GC: n
CT: The tidal power plant at the Rance River estuary in Brittany, France, uses a barrage. It was built in 1966 and is still functioning. The plant uses two sources of energy: tidal energy from the English Channel and river current energy from the Rance River. The barrage has led to an increased level of silt in the habitat. Native aquatic plants suffocate in silt, and a flatfish called plaice is now extinct in the area. Other organisms, such as cuttlefish, a relative of squids, now thrive in the Rance estuary. Cuttlefish prefer cloudy, silty ecosystems.
S: http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/tidal-energy/?ar_a=1 (last access: 25 February 2015)
N: 1. – tidal (adj): 1807, a hybrid formation from tide (n.) + Latin-derived suffix -al. A tidal wave (1819) properly is high water caused by movements of the tides; erroneous use for “tsunami, great ocean wave caused by an earthquake, etc.” is recorded from 1868.
– power (n): c. 1300, “ability; ability to act or do; strength, vigor, might,” especially in battle; “efficacy; control, mastery, lordship, dominion; legal power or authority; authorization; military force, an army,” from Anglo-French pouair, Old French povoir, noun use of the infinitive, “to be able,” earlier podir (9c.), from Vulgar Latin *potere, from Latin potis “powerful”.
Meaning “energy available for work is from 1727. Sense of “electrical supply” is from 1896.
– plant (n): Old English plante “young tree or shrub, herb newly planted,” from Latin planta “sprout, shoot, cutting” (source of Spanish planta, French plante), perhaps from *plantare “to drive in with the feet, push into the ground with the feet,” from planta “sole of the foot,” from nasalized form of PIE *plat- “to spread, flat”.
2. tidal power station: A hydroelectric power station which uses the differences in water height due to the tides.
3. The tide moves a huge amount of water twice each day, and harnessing it could provide a great deal of energy – around 20% of Britain’s needs.
Although the energy supply is reliable and plentiful, converting it into useful electrical power is not easy.
There are eight main sites around Britain where tidal power stations could usefully be built, including the Severn, Dee, Solway and Humber estuaries. Only around 20 sites in the world have been identified as possible tidal power stations.
A few years ago, “tidal power” meant “tidal barrage”, but these days there are other options as well.
S: 1. OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=tidal; http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=power+plant (last access: 5 January 2017): 2. TACIS (1886) p. 574. 3. http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm (last access: 25 February 2015).
SYN: 1. tidal plant. 2. tidal power station. 3. tide harnessing plant, tidal wave plant, tidal power work.
S: 1. GDT (last access: 25 February 2015); TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 25 February 2015). 2. GDT; http://www.darvill.clara.net/altenerg/tidal.htm (last access: 25 February 2015); TACIS (1886) p. 574. 3. TERMIUM PLUS (last access: 25 February 2015).
