![]() This ecosystem is rife with research opportunities for marine researchers like National Geographic grantee Swapnale Gole, who studies the behavior of sea anemones, crustaceans, and fish in the intertidal zones of the Andaman Islands in India. The zone is completely submerged by the tide once or twice every day. The intertidal zone experiences two different states: one at low tide when it is exposed to the air and the other at high tide when it is submerged in seawater. It is located on marine coastlines, including rocky shores and sandy beaches. Unlike a barrage, where the structure spans an entire river estuary in a straight line, a tidal lagoon encloses an area of coastline with a high tidal range behind a breakwater, with a footprint carefully designed for the local environment.The intertidal zone is an extreme ecosystem because it constantly experiences drastic changes. Tidal lagoons work in a similar way to barrages by capturing a large volume of water behind a man-made structure, which is then released to drive turbines and generate electricity. This project began producing electricity in 1966 and is currently the second largest tidal power station in the world. The first large tidal barrage to be built was La Rance in Brittany, France. Until recently, the only way electricity has been harnessed from tidal range is through construction of tidal barrages containing turbines across the mouth of estuaries that have large tides. The range in the Severn Estuary can be over 15 metres making it the second largest in the world. The difference between high tide and low tide is known as tidal range. Following the deployment of a demonstration array of up to six turbines, a maximum of 86 turbines (86MW) will be deployed in phase one, with the project ultimately reaching up to 398MW of tidal stream capacity. Electricity is generated by the turning of a turbine and is brought to shore by a cable.Īn example of a tidal stream project is Atlantis Resources’ MeyGen scheme in Scotland, intended to become the largest tidal stream project in the world. As a result, ocean currents have a very high energy density and therefore tidal stream turbines tend to be smaller in size than wind turbines. Sea water is 832 times denser than air and so a 5 knot ocean current has more kinetic energy than a 350 km/h wind. Tidal stream turbines are similar to wind turbines but use fast moving tidal streams instead of the wind to generate electricity. Tidal streams are currents in the sea that flow as the tide moves in and out. There are two main types of tidal power: tidal stream and tidal range. So how do you generate power from tidal energy? Neap tides happen during a quarter or three-quarter moon. This causes the sun and moon to pull water in two different directions. Small tides are called ‘neap tides’ and they happen when the sun and moon form a right angle to each other. This happens every two weeks during a new moon or a full moon. ![]() The largest tides are called ‘spring tides’ and happen when the sun and the moon are lined up in a row. Tides are predominantly caused by the gravitational influence of the sun and moon on the earth’s oceans. ![]() Tidal energy is a form of hydropower that harnesses the movement of the ocean’s tides, using turbines to produce large amounts of clean, renewable energy. EIA Topics: Intertidal & Subtidal Benthic Ecology.Register/Login: Project Updates & Interest in Supply Chain.
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