Modelling assessment of the tidal stream resource in the Ria of Ferrol (NW Spain) using a year-long simulation

Abstract

The availability of tidal stream energy in the Ría of Ferrol (NW Spain) has been assessed using a long term hydrodynamic simulation (351 days). A priori, a strait in the central part of the estuary seems a promising site for tidal energy tapping, but the results show that barotropic currents rarely exceed 0.9 m/s during spring tides, with a maximum peak power density of 0.45 kW/m 2 estimated at a spring tide mid-ebb. The maximum annual energy density is estimated at 415 kWh/m 2 , significantly lower than at other nearby estuaries. A comparison of the annual resource estimates shows that differences of up to 35% can be introduced depending on whether a simulation of one tidal cycle, one lunar month, or a full year is used for the calculations. This proves that usual tidal resource estimations, based on a single tidal cycle, can significantly misestimate the tidal energy potential of a site.

Resource Assessment of Tidal Stream Power in Pakiputan Strait, Davao Gulf, Philippines

“…The total land area amounts to 298,170km 2 , with a sea area of 1,830km 2 , 6% of which are considered marine protected areas [12]. The population has reached 109,763,425 in 2020, with around 62% living in the coastal areas [12].…”

“…The ocean provides a vast source of potential energy that can be captured through tidal, wave, salinity gradient, and ocean thermal energy conversion systems [1]. Energy from tidal currents is one of the most promising renewable energies due to the several advantages compared to other renewable energy sources [2]. Among its advantages are the high predictability of tidal currents [3], the higher density of seawater (over 800 times that of air) that assures larger potential energy as compared to wind [2], lesser environmental impact compared to tidal barrage facilities [4], and d) the absence of extreme flow velocities that might damage the equipment or complicate its maintenance [4].…”

“…Energy from tidal currents is one of the most promising renewable energies due to the several advantages compared to other renewable energy sources [2]. Among its advantages are the high predictability of tidal currents [3], the higher density of seawater (over 800 times that of air) that assures larger potential energy as compared to wind [2], lesser environmental impact compared to tidal barrage facilities [4], and d) the absence of extreme flow velocities that might damage the equipment or complicate its maintenance [4]. The last point mentioned depends on the strong flow profile brought by the local bathymetry near the TEC deployment site [5].…”

The Potential of Tidal Energy Production in a Narrow Channel: The Gulf of Morbihan

“…Those sites are large (cross-sections of several kilometres) and deep enough (depth greater than 30 m) to deploy dozens or hundreds of turbines with rotor diameters of around 15-25 m. Complementary to those large-scale projects, numerous scenarios of tidal stream exploitation relying on smaller-scale sites are also under development, in some instances to provide renewable electricity to remote coastal communities [5]. Examples of small-scale sites and projects can be found in estuaries, e.g., the Ria of Ferrol, Spain [6]; the Ria of Muros, Spain [7]; in narrow tidal channels such as the Puget Sound, the USA [8]; or between islands, such as the Faroe Islands [9] and the Flores and Andonara Islands, Indonesia [10]. An assessment of the resources at the latter (small-scale) sites demonstrates that tidal stream turbines can significantly contribute to the energy mix, which is the first prerequisite for project development.…”

Sea level rise will change estuarine tidal energy: A review

“…Indeed, tidal energy is one of the most promising renewable energy resources given its advantages including that it is highly predictable, cost-effective, presents high load factors (water is approximately 800 times denser than air), and has limited environmental impacts [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. Therefore, the efficient exploitation of this underutilised resource can increase the future share of renewable energies in the energy mix and thus, meeting the ambitious decarbonisation targets worldwide [19,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32].…”