Sikhvinskaya PES

The power plant is located on the northwestern coast of South Korea in the Gyeonggi-do province in the west of the city of Ansan, about 40 km south-west of the capital of the Republic of Korea, Seoul . She uses the power of the Yellow Sea , located between the Korean Peninsula and China . Due to the large area of ​​the bay and relatively shallow depths, strong tides occur. In Asan Bay, from which Sikhva Bay is separated, the tide is about 8 meters ^[3] .

In the region, in addition to the Sikhvinsky TPP, it is also planned to build three more tidal power plants ^[3]

• At Harorim Bay 500 MW
• Incheon Bay 1320 MW
• In Khonsu Bay, 700 MW

Between 1987 and 1994, the state-owned Korea Water Resources Corporation built dams initially not with the goal of generating electricity, but with the goal of recapturing a new territory from the sea (see Polder's article), and also with the goal of creating a freshwater reservoir for irrigation . After the dam was created and the bay was separated from the sea, the water quality in it began to deteriorate rapidly due to the discharge of municipal and industrial waste, which made the use of water for planned purposes impossible. A study by the Korea Ocean Research and Development Institute (KORDI) showed that in order to improve water quality again, more active water exchange with the open sea is needed.

Therefore, in 1997, it was decided to make a hole in the dam through which sea currents can penetrate the bay. This hole as a positive side effect made it possible to use tidal forces to generate energy and integrate the power plant into the system. Since the goal of generating energy was less significant and subordinate to environmental goals, the power plant was designed only for the one-way direction of water movement: only the incoming water spins the turbines, while the ebb is done without an energy effect. At low tide, water through eight access facilities simply merges into the sea. The fact that in this case there is less resistance than in tidal turbines, which provides increased water circulation. Thus, about a quarter of the volume of the bay is exchanged with each cycle.

The construction of the power plant was started in 2003. A temporary retaining wall of huge concrete cylinders was built next to the main dam, separating the dam shut-off structures from the sea. Thus, a section of the sea cut off from the water appeared, which was drained. In this section, a power station was built ^[4] . The construction was carried out by the South Korean company Daewoo Construction in cooperation with the Austrian company VA Tech Hydro.

In parallel with the construction of the power plant, two artificial islands, the “island of people ” and the “island of nature,” which are planned to be used for tourist and recreational purposes, are poured on both sides of the dam.

The launch of the power plant was planned in 2009, early 2010, but was repeatedly delayed during construction work. The station was finally opened and put into commercial use in August 2011.

Reservoir / Dam ^[4]

• Dam length: 12.7 km
• The volume of the reservoir is 324 million. m³
• Reservoir surface area: 56.5 km²
• Access facilities: 8 shutters, 15.3 m × 12 m (open at low tide)
• Sea water consumption: approximately 160 million m³ / day (corresponding to approximately 50% of the reservoir)
• Tide height: 7.5 m

Power station

• Annual production of 550 GWh (roughly corresponds to the city’s need for half a million people)
• Water fall height: 5.82 m
• Number of turbines: 10 pieces
• The number of blades on the turbine: 3 blades
• Power 25.4 MW x 10 turbines = 254 MW
• Capacity 482 m³ / s per turbine
• Impeller diameter: 7.5 m
• Rotational Speed: 64.3 rpm

Generators:

• Voltage 10.2 kV
• Power: 26.76 MVA
• Frequency: 60 Hz

The dam construction costs amounted to about $ 646 million plus the construction costs of the power plant itself in the amount of $ 382 million ^[5] .

• Project Description