Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat first tidal power plant

After two years of feasibility studies, the Atlantis Resources Corporation has finally inked a deal to develop Asia's first tidal power plant. The plant will be located off the Gulf of Kutch in Gujarat, India. The new deal calls for an initial 50MW project now and later developments of up to 250MW plants.  "Gujarat has significant resource in the waters of its coast, so tidal energy represents a huge opportunity for us," says D.J. Pandian, chairman and managing director of Gujarat Power Corporation Limited (GPCL), Atlantis' local Indian partner. "This project will be India's and indeed Asia's first at commercial scale and will deliver important economic and environmental benefits for the region, as well as paving the way for similar developments within Gujarat."  During the feasibility studies, it was found that Gujarat's Gulf of Kutch had up to 300MW of viable tidal power potential. Atlantis is a leading player in marine power generators and previously set up similar projects around the world. In Gujarat, Atlantis is even talking about developing a "mega marine power project," by combining offshore wind and tidal power sources.  "The Gulfs of Kutch and Khambhat are renowned for their extreme daily tidal exchanges," noted Atlantis CEO, Tim Cornelius, back in December of 2009 during the initial feasibility assessment. "In harnessing this renewable energy quickly and sustainably, Gujarat can become a world-leader in tidal energy."  One particular byproduct of the Atlantis announcement is the creation of jobs.  Gujarat, a Western Indian state, is ramping up its environmental and economic investments--with a focus on the built environment. The Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2011, where the final Atlantis deal was unveiled this week, is currently underway and an additional $56.43 billion in urban development investments were announced during the summit.
tidal energy, is a form of hydropower that converts the energy of tides into electricity or other useful forms of power. The first large-scale tidal power plant (the Rance Tidal Power Station) started operation in 1966.

Although not yet widely used, tidal power has potential for future electricity generation. Tides are more predictable than wind energy and solar power. Among sources of renewable energy, tidal power has traditionally suffered from relatively high cost and limited availability of sites with sufficiently high tidal ranges or flow velocities, thus constricting its total availability. However, many recent technological developments and improvements, both in design (e.g. dynamic tidal power, tidal lagoons) and turbine technology (e.g. new axial turbines, crossflow turbines), indicate that the total availability of tidal power may be much higher than previously assumed, and that economic and environmental costs may be brought down to competitive levels.