Source: Adapted from National Energy Education Development Project (public domain) Tidal turbines China, Russia, and South Korea all have smaller tidal power plants. The next largest tidal power plant is in Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia, Canada, with 20 MW of electricity generation capacity. The oldest and second-largest operating tidal power plant is in La Rance, France, with 240 MW of electricity generation capacity. The Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea has the largest electricity generation capacity at 254 megawatts (MW). Several tidal power barrages operate around the world. They can also affect navigation and recreation. Tidal barrages can change the tidal level in the basin and increase turbidity (the amount of matter in suspension in the water). A two-way tidal power system generates electricity from both the incoming and outgoing tides.Ī potential disadvantage of tidal power is the effect a tidal station can have on plants and animals in estuaries of the tidal basin. Sluice gates on the barrage control water levels and flow rates to allow the tidal basin to fill on the incoming high tides and to empty through an electricity turbine system on the outgoing ebb tide. The barrage is installed across an inlet of an ocean bay or lagoon that forms a tidal basin. One type of tidal energy system uses a structure similar to a dam called a barrage. Two places in the United States with potential for tidal power are the Cook Inlet of Alaska, which has the second-highest tidal range in North America, and several places in Maine. The United States does not have any commercially operating tidal energy power plants, although several demonstrations projects are in various stages of development.
Producing tidal energy economically requires a tidal range of at least 10 feet. Today, there are tidal energy systems that generate electricity. People in Europe harnessed this movement of water to operate grain mills more than a 1,000 years ago. In some places, tides cause water levels near the shore to rise and fall up to 40 feet. The gravitational pull of the moon and sun along with the rotation of the earth create tides in the oceans.
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