New solution could supply 200 GW of tidal energy for 10 Asian countries

摘要

In Asia the theoretical potential of tidal energy is close to the equivalent value for conventional hydro potential, but the tidal power supply stands at only about 0.5 TWh/year, while hydropower supplies 1500 TWh/year. The technical solutions studied so far for tidal energy have generally appeared to be too expensive. It is possible to create large basins along coastlines, but the corresponding available head from the tides is generally too low for the cost-effective use of traditional turbines: bulb units are too expensive for heads of less than 3 or 4 m, while the best utilization of the basins is for heads of 1 or 2 m. Russian orthogonal turbines seem more attractive, but the cost of the associated civil engineering remains high, and extremely high for most tidal ranges in Asia.