The Sihwa Tidal Power Plant is a remarkable example of a high energy capacity power plant with a low environmental impact. It has redefined what a power plant can be by improving its surrounding environment and creating a local landmark and tourist attraction. Construction was completed in 2011 making it the first tidal power plant in Korea and the largest in the world. The project was commissioned by K-water, the Korean government water authority with the main goals of the project being to improve the water quality of Lake Sihwa and to provide a clean alternative energy source.
Using tidal energy the plant generates one way power twice a day. This is done when a height difference is created between the two bodies of water during high tide, when a flood gate is opened the water flows through a turbine which generates power. Our calculations of the system show that the plant is turning 37% to 87% potential energy into electricity. We were able to determine that increasing the head will significantly impact the efficiency of the system by comparing our calculations to the actual output reported.
We concluded that the design of the Sihwa Tidal Barrage Power Plant was thoroughly though out and there is only small things that could be done to marginally increase the efficiency of the plant like smoothing the walls. Given the difference in this system to other dams one way we concluded that could be a way to increase the efficiency is to cater to the low head height the system often sees and install additional turbines that are most efficient at these lower head heights. However, the expenses of this option might outweigh the impact making it obsolete.
The success of this power plant has inspired other Korean companies to invest in new tidal power plants in the West Sea off the western coast of Korea. Despite the Sihwa Tidal Barrage's success implantations of future projects has been delayed by concerns raised about the potential environmental impacts of these new plants. Additional studies and designs are being conducted to ensure the proposed power plants have a minimal environmental impact, improve the surrounding costal ecosystems and meet the requirements of the renewable portfolio standard (RPS). To complement the tidal power plant K-water aims to create clusters of renewable energy facilities by adding wind and solar PV capacity to the Sihwa area.