By: Hannah Lyons &

Sarah Smith

TIDAL & WAVE

ENERGY

DescriptionA form of hydropower that

converts the energy of tides and waves into electricity and other types of power

Needs no fuel and costs little after construction because energy comes from ocean

Tides are created due to gravitational attraction of the moon and sun

A plant can be used 75-100 years after construction

First tidal plant was started in 1966

How it WorksTidal energy is obtained

from the motion of large bodies of water

A dam is put across a tidal basin and includes an opening which allows the tide to follow into the basin. Then the opening closes and as the sea level drops, hydropower techniques are used to generate electricity in the basin.

Who? Where?Regions on the coast will

utilize tidal energy. The largest facility is the La Rance station in France. Tidal energy has been experimented in Europe and the Atlantic Coast of the U.S.

The U.S. currently has no plants. The most promising areas for plants are France, England, Canada, and Russia.

A 10 foot tidal range is needed to harness the tidal energy

Average CostRanges between 2-5

million dollars to construct a plant.

$2.5 million to produce 1.39-MW power plant in Santoña, Spain.

One plant was installed in Northern Ireland that produces 1.2-MW.

A fairly new way to harness energy…a cost per KWh is not available. Unknown!

$2-$5 MILLION!

ProsRenewableClean and nonpollutingNo carbon dioxide or other

byproducts are releasedHelp to reduce the reliance

on burning fossil fuelsNot expensive to operateProtects the coastline from

high storm tidesTides can be easily

predicted, unlike solar and wind power

ConsSilt builds up on river bedDams interfere with

shippingProvides only 10 hours of

power per dayCannot be used inlandExpensive to buildBarrages effect the fish

migrationCan increase turbidity

Referenceshttp://inventors.about.com/od/tstartinvention

s/a/tidal_power.htmhttp://www.greenchipstocks.com/articles/oce

an-tidal-wave+energy/310http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energy.cfm?page

=hydropower_home-basicshttp://www.biofuelswatch.com/tidal-wave-ene

rgy/http://energy.saving.nu/hydroenergy/wave.sht

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