2.02333 48.61806 vilaine électricité rance gwh ille edf cambs dinard 332.5 finistère imray plaice kwh wyre spillways 1,091 2,461 silting bilan cuttlefish technology.com perigean drawbridge aber malo strathclyde barrage tidal
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Rance tidal power Station - wikipedia Rance tidal power Station Jump to : navigation , search This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . ( February 2014 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message ) <Th_colspan="2"> Rance Tidal Power Station <Td_colspan="2"> Aerial photograph of the Rance Tidal Power Station . <Td_colspan="2"> Location of Rance Tidal Power Station in France Official name Usine marémotrice de la Rance Country France Location Brittany Coordinates 48 ° 37 ′ 05 '' N 02 ° 01 ′ 24 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 48.61806 ° N 2.02333 ° W ﻿ / 48.61806 ; - 2.02333 Coordinates : 48 ° 37 ′ 05 '' N 02 ° 01 ′ 24 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 48.61806 ° N 2.02333 ° W ﻿ / 48.61806 ; - 2.02333 Status Operational Construction began 26 July 1963 Opening date 26 November 1966 Construction cost ₣ 620 million Owner ( s ) Électricité de France <Th_colspan="2"> Dam and spillways Type of dam Barrage Length 700 m ( 2,300 ft ) <Th_colspan="2"> Reservoir Tidal range 8 m ( 26 ft ) <Th_colspan="2"> Power Station Type Tidal barrage Turbines 24 Installed capacity 240 MW Capacity factor 28 % Annual generation 500 GWh 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 / m . The cost of electricity production is estimated at € 0.12 / kWh . The barrage is 750 m ( 2,461 ft ) long , from Brebis point in the west to Briantais point in the east . The power plant portion of the dam is 332.5 m ( 1,091 ft ) long and the tidal basin measures 22.5 km ( 9 sq mi ) . Contents ( hide ) 1 History 2 Assessments 2.1 Environmental impact 2.2 Tourist attraction 3 See also 4 References 5 External links History ( edit ) Scale model of the power station The power plant The route on the power station Play media Video Rance Tidal Power Station 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 , 8 m ( 26.2 ft ) with a maximum perigean spring tide range of 13.5 m ( 44.3 ft ) . 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 . Construction of the plant commenced on 20 July 1963 , while the Rance was entirely blocked by the two dams . Construction took three years and was completed in 1966 . Charles de Gaulle , then President of France , inaugurated the plant on 26 November of the same year . Inauguration of the route crossing the plant took place on 1 July 1967 , and connection of the plant to the French National Power Grid was carried out on 4 December 1967 . In total , the plant cost ₣ 620 million ( approximately € 94.5 million ) . It took almost 20 years for the La Rance to pay for itself . Assessments ( edit ) In spite of the high development cost of the project , the costs have now been recovered , and electricity production costs are lower than that of nuclear power generation ( 1.8 ¢ / kWh versus 2.5 ¢ / kWh for nuclear ) . However , the capacity factor of the plant is 28 % , lower than 85 - 90 % for nuclear power . Environmental impact ( edit ) The barrage has caused progressive silting of the Rance ecosystem . Sand - eels and plaice have disappeared , though sea bass and cuttlefish have returned to the river . By definition , tides still flow in the estuary and the operator , EDF , endeavours to adjust their level to minimize the biological impact . Tourist attraction ( edit ) The facility attracted approximately 40,000 visitors in 2011 . A lock for navigation at the west end of the dam allows the passage of 1600 - tonne vessels between the English Channel and the Rance . Departmental road 168 crosses the dam and allows vehicles to travel between Dinard and Saint - Malo . There is a drawbridge where the road crosses the lock which is raised to allow larger vessels to pass . The Rance estuary is the first part of the inland waterway from the English Channel to the Bay of Biscay via the Canal d'Ille - et - Rance and the river Vilaine . See also ( edit ) France portal Water portal Renewable energy portal List of tidal power stations List of largest power stations in the world Renewable energy in France References ( edit ) Jump up ^ `` Wyre Tidal Energy '' . Jump up ^ Yekang Ko and Derek K. Schubert ( 29 November 2011 ) . `` South Korea 's Plans for Tidal Power : When a `` Green '' Solution Creates More Problems '' ( PDF ) . report . Nautilus Institute . Retrieved 27 May 2016 . CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter ( link ) Jump up ^ `` Tidal giants - the world 's five biggest tidal power plants '' ( PDF ) . report . power-technology.com. 11 April 2014 . Retrieved 27 May 2016 . Jump up ^ http://france.edf.com/html/en/decouvertes/voyage/usine/bilan/usine_bilan_d.html Jump up ^ Edwards - May , David ( 2010 ) . Inland Waterways of France . St Ives , Cambs. , UK : Imray . pp. 90 -- 94 . ISBN 978 - 1 - 846230 - 14 - 1 . External links ( edit ) Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rance Tidal Power Station . University of Strathclyde Rance Project ( case study ) EDF website Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rance_Tidal_Power_Station&oldid=791952539 '' Categories : Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 Tidal power stations in France Coastal construction Buildings and structures in Ille - et - Vilaine Saint - Malo Tidal barrages Électricité de France Tourist attractions in Ille - et - Vilaine Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Uses authors parameter All articles lacking reliable references Articles lacking reliable references from June 2016 Use dmy dates from September 2013 Articles needing additional references from February 2014 All articles needing additional references Coordinates on Wikidata Articles containing video clips Talk Contents About Wikipedia Brezhoneg Čeština Deutsch Esperanto فارسی Français Hrvatski עברית Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Português Русский Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 23 July 2017 , at 14 : 16 . 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