7/14/11 -Tidal Power Plant

Annapolis Royal is home to the only tidal power plant in North America...since the Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, Annapolis is an ideal location. The building houses a power generator that is driven by the ocean tides. Due to the extremely high tides in the Bay of Fundy (39 - 52 feet), the Power company has built on a causeway that has a lake on one side and the bay on the other. As the tides rise, the water flows into the lake and is then held in the lake. When the tides go out, water from the lake is released back into the bay through the turbines so that they are able to generate power for about 6-8 hours. Then the process starts all over again. We took a tour of this facility.