2. Tidal power plants: basin layout and operating modes

The possible sites presented in this article generally correspond to tides of average amplitude H of between 5 and 8 m, with successive tides of similar amplitude and duration of 12 h 15. The theoretical potential per half-tide for a basin area S of 1 km ² is the energy of a volume S H under an average load of 0.5 H, i.e. in kWh :

and the theoretical annual potential for 706 tides is close, in GWh/km ² ...