France has the honor of operating the worlds first tidal power station the La Ranche , situated on the Rance river. Now France’s Electricite de France (EDF ) , plans to operate 3-6 turbines off the north coast of Brittany. This project is expected to cost nearly $4o million and have an estimated capacity of of 5 MW. This facility is being planned of the coast of Paimpol and is expected to start operation by the year 2011.
EDF envisages tidal power to make a significant contribution in renewable power generation sector in France and estimates potential to generate 10 million MW yearly from tides. Additionally the Paimpol area is believed to be the region having strongest wind currents in Europe. This proposed facility will hence act as a model to analyze technology under dynamic conditions thus allowing for evaluation of performance and more importantly profitability.
