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At present there are several sources of tidal electric generation. 1. The tidal fence or barrage type of generating station such as the one at St. Malo in France. To date, this is the most effective method for generating electricity utilizing the tidal currents. 2. Tidal turbines are the chief competition to the tidal fence. Looking like an underwater wind turbine they offer a number of advantages over the tidal fence. They are less disruptive to wildlife, allow small boats to continue to use the area, and have much lower material requirements than the fence. The following presentation illustrates the use of an array of paddlewheel powered pumps enclosed in a floating barge to pump sea water to a reservoir which would then store approximately 2 weeks supply of sea water to power one or more conventional hydro-electric turbines to provide on-demand electric power to a local grid. Two situations would make this preferable to utilizing local creeks or rivers for water for a standard hydroelectric dam. The first would be if the local rivers or creeks were valuable as a fish resource, and the second would be if there was only one small hill in the area and no rivers or creeks at sufficient elevation to feed a reservoir. Also, the scheme would not be dependent on rainfall.
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