Engineering study of tidal stream renewable energy generation and visualization: Issues of process modelling and implementation

Abstract

Tidal stream energy has the potential to make a significant contribution to energy mix in the future. Accurate modelling and visualisation of both tidal resource and array layout enhances understanding of in-stream tidal behaviour leading to improvements in site identification and optimal positioning of individual turbines. A realistic representation of blade loading conditions will aid designers and manufacturers in creating more robust devices and improve survivability. The main barriers to large scale deployments of tidal arrays are the costs associated with manufacturing, installation and maintenance. Therefore, presently tidal energy is not competitive on cost with more established renewable technologies. The current position paper investigates and reports on resource modelling, site selection, selecting optimal array configurations and the design and manufacture of devices for tidal stream renewable energy generation. This is aimed at developing models to reliably simulate real conditions, enhance understanding of tidal processes, flow regimes and device survivability issues.