Rance Tidal Power Station

The Rance Tidal Power Station is a tidal power station located on the estuary of the Rance River in Brittany, France. Opened in 1966 as the world's first tidal power station, it is currently operated by Électricité de France and was for 45 years the largest tidal power station in the world by installed capacity until the South Korean Sihwa Lake Tidal Power Station surpassed it in 2011. Its 24 turbines reach peak output at 240 megawatts (MW) and average 57 MW, a capacity factor of approximately 24%. At an annual output of approximately 500 GWh (491 GWh in 2009, 523 GWh in 2010), it supplies 0.12% of the power demand of France. The power density is of the order of 2.6 W/m2. The cost of electricity production is estimated at /kWh. The barrage is long, from Brebis point in the west to Briantais point in the east. The power plant portion of the dam is long and the tidal basin measures . An early attempt to build a tidal power plant was made at Aber Wrac'h in the Finistère in 1925, but due to insufficient finance, it was abandoned in 1930. Plans for this plant served as the draft for follow-on work. Use of tidal energy is not an entirely new concept, since tidal mills have long existed in areas exposed to tides, particularly along the Rance. The idea of constructing a tidal power plant on the Rance dates to Gerard Boisnoer in 1921. The site was attractive because of the wide average-range between low and high tide levels, with a maximum perigean spring tide range of . The first studies which envisaged a tidal plant on the Rance were done by the Society for the Study of Utilization of the Tides in 1943. Nevertheless, work did not actually commence until 1961. Albert Caquot, the visionary engineer, was instrumental in the construction of the dam, designing an enclosure in order to protect the construction site from the ocean tides and the strong streams. Construction necessitated draining the area where the plant was to be built, which required construction of two dams which took two years.