New Delhi, 22 March 2013

A study that has been done for the assessment of tidal energy potential in the country by the Central Electricity Authority suggests that there is an estimated potential of about 7000 MW in the Gulf of Cambay, 1200 MW in the Gulf of Kutch in the State of Gujarat and about 100 MW in the Gangetic Delta in the Sunderbans region of West Bengal.

This detail was shared by Minister for new and renewable energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah in Lok Sabha in reply to a question.

In reply to a question regarding the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to encourage/set up tidal power projects in the country, the Minister said that the Ministry had sanctioned a project for setting up a 3.75 MW demonstration tidal power plant at Durgaduani Creek in Sunderbans, West Bengal to the West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency, Kolkata in Feb 2008. Recentely, Government of West Bengal has decided not to continue with the project due to the very high project cost.

The minister said that Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has policy guidelines for Research, Development and Demonstration in the area of New and Renewable Energy including tidal energy. The policy has provision to provide financial support for resource assessment, research and development and demonstration projects.

Tidal Energy and Gujarat

-British marine energy company Atlantis Resources Corporation, and Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd inked an MoU during year 2011 Vibrant Gujarat Summit to start a 50-Mw tidal power project off the coast of Gujarat at an estimated cost of Rs. 750 crore in 2013.

-Gujarat Government has covered tidal power project in its budget for financial year 2013-14.