As the population explodes and economy expands, energy needs are multiplying on the expected lines. The unexpected answer is provided by what is abundantly available in nature - tide and wind. Of course, the conventional fossil fuel is also a gift of nature to mankind. But its excessive use has not only depleted already the reserves but also cause new problems of global warming. The search for alternative fuels has found that tide can be a dependable and clean energy source. Unlike the destructive power of tsunami which unleashes devastation and death all round, tidal waves can be tamed and transformed to useful energy.
As time and tide wait for no one, India is going to set up its first tidal energy plant of 3.5 MW capacity to generate power in Sunderbans, West Bengal at a cost of Rs 40 crores($0.9 million). Sunderbans has otherwise been known so far for the famous Royal Bengal tiger reserve. In the whole world, India will become the fourth nation to produce power from tide after Russia (400 MW), France (240 MW) and Canada (20 MW).
In a report appearing in Economic Times, the combined potential for tidal energy in Sundarbans, Kutch and Gulf of Cambay has been estimated at a whopping 9000 MW by the Ministry of Non-conventional Sources (MNES).The best part of the proposed plant spreading over 120m wide and 8500m long area is that it would not necessitate human migration nor would it cause any environmental harm.
Can anything be better than this?
2 comments:
Wow, I had no idea Russis produced so much power from tide/water! 400MW is a tremendous amount of power.
As per Wikipedia, the largest tidal plant is working in France with an installed capacity of 240MW. It also mentions of very large tidal power schemes being considered at Menzen (19,200MW), Tugur (8,000MW) and Penzhinkaya (87,000MW)in Russia. Thanks Techz for your sharp obsevation.
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