The Energy Polder: Feasibility Study on a Tidal Power Plant along the Western Scheldt

Abstract

In the Netherlands 6,8% of the total electricity production came from renewable energy sources. Electricity was 17 % of the total energy consumption in that year. In total 1,2% of the energy consumption was therefore renewable. The objective of the cabinet to get 20% of the energy from renewable energy sources will therefore be a major challenge. All available means should therefore be employed to reach this objective. Tidal energy did not seem feasible for the Netherlands, as the tidal difference is relatively small. After research done for a tidal power plant at the Brouwersdam it turned out that production of tidal energy could become attractive when combined with other social interests, such as improving the ecology of the area. On the 11th of March 2005 the Netherlands signed an agreement about the Western Schelt. This agreement said that Hertogin Hedwigepolder should be given back to the estuary. This had to be done to compensate nature loss due to deepening of the Western Scheldt as a result of shipping requirements. By combining the desire of the cabinet for more energy production from renewable energy sources with the plans to compensate for nature loss in the Western Scheldt the idea came to gain tidal energy from polders. Because of this new function of the polder it is called the energy polder. The aim of this study is to research the economical and technical feasibility of a tidal power plant along the Western Scheldt. The attention in this study lays on the design of the structures needed for the tidal power plant. With this design a good insight in the costs is obtained. A design, a hydraulic model and an economic model were made to obtain insight in the cost benefit ratio. It turned out that the energy price needed for this plan is equal to that of offshore wind energy.Hydraulic EngineeringCivil Engineering and Geoscience