La Rance tidal power station
Central mareomotriz de La Rance
- Date
- 1966 · confidence high
- Place
- La Rance, Saint-Malo, Brittany, France
- Credited to
- Électricité de France (Robert Gibrat)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
A barrage closing the Rance estuary with 24 bulb turbines totalling 240 MW, using tides of up to 13 m. It was the first large-scale tidal power station and the largest for almost half a century.
Opened in November 1966; Korea's Sihwa station (254 MW, 2011) surpassed it in capacity.
What it led to
- the Annapolis and Sihwa tidal stations
- reversible bulb turbines
- environmental impact studies for tidal barrages