Implementation and evaluation of the International Electrotechnical Commission specification for tidal stream energy resource assessment: A case study

Abstract

a b s t r a c tOver the next decades, tidal stream energy aims to become a fully commercially viable energy source. For this purpose, complete knowledge regarding tidal stream resource assessment is essential. In this context, the International Electrotechnical Commission has developed a technical standard for the assessment of the tidal stream resource, ''IEC 62600-201 TS: Marine energy -Wave, tidal and other water current converters -Part 201: Tidal energy resource assessment and characterisation", offering a vast set of recommendations in the fields of data collection, numerical modelling, data analysis and reporting of the results with the purpose of standardising tidal stream resource characterisation. The standard divides resource assessments into two different classes: feasibility and layout design. The model setup procedure (mesh resolution, boundary conditions) and the computational effort required vary significantly from one class to another. For these reasons, the objective of the present work is to explore the proposed standard using the Orkney Region (N Scotland) as a case study. Overall, it was found that the standard works well, offering a detailed characterisation of the tidal resource; however, in order to improve its manageability, some aspects related to the grid resolution requirements and the approach to model a tidal energy converter could be revisited for future editions.

Current trends and prospects of tidal energy technology

“…The research and development (R&D) in tidal energy is largely in the field of tidal barriers and turbines. The next epoch is likely to witness the tidal energy becoming a fully profitably sustainable energy source, and thus comprehensive research is significant in tidal energy (Ramos and Ringwood 2016 ; Melikoglu 2018 ). Nowadays, high quantities of capital funding are provided in order to develop the projects of the tidal stream energy.…”

“…The future seems brighter due to the designs of the tidal dams or barrages because the technology has been created roughly since half a century. Nonetheless, it has been stated that there are extensive plans for projects of tidal barrages in Russia, Korea, India, and the UK which amounts to nearly 115 GW in total (Ramos and Ringwood 2016 ), and deployment predictions for tidal energy up to 2020 are nearly about 200 MW (IRENA 2014 ). Table 4 presents the globally proposed tidal power stations.…”

Application of the actuator disc theory of Delft3D-FLOW to model far-field hydrodynamic impacts of tidal turbines

“…Further details regarding the main characteristics of the regional model can be found in Ref. [34]. With respect to the k-ε turbulence closure model used for the present work, the terms (n SGS , D SGS ) computed by the HLES sub-grid model were not considered, since their effect when predicting the wakes generated by the HATTs can be considered negligible [25].…”

Hydrokinetic Power Resource Assessment in a Combined Estuarine and River Region

“…Each area needs to be studied individually and a robust methodology for facilitating the analysis is required. By applying existing standards, a good tidal characterization can be obtained, although, for regions where other effects apart from the tidal flow exist, all stages of procedures should be applied for obtaining consistent results [11,12]. In the case of small to medium-size projects, such an option might not be suitable for a preliminary investigation of the exploitable energy resource.…”