Submitted by InterestedReader on July 14, 2007 - 12:31pm.
According to the July 2 headlines of the Taiwan newspaper, the government is discussing the possiblility of using the Kuroshio current off the east coast of Taiwan for a free hydro current project.
The main problem in doing so is to find the proper location "with a current strong enough, an undersea shelf not too deep, and a distance short enough to achieve power supply efficiency". It seems as if their thinking is clear. Chen Fa-lin, director of the project, believes that a "site of 25 square kilometers located in the 'shallow, high-speed zone' could support the deployment of 1,000 one-megawatt marine turbines, which would have a peak capacity of 1,000 megawatts: equal to the output of Taiwan's second nuclear power plant".
Once Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) gives approval, the "first step should be setting up a five-megawatt marine turbine off Taiwan's east coast on a trial basis, with the goal of testing both related technologies and power-generating efficiency".
Taiwan, an island of 23 million, is looking to reduce importation and burning of coal. They believe that a good answer to their energy problem lies in development of ocean current hydro and they be the first Chinese to test the exploitation of this power potential although it has already been used in other countries. Britain will be starting up a 1.2Mw unit August 20.
A description of the specific type of Taiwan turbine has not been provided as the project is at the planning stage and government approval from CEPD must be given but I believe that their thinking and application will be of great interest to all countries having close access to ocean current sources, including the US, where the Federal government has already provided funds ($5 million) to the state of Florida for studies on extraction of power from the Gulf of Mexico current.
Ocean current hydro interest is beginning to warm up as some nations increasingly see that their growing power requirements cannot be cleanly met by coal and nuclear.
China Ocean Current Development
According to the July 2 headlines of the Taiwan newspaper, the government is discussing the possiblility of using the Kuroshio current off the east coast of Taiwan for a free hydro current project.
The main problem in doing so is to find the proper location "with a current strong enough, an undersea shelf not too deep, and a distance short enough to achieve power supply efficiency". It seems as if their thinking is clear. Chen Fa-lin, director of the project, believes that a "site of 25 square kilometers located in the 'shallow, high-speed zone' could support the deployment of 1,000 one-megawatt marine turbines, which would have a peak capacity of 1,000 megawatts: equal to the output of Taiwan's second nuclear power plant".
Once Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) gives approval, the "first step should be setting up a five-megawatt marine turbine off Taiwan's east coast on a trial basis, with the goal of testing both related technologies and power-generating efficiency".
Taiwan, an island of 23 million, is looking to reduce importation and burning of coal. They believe that a good answer to their energy problem lies in development of ocean current hydro and they be the first Chinese to test the exploitation of this power potential although it has already been used in other countries. Britain will be starting up a 1.2Mw unit August 20.
A description of the specific type of Taiwan turbine has not been provided as the project is at the planning stage and government approval from CEPD must be given but I believe that their thinking and application will be of great interest to all countries having close access to ocean current sources, including the US, where the Federal government has already provided funds ($5 million) to the state of Florida for studies on extraction of power from the Gulf of Mexico current.
Ocean current hydro interest is beginning to warm up as some nations increasingly see that their growing power requirements cannot be cleanly met by coal and nuclear.
Reference: http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=79557&CtNode=47
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