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First Commercial Sub-Sea Tidal Power Station

Posted by timothy on from the what-a-loony-idea dept.

daksis writes "New Scientist is reporting that the first commercial sub-sea tidal power station has gone online in Hammerfest Norway. 'The power station, which resembles an underwater windmill, began generating electricity for the town of Hammerfest. Although still largely a prototype, the generator is the first in the world to harness the power of the sea and be connected to an electricity grid.' If they can make the technology commercially viable, then we'll have yet another weapon in the arsenal for producing cleaner energy."

4 of 51 comments (clear)

  1. Not the first by Cy+Guy · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Annapolis Tidal Power station at the mouth of the Annapolis river in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy has been running (and providing power to Nova Scotia Power's grid) since the mid '80s. (this PDF of a magazine article provides more info.)

    While considered a "pilot" operation, it does generate 20 MW of power, supplying the electrical needs for 4500 customers.

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    1. Re:Not the first by canthusus · · Score: 2, Informative
      The Annapolis Tidal Power station at the mouth of the Annapolis river in Nova Scotia's Bay of Fundy has been running (and providing power to Nova Scotia Power's grid) since the mid '80s

      Impressive though the Annapolis station is, it's not a "sub-sea tidal power station". It's a good old-fashioned tidal barrage. They're a little out of fashion at the moment, because of their effect on salt marshes etc. Ideally, of course, the story would have described it as "the first sub-sea tidal power station of its type to be connected to the grid" - that gets round all objections!

      Incidentally, there are other sub-sea turbines being built. This 300 KW system in Devon, UK, is being tested (but ain't connected to the grid). It was discussed in slashdot back in June.

  2. tidal power isn't new by misterpies · · Score: 5, Informative

    >>the generator is the first in the world to harness the power of the sea and be connected to an electricity grid

    That's plain untrue. Tidal barrages -- which use the tidally-driven flow seawater in and out of a river mouth or basin -- have been used to generate electricity for decades. A barrage across the Rance, in northern France, opened in 1967 and has been generating enough power to supply 200 000 homes ever since.

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  3. Re:But, what about? by Smidge204 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Tidal power tubines spin rather slowly - About 25RPM. And they're not sharp like high-speed turbine blades.

    A 10-meter turbine (5 meter radius - about 16 feet) spinning at a top speef of 20RPM (about 2 radians per second) would have a tip speed of about 11 meters per second (~33 feet per second).

    That's pretty slow. 30MPH actually. But that's a conservative estimate.

    Also, unlike hydroelectric dams, there's no strong current sucking everything into the blades - just tidal currents.
    =Smidge=