Assessment of the Malaysian Tidal Stream Energy Resources

Abstract

As a developing country, Malaysia has shown great interest and effort to commit and invest for green technology and green energy especially tidal energy resources. This research project is conducted to carry out an assessment study to analyse and compare several locations in Malaysia while using the optimal analytical approach in finding the best sites to harness tidal stream resource around Malaysia. Previous studies that only considered flow velocity at the deployment sites may not be accurate since geometry of the coastal region and the friction force exerted from the tidal flow with the seabed can also contribute to the suitability of the proposed tidal sites. Tidal Model Driver was used to extract tidal elevation data on specific harmonic constituents and tidal velocity attribute, and then compared to the data obtained from General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans. The weighted decision matrix was used to analyse the potential of each location by considering essential criteria such as tidal velocity, depth of coastline, geometry of coastline and environmental impacts. Top locations with the highest score were chosen as potential location to invest in a tidal energy farm, which consists of Pulau Pangkor, Port Dickson, and Pulau Tioman among others. The locations that produce the highest yearly energy density are found to be Pulau Pangkor with 1.21 MWh/year followed by Pulau Pinang with 836.5 kWh/year. Notably, the inclusion of other factors besides tidal velocity such as the site characteristic and the amount of potential impact to the environment provided different outcome than published materials in this field.

Statistical Analysis on The Near-Wake Region of RANS Turbulence Closure Models for Vertical Axis Tidal Turbine

“…Table 1 lists the selected RANS models along with their detailed descriptions. Since this numerical study was carried out for the Malaysian shallow water environment, averaged tidal stream velocity of 1.0 m/s (Ghazvinei et al, 2018;Rahman et al, 2019;Salem et al, 2015) and averaged water depth of 30.0 m (Garces et al, 2006;Sakmani et al, 2013;Yaakob et al, 2006) were set as controlled parameters based on available literature. ii.…”

“…Harnessing tidal stream energy in shallow water environments is highly dependent on tidal stream velocity and water depth for cost-effective power generation. In particular, the average tidal stream velocity in the shallow water of Malaysia is approximately 1.0 m/s (Ghazvinei et al, 2018;Rahman et al, 2019;Salem et al, 2015). This velocity is significantly lower than the minimum flow speed required for the horizontal axis tidal turbine (HATT), but it is appropriate for vertical axis tidal turbine (VATT) deployment (Abdullah et al, 2021;Bonar et al, 2018;Elbatran et al, 2018;Lafleur et al, 2020).…”

“…This velocity is significantly lower than the minimum flow speed required for the horizontal axis tidal turbine (HATT), but it is appropriate for vertical axis tidal turbine (VATT) deployment (Abdullah et al, 2021;Bonar et al, 2018;Elbatran et al, 2018;Lafleur et al, 2020). Nevertheless, there are areas experiencing high marine current flows which include narrow straits, between islands, around the headland, and entrance to lochs, bays, and large harbours where the average tidal stream velocity is between 1.0 m/s to 1.5 m/s with high potential for tidal stream energy extraction (Bonar et al, 2018;Ghazvinei et al, 2018;Lee & Seng, 2009;Lim & Koh, 2010;Rahman et al, 2019;Salem et al, 2015). Besides, water depth at areas experiencing high marine current flows in Malaysia is considered shallow, with an average depth of 30.0 m (Garces et al, 2006;Sakmani et al, 2013).…”

Analysis of Wake Turbulence for a Savonius Turbine for Malaysia’s Slow-Moving Current Flow

“…Tidal turbines are considered a costeffective alternative to harness ocean resources compared to wave energy, OTEC, and salinity gradient power (Chong & Lam, 2013). The tidal turbine generates electricity due to ocean-tide variations (Rahman et al 2019). Tidal forces generated by the sun and moon create tidal motions according to the earth's rotation (Faez Hassan et al, 2012).…”