New Concept for Assessment of Tidal Current Energy in Jiangsu Coast, China

Abstract

Tidal current energy has attracted more and more attentions of coastal engineers in recent years, mainly due to its advantages of low environmental impact, long-term predictability, and large energy potential. In this study, a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model is applied to predict the distribution of mean density of tidal current energy and to determine a suitable site for energy exploitation in Jiangsu Coast. The simulation results including water elevation and tidal current (speed and direction) were validated with measured data, showing a reasonable agreement. Then, the model was used to evaluate the distribution of mean density of tidal current energy during springtide and neap tide in Jiangsu Coast. Considering the discontinuous performance of tidal current turbine, a new concept for assessing tidal current energy is introduced with three parameters: total operating time, dispersion of operating time, and mean operating time of tidal current turbine. The operating efficiency of tidal current turbine at three locations around radial submarine sand ridges was taken as examples for comparison, determining suitable sites for development of tidal current farm.