FollowA few days ago, the President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak has officially inaugurated what he claims to be the world’s largest tidal power plant. Mr. Lee claims that the new plant is a symbol of his trademark “low-carbon, green growth” policy of seeking renewable energy resources.
The tidal power plant at the artificial sea-water Lake Shihwa partially started operating in early August 2011 after nearly seven years of construction.
According to some statistics, if fully completed by December, the Shihwa station will be capable of generating about 254,000 kilowatts daily. Currently, the biggest tidal power plant in the world (Rance Tidal Power Station) is located in France and has a generation capacity of 240,000 kilowatts per day.
The energy produced by the Shihwa station will be enough for a city with a population of 500,000. “Now, we are in front of the world’s largest, Shihwa tidal power plant. This is not only a symbol of ‘low-carbon, green growth,’ but also represents a landmark on the path the world should take,” said Lee during a ceremony at the plant to mark the start of its operation.
Besides the fact that the plant is expected to diminish South Korea’s CO2 emissions by 3200,000 tons a year, it’s also expected that it would save more than 860,000 barrels of oil for the country, annually.
Source: greenoptimistic
