Assignment: Building a Tidal Power Plant Exploration Severn River Fact Sheet Proposed Tidal Plant Below is a picture of the proposed site for the Severn River Tidal Plant. Expected Power Contribution It is anticipated that the tidal power plant will provide 10 percent of the country’s electricity needs. Tide Amplitude During spring tides, the tide amplitude can reach 11 meters (36 feet). Inlet Data The inlet is a narrow 15 kilometers (9 miles) across at the location proposed. Emissions Reduction The site could reduce coal emissions in the area by 3 percent by replacing fossil fuel power. Marine Environment The disruption of the tide cycle will alter the feeding grounds of local birds. It is unknown how these birds would adapt. Fish in the inlet are able to pass through the turbines. Occasionally, however, they can get trapped and die. Costs It is unknown exactly how costly the project would be; however, it is estimated at around $16 billion. It is projected that the project will take 9 years to build. Decision Point: Building a Tidal Power Plant Consider some things you have learned about using tidal energy for generating electricity. Requirements to Build Tidal power plants need to be built in areas that cause channeling of tidal water. The narrow opening to a bay, for example, will force the tidal waters to rise and fall rapidly. This will cause the waters to stream through at a great speed. An appropriate area must also have a large fluctuation between high and low tides. At a minimum, there should be a difference of 5 meters. A tidal power plant built in such an area will be highly efficient at generating electricity. Efficiency Using tide for power is efficient because a lot of electrical power is generated. Tidal power plants are capable of converting the movement of water into usable electricity. Energy Input Tides provide one of the most stable sources of energy. Recall that tides are caused by the gravitational forces of the sun and the moon. Unlike fossil or nuclear fuels, tidal power uses an inexhaustible source of energy as its input. It can be very expensive to build the tidal power plant structure initially. However, once the initial structure is built the fuel is constant and predictable. Environmental Impact Tidal power plants do not completely restrict the movement of tides. Therefore, tidal power plants may not have a major effect on marine life that depends on tides. However, tidal power plants may restrict the movement of marine organisms. The environmental impact of tidal power plants should be watched closely. On the flip side, tidal power does not pollute the environment. Unlike fossil fuels, tides provide an entirely clean form of energy. Writing Your Letter With the success of existing tidal power plants such as La Rance, scientists have been eagerly looking for favorable sites to build additional plants. One proposed site is that of the Severn River in England. In recent years, however, the proposal to build at this site has provided quite a controversy. Many people believe that the conditions found at Severn River will yield a highly productive tidal power plant. Others claim that the costs outweigh the benefits. As a concerned citizen, you decide to learn more about the details of the Severn River site. What questions would you want answered if you were to determine whether to build a tidal power plant at the Severn River? Now that you have studied the facts about the Severn River, you are ready to make a decision. Using the information you have learned in this lesson and the facts you can gather from the Severn River Fact Sheet, write a letter to the British government. In your letter, outline your opinion on the tidal power plant construction. Your assignment should include this information: • A history of the building of the plant • Costs and benefits of using tides for energy • Why the location is a good one for generating hydroelectricity • How the plant creates electricity • Other interesting facts about the plant Your Letter

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Explanation:

Tidal energy is produced by the surge of ocean waters during the rise and fall of tides. Tidal energy is a renewable source of energy.

During the 20th century, engineers developed ways to use tidal movement to generate electricity in areas where there is a significant tidal range—the difference in area between high tide and low tide. All methods use special generators to convert tidal energy into electricity.

Tidal energy production is still in its infancy. The amount of power produced so far has been small. There are very few commercial-sized tidal power plants operating in the world. The first was located in La Rance, France. The largest facility is the Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea. The United States has no tidal plants and only a few sites where tidal energy could be produced at a reasonable price. China, France, England, Canada, and Russia have much more potential to use this type of energy.

In the United States, there are legal concerns about underwater land ownership and environmental impact. Investors are not enthusiastic about tidal energy because there is not a strong guarantee that it will make money or benefit consumers. Engineers are working to improve the technology of tidal energy generators to increase the amount of energy they produce, to decrease their impact on the environment, and to find a way to earn a profit for energy companies.

Tidal Energy Generators

There are currently three different ways to get tidal energy: tidal streams, barrages, and tidal lagoons.

For most tidal energy generators, turbines are placed in tidal streams. A tidal stream is a fast-flowing body of water created by tides. A turbine is a machine that takes energy from a flow of fluid. That fluid can be air (wind) or liquid (water). Because water is much more dense than air, tidal energy is more powerful than wind energy. Unlike wind, tides are predictable and stable. Where tidal generators are used, they produce a steady, reliable stream of electricity.

Placing turbines in tidal streams is complex, because the machines are large and disrupt the tide they are trying to harness. The environmental impact could be severe, depending on the size of the turbine and the site of the tidal stream. Turbines are most effective in shallow water. This produces more energy and allows ships to navigate around the turbines. A tidal generator's turbine blades also turn slowly, which helps marine life avoid getting caught in the system.

The world's first tidal power station was constructed in 2007 at Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. The turbines are placed in a narrow strait between the Strangford Lough inlet and the Irish Sea. The tide can move at 4 meters (13 feet) per second across the strait.

Barrage

Another type of tidal energy generator uses a large dam called a barrage. With a barrage, water can spill over the top or through turbines in the dam because the dam is low. Barrages can be constructed across tidal rivers, bays, and estuaries.

Turbines inside the barrage harness the power of tides the same way a river dam harnesses the power of a river. The barrage gates are open as the tide rises. At high tide, the barrage gates close, creating a pool, or tidal lagoon. The water is then released through the barrage's turbines, creating energy at a rate that can be controlled by engineers.

The environmental impact of a barrage system can be quite significant. The land in the tidal range is completely disrupted. The change in water level in the tidal lagoon might harm plant and animal life. The salinity inside the tidal lagoon lowers, which changes the organisms that are able to live there. As with dams across rivers, fish are blocked into or out of the tidal lagoon. Turbines move quickly in barrages, and marine animals can be caught in the blades. With their food source limited, birds might find different places to migrate.

A barrage is a much more expensive tidal energy generator than a single turbine. Although there are no fuel costs, barrages involve more construction and more machines. Unlike single turbines, barrages also require constant supervision to adjust power output.

The tidal power plant at the Rance River estuary in Brittany, France, uses a barrage. It was built in 1966 and is still functioning. The plant uses two sources of energy: tidal energy from the English Channel and river current energy from the Rance River. The barrage has led to an increased level of silt in the habitat. Native aquatic plants suffocate in silt, and a flatfish called plaice is now extinct in the area. Other organisms, such as cuttlefish, a relative of squids, now thrive in the Rance estuary. Cuttlefish prefer cloudy, silty ecosystems.

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