Tidal stream resource classifications

Abstract

Increasing energy demands and rapid climate change warrant the exploration of clean and renewable energy sources. While we have a plethora of renewable energy source options, tidal streams offer a bountiful, reliable, and predictable source of dense and low-carbon energy. As the tidal industry is still in its infancy, the current cost of tidal stream energy production is very high as compared to other non-conventional resources. In this study, a classification system is developed for tidal stream resources available across the U.S., which would assist in preliminary project siting and streamlining the development of tidal energy harnessing devices, which in turn is an effort to make the tidal energy harnessing economically viable. The classification system for tidal energy resource appraisal is based on evaluating the opportunity for energy generation quantified by power and constrained by secondary parameters such as the cross-sectional area and depth of the channel. Further, several relationships are established between the primary classification parameter and other design parameters such as the one-percent exceedance velocity and the maximum velocity at a site to simplify the tidal project development, as it enables the determination of design parameters from the fundamental classification parameters, bypassing tedious data processing. The goal of this study is to develop a tidal resource classification system based on the most important metrics that characterize the resource attributes and the range of values observed for these metrics.