Dynamic Tidal Power Dam | mysimulator.uk

Dam Geometry

Dam length L 24 km

Water depth D 30 m

Tidal amplitude A 2.0 m

Turbine count 18

Live Output

Instant power

0.0 MW

Avg power (cycle)

0.0 MW

Peak head Δh this cycle

0.00 m

How it works

A conventional tidal barrage encloses a basin and waits for the tide to fill and empty it. A Dynamic Tidal Power (DTP) dam encloses nothing — it is a straight wall run 20–50 km out from the coast into open water. The tidal wave has to travel around its far tip to reach the "far" face, so the two faces of the dam feel the same tide out of phase by the wave's travel time. That phase lag alone creates a head difference along the dam's length, which turbines set into the wall convert to power — no basin, no lock gates.

wave speed:   c = √(g·D)
wavenumber:   k = ω / c            (ω = 2π / T, T = M2 tide ≈ 12h25m)
face levels:  η_N(x,t) = A·sin(θ − k·x)
              η_S(x,t) = A·sin(θ − k·(L − x))
head:         Δh(x,t) = η_N − η_S
flow speed:   v(x,t) = sign(Δh)·√(2g·|Δh|)   (orifice relation)
turbine power: P_i = Cp · ½ρ · A_turbine · |v_i|³

Dam length L — longer dam ⇒ larger spatial phase lag k·L between the ends, but also spreads that lag unevenly along the wall.
Water depth D — sets the shallow-water wave speed c = √(gD); shallower water slows the wave and raises k for the same L, strengthening the head.
Tidal amplitude A — the open-ocean tidal range feeding both faces; head scales with A.
Turbine count — bulb turbines set into the dam at even spacing; each spins on the local instantaneous head, so turbines near a phase node barely turn while turbines near an antinode spin hard.

Real-world relevance: DTP dams have been formally studied for the Jiangsu coast of China and the Korean west coast, where a wide, gently sloping continental shelf gives exactly the long, shallow travel path this model needs to build a useful head from phase lag alone.

North face (η_N) South face (η_S) Turbine (spin ∝ |v|)

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