Comparisons of tidal power stations around the

world

• 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

Existing tidal power stations and those under

construction

La Rance, France

• 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

Sihwa Lake, South Korea

• 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

Annapolis Royal Generating Station, Canada

• 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

Jiangxia tidal power station, China

• 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

Incheon, South Korea – currently under construction

• 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

Planned / proposed tidal power stations

Mersey barrage, United Kingdom

• 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

Severn barrage, United Kingdom

• 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

• 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

The proposed Wyre tidal barrageAn image representing what the barrage may

look like

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

Skerries tidal farm, United Kingdom

• 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

Garorim Bay, South Korea

• 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

Penzhina Bay, Russia

• 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

Mezen Bay, Russia

• 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

Tugur Bay, Russia

• 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

Swansea bay tidal lagoon, United Kingdom

• 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

Dalupiri Blue Energy Project, Phillipines

• 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

Gulf of Kutch, India

• 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

• 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

Thanks for listening

Any questions?