The Anatomy of the Rance River TPP
The price rise of traditional fuels, particularly oil and gas, and the concern for global warming, have been strong incentives for a renewed look at alternative sources of energy. Though only a modest potential contributor to alleviation of the “crisis”,
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The Anatomy of the Rance River TPP
5.1 Introduction The price rise of traditional fuels, particularly oil and gas, and the concern for global warming, have been strong incentives for a renewed look at alternative sources of energy. Though only a modest potential contributor to alleviation of the “crisis”, attention has nevertheless been again directed towards ocean generated power. A major anniversary was celebrated in 2006 for the largest tidal power plant currently in existence. Publications dealing with turning the tidal energy into power spread over the better part of the 20th century; we could venture to say, without erring, even ad libitum. Among the more recent ones focusing on detailed edxamination of the basics, the principles and the economics are the contributions of Baker, Charlier and Gibrat.1 The economics have changed since the 1960s and 1980s books by these authors. Many other authors, of course, significantly added to the basic knowledge of tides and tidal power2 . Even some exquisite blueprints are to be found in the rather recently translated and published Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, and in the writings of Mariano3 . The literature addressing specificly the Rance River tidal power plant is far less abundant, but far from negligible4 . 1
Baker, G.C., Tidal power. Some historical implications. Proc.Conf. New Approaches to tidal power. Bedford Inst.Ocean. 1982, I, 1–6; Baker, G.C., Tidal power. London, Plenum Press 1982; Charlier, R.H., Tidal energy. New York, Van Nostrand-Rheinhold; Charlier, R.H. and Justus, J.R., Is tidal power coming of age? In Charlier, R.H. & Justus, J.R., Ocean energies. Amsterdam, Elsevier 1993 [Chap. 7]; Charlier, R.H., Sustainable co-generation from the tides. Ren.Sust.Energy Rev. 2003, 7, 3, 187–213; Gibrat, R., Les usines mar´emotrices. [in French: tidal power plants] Paris, Electricit´e de France 1955. 2 Charlier, R.H., Sustainable co-generation from the tides. Ren.Sust. Energy Rev. A bibliography, 2003, 7, 3, 215–247. 3 Richter, J.P., The notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. New York, Dover 1970 [English translation]; Mariano, Potentiae ædus usus [in Latin: Utilization of the power of the tide].Siena (anno 1438). 4 E.g. Gibrat, R., The first tidal power station in the world under construction by French industry on the Rance River. French Technical Bulletin 1962, 2, 1–11; Gougenheim, A., The Rance tidal energy installation. J. Inst.Navigation 1967, XX, 3, 229–236; Jones, J.E., The Rance tidal power station. Geography 53, 11, 412–415; Kammerlocher, L., La station mar´emotrice exp´erimentale de
R.H. Charlier, C.W. Finkl, Ocean Energy, DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-77932-2 5, c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2009
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5 The Anatomy of the Rance River TPP
5.2 Ancestors and Forerunners Tapping the energy of the ocean’s tide and of the river’s tidal current to produce mechanical power is a practice that goes back centuries5 . A conventional tide mill included sluices, a dam, and retaining basin if it was not a run-of-the-river type mill, and wheels proved to be quite s
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