The state of Gujarat plans to install Asia’s first commercial-scale tidal current power plant after its chief minister Narendra Modi approved the construction of a 50-megawatt project in the Gulf of Kutch.
Atlantis Resources Corporation will partner with Gujarat Power Corporation Limited for project construction as early as this year.
Atlantis conducted an economic and technical study of prime sites in the Gulf of Kutch, which has the potential to generate as much as 300 MW of tidal power.
Atlantis will also investigate the possibility of combining the offshore wind resource in the Gulf with the tidal resource to evaluate the feasibility of a mega marine power project.
“Gujarat has significant resource in the waters of its coast, so tidal energy represents a huge opportunity for us,” said D.J. Pandian, chairman and managing director of Gujarat Power.
“This project will be India’s and indeed Asia’s first at commercial scale and will deliver important economic and environmental benefits for the region, as well as paving the way for similar developments within Gujarat,” he said.
Meanwhile, the World Bank is providing over $1.2 billion for three environment management and protection projects that will clean up the waters of India. Incidentally, the projects will benefit the same areas that are near where the tidal project will be built.
The bank allotted $220 million for an integrated coastal zone management project, which focuses on managing and protecting the coastal areas of Orissa, West Bengal and Gujarat without sacrificing the livelihoods of the people living there.
Around $65 million will be provided for an industrial pollution management project, which aims to help rehabilitate selected industrial polluted sites and develop a national framework of remedying contaminated sites.
A $20 million project for phasing out ozone-depleting substances is currently in progress.
The World Bank will shell out $1 billion to support the National Ganga Project for sewage collection and treatment and municipal solid waste management to help reduce pollution in the Ganga River.
