Tidal Energy Flows between the Midriff Islands in the Gulf of California

Federico Angel Velazquez-Muñoz and Anatoliy Filonov
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Federico Angel Velazquez-Muñoz: Department of Physics, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44100, Mexico
Anatoliy Filonov: Department of Physics, University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara 44100, Mexico

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: The Gulf of California has many regions of potential tidal-stream energy that have been identified and characterized using in-situ measurements and numerical ocean models. The Midriff Islands region has received particular attention due to its increased current speeds and high kinetic energy. This increase in energy can be seen in the formation of internal wave packets propagating for several hundred kilometers. Here we present a brief description of internal wave measurements travel towards the Northern Gulf and explore energy generation sites. In this paper we characterize the tidal inflow and outflow that passes throughout the Midriff Islands in the central part of the Gulf. We use a three-dimensional numerical ocean model that adequately reproduces the tidal flow and the increase in speed and kinetic energy between the islands. The current flow structure shows the highest velocity cores near the shore and far from the bottom. During the rising tide, the maximum current flow (~0.6 ms −1 ) was found between Turón Island and San Lorenzo Island, from the surface to 200 m depth. When the currents flowed out of the Gulf, during the falling tide, the maximum negative current (−0.8 ms −1 ) was found between Tiburon Island and Turón Island, from near the surface to 80 m depth. Although there are favorable conditions for power generation potential by tidal flows, the vertical variability of the current must be considered for field development and equipment installation sites.

Keywords: modeling of tidal energy flows; “in situ” assessment; gulf of California; Midriff archipelago (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: 2021
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