Tidal Power Energy Renewable Energy in Future Fan Zou

Tidal Power History One of the oldest forms of energy, tide mills in use on the Spanish, French and British coasts, date back to 787 A.D. The first tidal power station began working in France in 1965 More and more commercial-scale tidal barrage was put in service

Why there are tides

Tides in physics Motions of Earth, Moon and Sun Renewable resource Contains extreme amounts of potential energy Requires large tidal difference for generating power Affects environment less than other fuels and gasses Might be a solution of current energy problems

ADVANTAGES ADVANTAGES Renewable resource, it needs no fuel to maintain, and free of charge Little pollution, unlike fossil fuels, it produces no greenhouse gases or other waste It will protect a large stretch of coastline against damage from high storm tides More efficient than wind Predictable source of energy, it is independent of weather and climate change and follows the predictable relationship of the lunar orbit

Disadvantages Very expensive to build and maintain Barrage has environmental affects Fish and plant migration Silt and mud deposits Waste and sewage blocks Technology is not fully developed Only provides power for around 10 hours each day, when the tide is actually moving in or out

How it works First generation, barrage-style tidal power plants Works by building Barrage to contain water after high tide, then water has to pass through a turbine to return to low tide and generating electricity Sites in France (La Rance), Canada (Annapolis), and Russia

Bulb Turbine Rim Turbine Tubular Turbine

Category of generation Ebb generation Generation occurs as the tidal ebbs Flood generation Generation occurs as the tidal floods Two-way generation Generation occurs both as the tidal ebbs and floods

Two-basin schemes

Second-generation tidal power plants Barrage not need, limiting total costs Two types- vertical axis and horizontal axis Harness the energy of tidal streams More efficient because they allow for energy production on both the ebbing and flooding tides One site has potential to equal the generating power of 3 nuclear power plants

Second-generation tidal power plants

Representative tidal projects La Rance (France)

Representative tidal projects Annapolis Royal (Canada)

Representative tidal projects Jiangxia (China)

Conclusion & discussion Comparing with wind power energy and solar energy, tidal power seems not a big sustainable resource We have to make the cost lower, so that it can be built in a large scale Turbine has to be more effective, technology of its working process should be fully developed We should never neglect the environment impacts of tidal power, we do need a way to solve the current problems.

Thank you!!