Minas Basin Tidal Power

The highest tides in the world occur in Minas Basin, in Nova Scotia. The total height difference is on average 12 meters (39 feet), but reach as high as or higher than 16 meters (52 feet). For those of you who don't know, that is very big. A lot of water can fit into something the size of the Minas Basin in that 52 feet different of tides.

Now, current tidal stations are passive; they only can collect worthwhile energy when the water is really moving. Plus, while tidal generators can tap the power of the tides, there is currently no really efficient way to store electricity. So enter the Minas Basin Tidal Power Generators.

Not specifically based in the Minas Basin, but possibly, these generators are built anywhere with high tides. What they do is something special. They store tidal energy at 100% efficiency. They are the perfect battery. It begins with a wall. It ends with a large flat place in the back, several intakes, and an ocean at the front.

When the tide is at its highest, the wall to this massive generator is lowered, allowing water to flow into the intakes, and raising the water level inside to rise. If built in the proper place (say, the Minas Basin) you can fill up the entire generator with 50 feet of water.

And considering that more water flows through the Minas Basin every tide than does water through every river on Earth each day, this is a lot of water to be talking about.

Let's pretend the generator covers a square mile of water. That means at 50 ft tides (Minas Basin...) we will get 1,449,676,800 cubic feet of water. In comparison, the Amazon River discharges about 408,240,000,000 cubic feet daily, and the Amazon is 20% of the world river output. And the Minas Basin tides happpen every 12.5 hours.

So, if we let the water flood inside and fill it to 50 ft, and close the intakes, what do you have? A square mile pool of water 50 feet above the ground. That is a LOT of potential energy.

Now to the flat area part. You have either a) Another mile square walled off area, on water, unaffected by tides, or b) behind another big wall, to the back, a large square-mile flat are walled off on land.

If in water, this unfilled part is where the water will go. Every low tide, the out-takes are opened, and the flat part is emptied of all water. And then the out-takes are closed.

What does this give you, you may ask? It gives you a way to control the trillion and a half cubic feet of water that is 50 feet above the surrounding area. Whenever you need energy, let some water from the high-tide trap trickle into the low-tide trap through some turbines. Every high-tide, the high-trap is filled, and every low-tide, the low-trap is filled.

Energy expense is neglidgeble, aside from building, and opening/closing intakes and outtakes.

So viola! Tidal energy, when you need it!