Reply #50: Existing and planned tidal power stations around the world

[muriel_volestrangler]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_power#Resource_around_the_world

La Rance in France, at 240MW peak capacity, has been going for abour 40 years. The UK is seriously looking at a barrage across the Severn Estuary with a capacity of over 8000MW (some wonder about the environmental impact on mud flats and so on, as well as the capital cost). The Severn is an obvious place to do it - a very large tidal range (over 8m), and several million people live nearby. The advantage of tidal power is it's very predictable; the disadvantage is you also know there are periods each day when it will produce nothing.