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Category: Project

Description: Tidal range energy projects present an attractive means for the predictable and large-scale generation of electricity from the marine environment. In particular, proposals are under consideration in UK waters, with their feasibility currently being under high levels of scrutiny. This is due to a combination of potential environmental and socio-economic impacts that are challenging to quantify in the absence of a standardised methodology. At present, numerical models are being developed to provide robust resource/impact assessments and inform future designs. However, modelling inconsistencies in the representation of tidal power plants, operational algorithms, and turbine technology parameters can be observed in the studies to-date. This has made comparisons between proposed designs difficult to accomplish and rely upon. We present a series of models that progressively and consistently introduce spatial dimensions in resource prediction applications. The capabilities and limitations of each of these models are discussed with regard to the evaluation of energy resource and potential hydrodynamic impacts of tidal power plant proposals. Results highlight that a range of hydrodynamic scales should be considered, employing updated parametric models relating to the turbine technology capabilities. These steps will inform optimisation analyses and the robustness of tidal power plant proposals.