Reserve Assessment and Potential Exploitation of Tidal Energy in Shanghai’s Sea Area of China

Abstract

Rapid economic development induces energy shortage and environmental pollution, and the utilization of renewable energy becomes a hot topic. Taking the tidal energy in Shanghai as a research object, this article analyzes the reserves, potential developing mode, and potential capacity on the basis of observation data for 18 years. The results show that the tidal energy resources are abundant in Shanghai’s sea area of China. Through tidal range analysis and tidal energy reserves calculation, the tidal barrage can be built to explore the tidal energy from the water head difference between the flood tide and the ebb in the north branch of Yangtze River Estuary, while the tidal turbines can be built to generate electricity in the Northern Hangzhou Bay. The tidal energy reserve is 3.65 million kW per year in Shanghai’s sea area of China. The annual electricity generating capacity is 10.07 billion kWh, which is equivalent to 3.63 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 3.72% of Shanghai energy consumption in 2007. It can also reduce 9.50 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year, 30.8 thousand tons of sulfur dioxide emissions, and 26.8 thousand tons of nitrogen oxides emissions. The utilization of tidal energy is an effective method to solve environmental problems and energy issues.