BY GREEN TEAM =)

Tidal energy
is a form of hydropower

that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power.

Tidal energy
the only form of energy which

derives directly from the relative motions of the EarthMoon system, and to a lesser extent from the Earth Sun system.

history
Tide mills, in use on the Spanish, French and British

coasts, date back to 787 A.D. Tide mills consisted of a storage pond, filled by the incoming tide through a sluice and emptied during the outgoing tide through a water wheel. Mills powered by tidal energy have been known along the coasts of Brittany, France, since the 12th century. American colonists built tidal-powered mills in New England.

history
By 1967, tidal energy technology had so advanced that

engineers were able to complete the world's first tidal electric plant. Not coincidentally, the plant was again situated in Brittany, this time at the Rance River. The maritime estuary formed where the Rance meets the English Channel is known for its exceptionally large tidal range, which reaches 44.3 ft.

La Rance tidal power station

impounding up to 6 1/2 billion cu. ft. of water., 240 megawatt

 Tidal energy is energy that could be obtained from the

changing sea levels. In other words, tidal energy is a direct result of tide shifting from low to high. Greater tidal variation or tidal current velocities can dramatically increase the potential for tidal electricity generation.

two basic theories on how to convert tides into power.

The first involves converting the power of the

horizontal movement of the water into electricity. The second involves producing energy from the rise and drop of water levels.

Tidal power can be classified into three generating methods:

Tidal stream generator (or TSGs)

- make use of the kinetic energy of moving water to power turbines, in a similar way to wind turbines that use moving air.

 Tidal barrage
- make use of the potential energy in the difference in

height (or head) between high and low tides.

 Dynamic tidal power (or DTP)

- is a theoretical generation technology that would exploit an interaction between potential and kinetic energies in tidal flows. It proposes that very long dams (for example: 3050 km length) be built from coasts straight out into the sea or ocean, without enclosing an area Each dam would generate power at a scale of 6 - 15 GW.

DISADVANTAGE
tidal power is expensive, and there is only one major

tidal generating station in operation. This is a 240 megawatt station at the mouth of the La Rance river estuary in France. The cost of tidal energy is very site specific, and influenced by geography, distance to grid, and speed and volume of the current. Tidal power plants require extremely large tidal ranges in narrow-mouthed bays or inlets in order to make competitive electricity. Use of tidal power requires building massive and expensive dams to impound immense volumes of water.

 Serious disruption of marine ecology may result from

construction of the plant; subsequently, plant operation could interfere with normal tidal cycles, and with the life cycles of some marine organisms. The presence of a large dam and its high-voltage lines also might be objectionable to some people. Variations in tidal range cause the output to not uniformed throughout the day. Because of the variation of headwater throughout the day, the plants effectiveness is slightly compromised.

 Maintenance of machinery is difficult when preformed

underwater or at sea. Construction of a solid tidal dam is difficult with tide changes. The corrosives nature of seawater is proven to corrode untreated modern machinery. Tidal fences in order to mitigate fish migration would be difficult to construct and maintain. Generation posts are usually far away from collection stations, leading to high cost of transmission lines. Tidal is a time-specific base load, meaning it cannot conform to peak demands.

ADVANTAGES
The major advantage of tidal energy is its economical

benefits. The altering of the ecosystem at the bay is the biggest drawback of tidal power. Damages like reduced flushing, winter icing and erosion can change the vegetation of the area and disrupt the balance. Tidal energy is perceived as having the potential to provide a reliable source of green energy because it is predictable and guaranteed, unlike wind turbines, which are dependent on the weather. Tidal energy has an efficiency of 80% in converting the potential energy of the water into electricity. Tidal power can provide secondary benefits such as

 As with other hydroelectric units, the tidal power plant

needs no external source of fuel and its operation is essentially pollution-free.

 As the price of fossil fuels continues to rise, tidal power

will become relatively cheaper, and existing tidal sites will be progressively more attractive. For example, a U.S. tidal plant project at Passamaquoddy Bay on the Bay of Fundy was studied in the 1930s and found economically unattractive. The Canadians are restudying the Bay of Fundy today, and preliminary indications are that they may opt to build an 800 megawatt plant on one of nine possible sites.

 A 1.2 MW SeaGen system became operational in late

2008 on Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.[13] 254 MW Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Plant in South Korea is under construction and planned to be completed by the end of 2010.[14] The contract for an 812 MW tidal barrage near Ganghwa Island north-west of Incheon has been signed by Daewoo. Completion is planned for 2015.[14]

 A 1,320 MW barrage built around islands west of

Incheon is proposed by the Korean government, with projected construction start in 2017.[15] Other South Korean projects include barrages planned for Garorim Bay, Ansanman, and Swaseongho, and tidal generation associated with the Saemangeum reclamation project. The barrages are all in the multiple-hundred megawatts range.[16]

 The Indian state of Gujarat is planning to host South

Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station. The company Atlantis Resources is to install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch on India's west coast, with construction starting early in 2012.[17] Estimates for new tidal barrages in England give the potential generation at 5.6GW mean power