Optimal phasing of tidal stream power around the British Isles and within the English Channel for green ammonia production

Honora Driscoll, Nicholas Salmon and Rene Bañares-Alcántara

Renewable Energy, 2025, vol. 241, issue C

Abstract: Green ammonia, a fertilizer, energy carrier and shipping fuel, is a key zero-carbon chemical for the transition to net zero, but is produced in minimal quantities today, predominantly from wind and solar renewable energy. The waters around the British Isles and within the English Channel contain immense potential for predictable tidal stream energy, which is vastly underutilized today. The Haber-Bosch reactor, which is used to produce ammonia, is not flexible, requiring a smooth (consistent) power input. This paper analyses the potential for exploiting the difference in phase of tidal stream currents (tidal phasing) in different locations to optimize the aggregate power profile for the purpose of green ammonia production. A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the location of the turbines. For the four regions analysed in 2050, phasing is always beneficial – the levelized cost of ammonia (LCOA) is reduced by 6–13 % compared to an unphased, single turbine of the same capacity factor (CF), excluding cabling costs. Phasing is particularly evident in the Bristol Channel and in Alderney as their phased power profiles have infrequent zero or low power values. Although the cabling costs are significant, the tidal capital cost (CAPEX) always contributes more than the cabling CAPEX to the LCOA.

Keywords: Tidal stream energy; Tidal phasing; Green ammonia; Hydrogen carrier; Genetic algorithm; Optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148124024030
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124024030

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.122335

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable Energy is currently edited by Soteris A. Kalogirou and Paul Christodoulides

More articles in Renewable Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().