The ebb and flow of tidal barrage development in Zhejiang Province, China

China's major development and construction in utilization of tidal energy resources are concentrated in the area of Zhejiang Province. The development of tidal barrage in Zhejiang Province presented the ebb and flow trends. This paper introduced the resource status of tidal energy in Zhejiang Province. The five development stages of tidal barrage technology and the profiles of tidal power plant (TPP) in operation were reviewed, and problems and experiences were discussed. Some available future works for the development of tidal barrage were also proposed. The direction of utilizing tidal potential energy in the future is to update the generating units, improve construction skills and run optimization of operation in order to reduce costs and mitigate the impact on the environment. Actively exploring construction methods of medium to large-scale of TPPs are helpful to accelerate the utilization of tidal energy resources in Zhejiang Province and coastal areas in China.