New Delhi (Sputnik) — In a bid to curb the country's carbon emission levels, India will experiment with generating power from tidal waves. The government will tie up with an Israeli firm to set up tidal power plants in Goa. If the operation is a success, India will be the only fifth country in the world which to have operational tidal power plants.
“Since last two years, I have been constantly pursuing whether we can generate power using tidal waves in the sea. Today, I came to know that we can start experimenting this by using Israeli technology which will help generate power using tidal waves,” said Nitin Gadkari, India’s Minister of Shipping.
“To capture sufficient power from the tidal energy potential, the height of high tide must be at least five meters (16 feet) greater than low tide. There are only approximately 20 locations on earth with tides this high and India is one of them,” reads a report of Ministry of New and Renewal Energy.
According to the report prepared by consulting agency CRISIL, there are only four operational tidal power plants in the world. The 240 MW La Rance Tidal Barrage in France was commissioned in 1966 and is the oldest plant under operation. The Sihwa Lake Tidal power plant in South Korea is the largest tidal power plant and was commissioned in 2011. Canada and China have operational tidal power plants as well but generating power as low as 20 MW.
