Fuzzy-Based Impact Analysis Study on Site Selection of Tidal Power Plants

Abstract

According to the current scenario of electricity production, thermal power is the largest supplier to the ever increasing demand for electricity. But as the amount of coal stored is finite and thermal power plants are one of the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions, presently such power plants are not preferred by engineers. Scientists are now looking for alternative sources of energy like solar, wind, geothermal, or hydro power. The biggest advantage of such sources is they are infinite, but the inability to store such energy has prevented the wide-scale use of renewable energy for meeting the ever-rising demand. The potential of hydropower for the generation of electricity is immense, but, due to the irregularity in frequency of discharge in rivers, such sources of electricity production are unable to replace conventional energy sources. In the case of tidal power, power produced from tidal waves, the selection of a suitable site can alter the stability of power production. The present study tries to identify suitable sites for tidal power generation in the Sundarban region of West Bengal. The C limate-O ptimized B asic fuzzy- A lgo for identification of L ocation for T idal power (COBALT) algorithm was developed to identify the optimal location for tidal power plants among available options.