Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station

Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station
Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station is located in South Korea
Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station
Location of Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station in South Korea
CountrySouth Korea
LocationSihwa Lake, Gyeonggi Province
Coordinates37°18′47″N 126°36′46″E / 37.31306°N 126.61278°E / 37.31306; 126.61278
StatusOperational
Opening dateAugust 4, 2011[1]
Construction costUS$560 million
Owner(s)Korea Water Resources Corporation
Power Station
TypeTidal barrage
Turbines10 × 25.4 MW
Installed capacity254 MW[2]
Capacity factor24.8%
Annual generation552 GWh[2]: 6 

Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station is the world's largest tidal power installation, with a total power output capacity of 254 MW. When completed in 2011, it surpassed France's 240 MW Rance Tidal Power Station, which was the world's largest for 45 years. It is operated by the Korea Water Resources Corporation.[3]

Design

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The tidal barrage makes use of a seawall constructed in 1994 for flood mitigation and agricultural purposes. Ten 25.4 MW submerged bulb turbines are driven in an unpumped flood generation scheme; power is generated on tidal inflows only, and the outflow is sluiced away, i.e. as one-way power generation.[2] This slightly unconventional and relatively inefficient approach has been chosen to balance a complex mix of existing land use, water use, conservation, environmental and power generation considerations.[4][5]

The station's mean operating tidal range is 5.6 m (18 ft), with a spring tidal range of 7.8 m (26 ft). The working basin area was originally intended to be 43 km2 (17 sq mi)[6] and has been reduced by land reclamation and freshwater dykes to 30 km2 (12 sq mi), likely to be reduced further.[7]

Construction

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The power station was built in 2011 and started to operate in 2012.[2] The project cost of US$560 million was borne by the South Korean Government.[8][9]: 37 [10]

Environmental context

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After the seawall was built in 1994, pollution built up in the newly created Sihwa Lake reservoir, making its water useless for agriculture.[4] Concentrations of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) measured in Lake Sihwa were among the greatest ever measured in the environment.[11] In January 2003, PFOS had been found at 730 ng/L in Lake Shihwa water.[11]

In 2004, seawater was reintroduced in the hope of flushing out contamination; inflows from the tidal barrage were envisaged as a complementary permanent solution. As of 2007 the power station was planned to provide this indirect environmental benefit, as well as renewable energy.[4]

Pictures

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Turning Tides Korea joongang daily Retrieved 20 November 2016
  2. ^ a b c d "TIDAL ENERGY TECHNOLOGY BRIEF" (PDF). International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). June 2014. p. 36. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  3. ^ "Sihwa Tidal Power Plant | Tethys". tethys.pnnl.gov. Retrieved 2021-04-08.
  4. ^ a b c Nohyoung Park (May 2007) Sihwa Tidal Power Plant: a success of environment and energy policy in Korea Archived 2019-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, Korea University, www.eer.wustl.edu, retrieved 30 May 2016
  5. ^ Tidal power primed for breakthrough waterpowermagazine.com
  6. ^ Tidal and Tidal Current Power Study in Korea OREG.ca Archived 2011-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Arirang Korea (22 August 2013),Ansan City's Bandalseom Project at Lake Sihwa taking shape The Korea International Broadcasting Foundation
  8. ^ https://www.hydropower.org/blog/technology-case-study-sihwa-lake-tidal-power-station | year=2016
  9. ^ Han Soo LEE (2011). "Ocean renewable energy: Tidal power in the Yellow Sea" (PDF). Journal of International Development and Cooperation. 17 (3): 29–44.
  10. ^ Hunt for African Projects Newsworld Korea, 2009, Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ a b Rostkowski, Pawel; Yamashita, Nobuyoshi; So, Iris Man Ka; Taniyasu, Sachi; Lam, Paul Kwan Sing; Falandysz, Jerzy; Lee, Kyu Tae; Kim, Seung Kyu; Khim, Jong Seong; Im, Sook Hyeon; Newsted, John L.; Jones, Paul D.; Kannan, Kurunthachalam; Giesy, John P. (September 2006). "Perfluorinated compounds in streams of the Shihwa industrial zone and Lake Shihwa, South Korea" (PDF). Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 25 (9): 2374–80. doi:10.1897/05-627R.1. PMID 16986792. S2CID 23404597. Archived from the original (PDF) on Aug 10, 2017.

References

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