Tidal Barrage power generation potential in England
The sum of the estimates of potential power from tidal barrages in those bays & estuaries that have at least one bank in England, is about 5.57 GWe (48.8 TWh/y, 2.2 kWh/p/d), equivalent to about 13% of current electricity demand.
|Severn, Minehead to Aberthaw||2.85||25||“Analysis of Options for Tidal Power Development in the Severn Estuary – Interim Options Analysis Report Volume 1“, DECC; December 2008|
|Solway||1.10||9.66||“Tapping the Tidal Power Potential of the Eastern Irish Sea”; Joule Project JIRP106/03, Executive Summary of the Final Report, 2008|
|Wash||0.42||3.70||“The potential for tidal energy from small estuaries”, Department of Energy 1989, ETSU TID 4048-P1, as reported in “Tapping the Tidal Power Potential…” above|
As the north-west-coast barrages (Solway, Morecambe Bay, Mersey, Dee) have high tide about 4 hours after the Severn, the east-coast barrages (Wash, Humber) have high tide 1-2 hours before the Severn, and the Thames has high tide 6 hours away from the Severn, there would at any given time be at least one barrage generating, and there would often be one available for over-pumping.
These estimates exclude any potential sites that lie solely in Scotland or Wales, and excludes the potential from tidal stream power too.