A company has come up with a new way to generate tidal energy and the UK government seems intent on bringing it to fruition.
Tidal Lagoon Power wants to do just that – create a series of six tidal lagoons to generate electricity.
The lagoons would capture incoming and outgoing tides behind giant sea walls, and the weight of the water would power turbines, reports BBC News. One of the sea walls would be than five miles long.
When the tide begins to rise, a gate in the massive wall closes so that water fills the lagoon. As it does so, it rushes past turbines, creating electricity. As the tide recedes, the water flows past turbines in the other direction.
For an investment of £30 billion, these six lagoons could be generating 8% of the UK’s electricity by 2022.
At roughly £90 per megawatt-hour, the price for electricity would be about the same as a planned nuclear plant. Besides being risk-free compared to nuclear, the lagoons would operate for 120 years, providing reliable, baseload power.
"We have a wonderful opportunity to create energy from the dance between the moon and the earth," Mark Shorrock, CEO of Tidal Lagoon Power, told BBC News.
Sure, it’s expense to start, but as capital costs are paid off it becomes incredibly cheap, he says.
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