The Indian state of Gujarat is planning to host Asia's first commercial-scale tidal power station.


The company Atlantis Resources is to install a 50MW tidal farm in the Gulf of Kutch on India's west coast, with construction starting early in 2012.

The facility could be expanded to deliver more than 200MW.

The biggest operating tidal station in the world, La Rance in France, generates 240MW, while South Korea is planning several large facilities.

To claim the title of "Asia's first", the Indian project will have to outrun developments at Sihwa Lake, a South Korean tidal barrage under construction on the country's west coast.

Atlantis's recent feasibility study in Gujarat concluded that the state had good potential for tidal exploitation.

"About two and a half years ago we ran a global study of tidal power resources and came up with some hotspots where resource seemed pretty well matched to load," said Atlantis CEO Tim Cornelius.

"One of them was the Gulf of Kutch - and since then we've had wonderful support from the government, culminating in the annoucement that the project was going ahead," he told BBC News.

Projections indicate that the cost of the initial 50MW farm - to consist of 50 1MW turbines - will come in at about $150m.


BBC Link