San Francisco Tidal Power in the Works

It’s pretty convenient that many of the world’s major cities happen to be fairly near to renewable energy sources. Two of America’s largest cities, New York and San Francisco, happen to have extremely strong tidal currents. And while we’ve previously reported that New York is working on some tidal infrastructure, today we’re excited to announce that San Francisco is looking to up the ante.

The City of San Francisco and PG&E (their electric utility) are partnering to study where and how to build the most effective tidal power plant in the bay. The force of the water is, of course, tremendous, and it’s been estimated that tidal turbines in the bay could produce as much as 400 megawatts of power.

Of course, getting at real numbers is precisely why this $1.5 million study is being done. Depending on the results of the study and the level of cooperation between utilities, state governments and the federal government, the bay could be producing power in as little as five years. But we’ll have to wait and see, this is only the first step on an unfortunately long road.

Via SFGate and Green Wombat

See also:
In Stream Tidal
Giant Shark Fin?