A Review of Software Tools to Study the Energetic Potential of Tidal Currents

María José Suárez-López, Rodolfo Espina-Valdés, Víctor Manuel Fernández Pacheco, Antonio Navarro Manso, Eduardo Blanco-Marigorta and Eduardo Álvarez-Álvarez
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María José Suárez-López: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain
Rodolfo Espina-Valdés: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain
Víctor Manuel Fernández Pacheco: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain
Antonio Navarro Manso: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain
Eduardo Blanco-Marigorta: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain
Eduardo Álvarez-Álvarez: Universidad de Oviedo, EDZE (Energía), Campus de Viesques, 33203 Gijón (Asturias), Spain

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: Tides can be a vast and predictable source of renewable energy. Due to the solar and lunar influx on our planet, they move large amounts of water periodically, and this energy can be harnessed using devices designed and positioned adequately, such as current turbines. However, the relation between the energy obtained with actual devices and the economic and environmental cost of their installation limits the practical application of these solutions. In order to optimize the design of this technology and achieve its successful installation and use, a detailed knowledge about the energy potential of tides at the specific location is necessary. This calculation is not easy and requires the use of specialized software tools. Currently, there is no specific software to evaluate the tidal currents energy potential, but there are more than a few codes able to calculate the hydraulic flow in rivers, estuaries and coastal regions. These programs are usually used for the calculation of pollutant dispersion and floods, but they can be adapted with more or less success. This paper reviews the available 1D, 2D, and 3D software tools with the aim of analyzing their functionality and their validity to evaluate the energy potential of tidal currents.

Keywords: hydrodynamic model; tidal energy; depth-averaged velocities; water-free-surface (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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