Guj to get 100 MW tidal power plant

At a time when the need to reduce carbon emissions has acquired a new urgency, Gujarat is all set to launch another initiative to generate power from tidal waves.

A British tidal energy company, Atlantis Resources, is expected to set up a tidal power plant with the capacity to generate over 100 MW. Officials of the company met chief minister Narendra Modi recently in this regard. They are now conducting a feasibility study for the power plant which are likely to be established in the Gulf of Kutch or Khambhat.

Minister of state for industries and power Saurabh Patel told DNA that the British company has expressed a desire to set up a tidal power project in the state. “The meeting with the CM was fruitful,” he said, “But the initiative is still in the early stages.”
The scale of investment that the project will attract is not yet clear.

However, if a 100 MW plant is set up, it will be able to generate enough energy for about 40,000 households. Both the Gulfs in the Arabian Sea are known for extreme daily tides, whose energy can be harnessed to generate electricity. At the climate change summit in Copenhagen next week, India will be striving for a joint declaration on cuts in carbon emissions. In this context, it is noteworthy that Gujarat’s long coastline is estimated to have phenomenal potential to generate power which is yet to be tapped.

Talking about investing in Gujarat for clean technologies, British deputy high commissioner, western India, Vicki Treadell, said the state government’s initiative to set up a climate change department was praiseworthy.