World's biggest tidal power plant to be built in South Korea

Jan 21, 2010 -BBC Monitoring

The world's largest tidal power station will be constructed off the coast of Inchon. GS Engineering and Construction signed a memorandum of understanding with state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) on Wednesday and will begin construction later next year with a view to completion around 2017.

The power station will have a capacity of 1.32 million kw/h, surpassing the 1 million kw/h of a nuclear reactor being constructed in Ulsan and 3.4 times greater than the capacity of the Rance Tidal Power Station in France, currently the world's largest. It will generate 2.41 billion kw per year, the equivalent of 60 per cent of Inchon's household electricity consumption.

"The Inchon tidal power station will save 3.54 million barrels of imported oil annually, and provide tremendous momentum for Korea's green growth initiative," said KHNP president Kim jong-shin.