[Presenter] The first power station in the country that exploits the energy of sea tides has been re-opened on the coast of the Barents Sea. The station was originally started up in 1968, but it was later closed down because of financial problems. According to scientists, in years to come stations of this type could be producing 15 per cent of Russia's energy needs.

Here reporting is Dmitriy Vysotskiy.

[Correspondent] The coast of the Barents Sea experiences not only the strongest winds, but also the biggest tides. That is why they decided to build the only tidal power station in the country here.

The local conditions allow the station to produce cheap electricity all the year round without interruption.

The tidal power station is to be found in the narrow inlet in the Guba Kislaya [bay]. It can only be reached by launch. During high tide in the crater the water reaches the eight-metre mark. That is the height of a three-storey house.

[Aleksandr Kalashov, head of the Kislogubskaya tidal power station, captioned] The high and low tides occur almost every 12 hours. So, roughly speaking, the hydroelectric unit can produce power four times a day, apart from when the water is still.

[Correspondent] The tidal power station started working at the end of 1968. It's industrial capacity is meagre. Energy workers joke that it could power 200 kettles. It is not even sufficient to supply the workers' settlement with energy. The station was originally built as a scientific base.

In the mid-1980s the scientific programme was closed down because of financial programmes, and the station was mothballed.

It is only now that people have come back. A new hydroelectric generating set has been installed to replace the old one. [Passage omitted]

[Correspondent] At the moment Russia is building two tidal power stations with industrial capacity. Scientists think tidal power stations could account for 15 per cent of Russia's power production by 2030.