2. • Generating renewable energy is one of the biggest challenges the world
faces at the moment
• Unfortunately, renewable sources are intermittent, meaning that the energy
produced is not continuously available due to factors outside direct control
• However, out of these, tidal power is very reliable and extremely predictable
• It is also very cost efficient in the long run
• These are just some of the reasons why it is favourable to invest in tidal
power over wind power and solar power, etc
• Due to this, various countries are planning to build a number of tidal
barrages around many available sites
• The United Kingdom is tremendously fortunate in this case, as it has the
second highest tidal range in the world (behind Canada)!
• The next few slides will outline some of the current, planned and proposed
barrages around the UK and others worldwide
The reasoning behind the
construction of many tidal barrages
5. • Construction time: 3 years
• Total installed capacity: 240 MW
• Energy production cost: 1.5p per kWh
• Annual electricity generation: 540 GWh
• Construction cost: £81m
• Note that the Rance barrage was the first built world-
wide. It has been running very well for just under 50
years
La Rance, France
7. • Construction time: 8 years (however, made use of an
existing dam)
• Total installed capacity: 254 MW
• Energy production cost: 0.6p per kWh
• Annual electricity generation: 552 GWh
• Construction cost: £182m
• Note that the Sihwa Lake barrage is the latest and most
powerful tidal barrage to date
• Due to the huge success of the Sihwa Lake tidal barrage,
South Korea has planned to build various barrages
around the country!
Sihwa Lake, South Korea
9. • Construction time: 4 years
• Total installed capacity: 20MW
• Annual electricity generation: 50 GWh
• Construction cost: Unknown
• This is the only tidal generating station in the whole
of North America
Annapolis Royal Generating
Station, Canada
11. • Construction time: 7 years
• Total installed capacity: 3.2 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 6.5 GWh
• Construction cost: £1.2m
• This is the only tidal generating station in the whole
of China
• It is currently the fourth biggest tidal power station in
the world, but hugely behind the other plants
installed (i.e. La Rance has a 240MW capacity)
Jiangxia tidal power station,
China
13. • Construction time: 6 years, aimed to be completed in
2017
• Total installed capacity: 1320 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 2.41 TWh
• Construction cost: £2.3b
• When built, it will have the highest capacity of all the
tidal barrages in the world, 800 – 1320 MW
Incheon, South Korea –
currently under construction
16. • Construction estimate: 5 years
• Total installed capacity: 700 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 1.34 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: £3.5b
• This is one of the proposed barrages in the United
Kingdom, along with the Severn barrage
• However, the high capital cost is a huge problem
• Peel Energy has now announced it is unlikely to go
ahead with the project because of the high
construction costs
Mersey barrage, United
Kingdom
18. • Construction estimate: 14 years
• Total installed capacity: 8,640 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 15.6 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: £10b - £34b
• Supporters of the scheme argue that the tidal
barrage could generate 5% of the UK's electricity
• There has been some opposition to the scheme by
environmentalists and those who believe the capital
cost is too high
Severn barrage, United
Kingdom
19. • Climate Change Committee chairman Tim Yeo has
stated:
“The report does acknowledge that there is the potential
to generate energy here. Indeed, we suggest that it might
be worth exploring a smaller scheme initially where the
impact would be less dramatic.”
• It is clear that there is various opposition to a scheme
involving a large scale, expensive tidal barrage. A
smaller, cheaper alternative is needed!
• A perfect model for this would be the Wyre tidal barrage
Severn barrage, United
Kingdom
20. The proposed Wyre tidal
barrage
An image representing what the barrage may
look like
21. The proposed Wyre tidal
barrage
• Construction estimate: 3 years
• Total installed capacity: 61.4 MW
• Energy production cost estimation: 6.49p per kWh
• Annual electricity generation: 131 GWh
• Construction cost estimate: £200m
• At a hundredth of the cost of the Severn tidal barrage and
taking only 3 years to build, it is clear that the Wyre tidal
barrage is the ideal candidate for the first hydroelectric
tidal barrage in the UK
• Being coupled with an energy storage system makes this
proposal even more credible
23. • Construction estimate: 2 years
• Total installed capacity: 10 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 40 GWh
• Construction cost estimate: £70m
• This project, financed mainly by Siemens and partly
government funded, is planned to go ahead by the end of
this year, and is scheduled to be complete it 2015
• From this, it is clear that many small scale tidal projects
(this one being tidal stream) are planned to go ahead and
may be partly financed by the government
Skerries tidal farm, United
Kingdom
25. • Construction estimate: 5-6 years
• Total installed capacity: 520 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 950GWh
• Construction cost estimate: £590m
• Due to the huge success of the Sihwa lake tidal
barrage and the promising Incheon project, it has
also been suggested that a third site, Garorim Bay
could provide many benefits to South Korea
Garorim Bay, South Korea
27. • Construction estimate: Unknown
• Total installed capacity: 87 GW
• Annual electricity generation: 200 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: £200b
• This is by far the most powerful barrage proposed to
date, which would be around 10x as powerful as the
Severn barrage
Penzhina Bay, Russia
29. • Construction estimate: Unknown
• Total installed capacity: 15 GW
• Annual electricity generation: 45 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: Unknown
• The Russian Federation has approved the
foundation of Innovative Center of Tidal and Wave
Energy RusHydro LLC, which will be involved in the
building projects for the Severnaya and Mezenskaya
tidal power stations
Mezen Bay, Russia
31. • Construction estimate: 11 years
• Total installed capacity: 6,800 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 16.2 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: Unknown
• Demand for this energy is not likely. It seems that
their development will require cooperation with
neighbouring countries interested in importing power
from Russia
Tugur Bay, Russia
33. • Construction estimate: 3 years
• Total installed capacity: 240 MW
• Annual electricity generation: 400 GWh
• Construction cost estimate: £650m
• The tidal lagoon would be able to provide renewable
energy to 120,000 homes and would have a similar
lifetime of a tidal barrage of over 120 years
Swansea bay tidal lagoon,
United Kingdom
35. • Construction estimate: 25 years
• Total installed capacity: 2,200 MW
• The annual electricity generation: 4 TWh
• Construction cost estimate: £1.85b
• In 2001, the project was locked down due to a
constitutional ban on large contract undertakings
during transition periods
Dalupiri Blue Energy Project,
Phillipines
37. • Construction estimate: 2 years
• Total installed capacity: 50MW (could be extended to 200
MW)
• Annual electricity generation: 100 GWh
• Construction cost estimate: £99m
• The Indian government previously dropped the idea of
utilising tidal power, however, the idea has been revived
• It has identified two spots suitable for tidal power: the
Gulf of Kutch near Mandva, and in the Gulf of Khambhat
near Hazira. Together they have a storage capacity of
500MW
Gulf of Kutch, India
38. • Various projects abroad are planned to go ahead in South Korea, Russia etc
• However, projects in the United Kingdom are yet to begin, despite having a much
higher potential for tidal utilisation!
• This is because the Mersey and Severn tidal barrage proposals have opposition
by a number of groups
• The government usually doesn’t approve due to the high initial capital cost, even
though tidal barrages have a lifetime of over 120 years, which would yield a huge
overall return
• However, with the Wyre tidal barrage, the capital cost is 10x less than that of the
Mersey and 100x less than that of the Severn!
• Environmental issues are also a key matter, as mudflats on which birds feed may
be covered by the change in tide height. On the other hand, the ecosystem at La
Rance is thriving due to the barrage, as it provides cleaner and fresher water for
organisms which form the basis of ecosystems
• The environmental concerns are also not wide-scale spread, as the Wyre barrage
influences a much smaller area such that less wildlife will be affected
The future of tidal power in the
UK
