Annapolis Royal Generating Station
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The tidal power plant Annapolis is a tidal power plant in dam construction in Canada.
Location
The power plant is located in the Annapolis River Ästuartrichter, just before it exits the Annapolis Valley and flows into the Bay of Fundy (English Bay of Fundy Fundy Bay or, French Baie de Fundy ). The estuary is located near the town of Annapolis Royal Annapolis County on the peninsula Nova Scotia ( Nova Scotia ), which lies on the east coast of Canada.
The Bay of Fundy is characterized by a particularly large tidal range that occurs ( details see: Fundy Bay) by a natural resonance amplification of the tidal wave. In the far east of the Bay of Fundy, the Minas Basin, the tidal range is 15 to 21 m, at the power plant Annapolis nevertheless still up to 7 m.
More tidal power in the Bay of Fundy are planned. Among other things, built a pilot plant for a tidal power plant in the Strait of Minas Basin in November 2009.
History
The construction of the tidal power plant in 1980 was primarily a research project, as it were then the world's very little experience with this technology before. Annapolis was the time of construction one of only three tidal power plants in the megawatt class in the world; the second largest after the Rance tidal power plant in France.
The energetic use of unusually strong tides in the Bay of Fundy had previously been discussed for some time, been not been implemented due to economic and environmental concerns.
The opportunity for the realization came when the end of the 1970s, an old and dilapidated steel bridge for the highway Nova Scotia Trunk 1 on the Annapolis River between Annapolis Royal and the opposite place Granville Ferry had to be upgraded. By applying the dam for the power plant to a costly renovation or a new bridge was not necessary. It was at this point already a locking mechanism that could be used to regulate a bypass flow around the power plant. The construction of the dam, which simultaneously acts as a road embankment for the trunk 1 and as a dam for the power plant, commissioned the local electric utility Nova Scotia Power, who was at that time still a public company and therefore also took on tasks of general infrastructure support. The construction was started in 1980, and four years later, in 1984, the power plant went on line.
The results of the experiment were mixed. While the power generation until today works largely without problems, some negative effects have been ecologically found: The weakening of the tidal flow in the estuary led to increased erosion in the river bed. In addition, stray in accrued flood several times whales through the lock into the artificially created reservoirs above the power plant.
Specifications
Dam
- Length: 225 m
Turbine
- At nominal drop height (5.5 m): 17.8 MW
- With maximum drop height (7.1 m): 19.9 MW