal barrage across the Mersey Estuary, between Liverpool and the Wirral Peninsula, England.
The Rizzanese Reservoir is a reservoir in the Corse-du-Sud department of France on the island of Corsica. It stores water for irrigation, and supplies the largest hydroelectric power plant in Corsica, with installed capacity of 55 MW.
HydroQuest SAS is a French developer of vertical-axis turbines, generating electricity from river and tidal currents.
