Aperiodic tidal data resource assessment and LCOE analysis of selected areas in Nigeria

Abstract

Renewable energy is plentiful; we need only develop the technology to harness and distribute it efficiently and economically. The conversion of energy to electricity continues to be an area of interest for engineers and researchers. Tidal energy has been classified as one of five energy innovations that could transform our world—the others being fuel cells, lithium–air batteries, the smart grid, and space-based solar power (http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/5-Clean-Energy-Innovations-That-Could-Transform-Our-World.html). Resource engineering assessment constitutes the first step to the effective utilization of any resource. There are various candidate sites for tidal stream energy in Nigeria. The objective of this research is to examine the tidal stream resource potential of seven coastal sites using the modified continuous wavelet transform (CWT) method with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis. Foster’s method is newly applied to the aperiodic tidal series data. The results indicate that meaningful power is viable and could be economically extracted at each respective site, with peak mean approximate velocities at each site of ~10 m/s, and the LCOE estimate was found to be lower than that of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). This work represents the culmination of a series of papers exploring tidal energy resources in tropical Nigeria.