 Tidal energy leasing and tidal phasingSimon P. Neill, M. Reza Hashemi and Matt J. Lewis Renewable Energy, 2016, vol. 85, issue C, 580-587 Abstract: In addition to technical and economic constraints, tidal energy leasing is generally governed by demand for sites which contain the highest tidal streams, and does not take into account the phase relationship (i.e. the time lag) between sites. Here, the outputs of a three-dimensional tidal model are analysed to demonstrate that there is minimal phase diversity among the high tidal stream regions of the NW European shelf seas. It is therefore possible, under the current leasing system, that the electricity produced by the first generation of tidal stream arrays will similarly be in phase. Extending the analysis to lower tidal stream regions, we demonstrate that these lower energy sites offer more potential for phase diversity, with a mean phase difference of 1.25 h, compared to the phase of high energy sites, and hence more scope for supplying firm power to the electricity grid. We therefore suggest that a state-led leasing strategy, favouring the development of sites which are complementary in phase, and not simply sites which experience the highest current speeds, would encourage a sustainable tidal energy industry. Keywords: Tidal stream arrays; Tidal energy; Tidal phasing; Tidal model; NW European shelf seas (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:85:y:2016:i:c:p:580-587 DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2015.07.016 Access Statistics for this article Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier |
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