Tidal Stream Energy Power Plants
from Yesterday to Today
E.ON's tidal stream energy power plant with a maximum capacity of 8 MW planned for the west coast of England will be one of the largest tidal stream energy power plants in the world. It will also be one of the first marine power plants operating without the "dam principle" to provide a significant amount of electricity from the sea.
Up to now, large tidal stream energy power plants have harnessed the force of the tidal range. With this model, tidal energy is generated by a dam, which by today's standards is very detrimental to the environment.
The worl's very first tidal stream energy power plant is the French plant on the Rance River estuary in Saint-Malo in Brittany and was built in 1967.
Another tidal stream energy power plant is located in Annapolis Royal on an inlet of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia (Canada). It was built in 1984 and is mainly used for research and development. As a one-way plant, it only uses ebbing currents.
There are other smaller tidal energy power plants in Russia near Murmansk with a capacity of 0.4 MW and in China. The largest Chinese tidal energy power plant is near Jiangxia in Zhejiang province and was completed in 1986.
Since 2006, a tidal stream energy power plant in the East River has been producing power for a grocery store and a parking lot in New York City. Slowly revolving freestanding rotors produce electricity from currents caused by low and high tide.
