Tidal energy operational and spatial planning optimisation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
The UK, is committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050 relative to 1990 levels, and to meeting 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. Research suggests that the combined operation of tidal stream and range power schemes can exceed 12% of the UK's energy demand from a sustainable, clean energy source. In comparison with other renewable energy sources this comes with complete predictability which means that tidal can play a vital role in meeting the nation's energy needs. At the time of writing this proposal, pilot projects for tidal stream and range based energy generation are in the advanced stages of planning and development within the UK. The first tidal stream turbines installed within a pilot array in the Pentland Firth off of Scotland have just started to generate power. For tidal range-based technologies, the UK Government's "Hendry review", released on the 10th of Feb 2017, recommended that tidal lagoons (tidal range structures) can play an important role in the UK's energy mix. This provides a roadmap towards the development of the Swansea Bay lagoon as a pathfinder project and the first tidal range energy structure of this type worldwide. Construction could commence in 2018, with much larger industrial projects to follow subsequently.
We are thus at a crucial stage in the development of a new tidal-based renewable energy sector where the UK currently leads the world. This project seeks to build on this strong position by providing timely research on the environmental and ecological impacts of new, larger tidal developments in a manner that supports decision making by stakeholders, including coastal engineers, financiers, and primarily those concerned with environmental impacts. This project builds upon a strong foundation of recent work at Imperial College London that has provided the preliminary demonstration of computational methods for the representation of turbine arrays and tidal range structures within multi-scale models, as well as the optimisation of array designs and tidal plant operations to maximise power or profit, while minimising environmental impacts.
The proposed research will focus on the optimal spatial planning and operational control of prospective tidal range projects. Recent computational modelling findings suggest that up-scaling the development of marine energy infrastructure beyond the pilot scale poses a formidable challenge. Industrial proposals need to comprehensively evaluate and compensate for impacts on environmental processes that relate to water quality for sensitive species and tidal dynamics alterations. A quantification of environmental impacts (e.g. tidal flushing, Dissolved Oxygen) via simulation software can become computationally demanding when multiple processes are modelled at a large scale. Opportunities to reduce the computational load could stem from the fact that many of the environmental constraints can be described as objective functions. The optimisation proposed will be fully coupled to the underlying tidal dynamics, so that changes to tidal range structure design and control can feed back to the hydro-environmental processes and vice-versa.
The research will be conducted at the interface of academia and industry, and will be informed by marine energy developers, technical consultants and experts in environmental and coastal processes. Input from industry will be in the form of observed and model data that will be compared against the results of the tidal energy optimisation software. The data will also inform the optimisation method's constraints, and will be used to validate corresponding coastal models that aim to assess optimised designs of a series of industrial tidal range energy proposals. The overarching motivation of the research will be to inform environmental impact assessment practices and the sustainable development of upcoming clean energy technologies that will be developed by the UK's industry.
We are thus at a crucial stage in the development of a new tidal-based renewable energy sector where the UK currently leads the world. This project seeks to build on this strong position by providing timely research on the environmental and ecological impacts of new, larger tidal developments in a manner that supports decision making by stakeholders, including coastal engineers, financiers, and primarily those concerned with environmental impacts. This project builds upon a strong foundation of recent work at Imperial College London that has provided the preliminary demonstration of computational methods for the representation of turbine arrays and tidal range structures within multi-scale models, as well as the optimisation of array designs and tidal plant operations to maximise power or profit, while minimising environmental impacts.
The proposed research will focus on the optimal spatial planning and operational control of prospective tidal range projects. Recent computational modelling findings suggest that up-scaling the development of marine energy infrastructure beyond the pilot scale poses a formidable challenge. Industrial proposals need to comprehensively evaluate and compensate for impacts on environmental processes that relate to water quality for sensitive species and tidal dynamics alterations. A quantification of environmental impacts (e.g. tidal flushing, Dissolved Oxygen) via simulation software can become computationally demanding when multiple processes are modelled at a large scale. Opportunities to reduce the computational load could stem from the fact that many of the environmental constraints can be described as objective functions. The optimisation proposed will be fully coupled to the underlying tidal dynamics, so that changes to tidal range structure design and control can feed back to the hydro-environmental processes and vice-versa.
The research will be conducted at the interface of academia and industry, and will be informed by marine energy developers, technical consultants and experts in environmental and coastal processes. Input from industry will be in the form of observed and model data that will be compared against the results of the tidal energy optimisation software. The data will also inform the optimisation method's constraints, and will be used to validate corresponding coastal models that aim to assess optimised designs of a series of industrial tidal range energy proposals. The overarching motivation of the research will be to inform environmental impact assessment practices and the sustainable development of upcoming clean energy technologies that will be developed by the UK's industry.
Publications
Angeloudis A
(2020)
On the potential of linked-basin tidal power plants: An operational and coastal modelling assessment
in Renewable Energy
Angeloudis A
(2019)
Tidal range structure operation assessment and optimisation
in Dams and Reservoirs
Angeloudis A
(2018)
Optimising tidal range power plant operation
in Applied Energy
Angeloudis A
(2022)
Comprehensive Renewable Energy
Baker A
(2020)
Modelling the impact of tidal range energy on species communities
in Ocean & Coastal Management
Clare M
(2021)
Hydro-morphodynamics 2D modelling using a discontinuous Galerkin discretisation
in Computers & Geosciences
Coles D
(2021)
A review of the UK and British Channel Islands practical tidal stream energy resource.
in Proceedings. Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences
Fragkou A
(2023)
Benchmarking a two-way coupled coastal wave-current hydrodynamics model
in Ocean Modelling
Harcourt F
(2019)
Utilising the flexible generation potential of tidal range power plants to optimise economic value
in Applied Energy
Jordan C
(2022)
Combining shallow-water and analytical wake models for tidal array micro-siting
in Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy
Kadiri M
(2021)
Evaluating the eutrophication risk of an artificial tidal lagoon
in Ocean & Coastal Management
Mackie L
(2021)
Assessing impacts of tidal power lagoons of a consistent design
in Ocean Engineering
Mackie L
(2021)
Modelling an energetic tidal strait: investigating implications of common numerical configuration choices
in Applied Ocean Research
Mackie L
(2020)
The Potential for Tidal Range Energy Systems to Provide Continuous Power: A UK Case Study
in Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Medina-Lopez E
(2021)
Satellite data for the offshore renewable energy sector: Synergies and innovation opportunities
in Remote Sensing of Environment
Mejia-Olivares C
(2020)
Tidal range energy resource assessment of the Gulf of California, Mexico
in Renewable Energy
Neill S
(2018)
Tidal range energy resource and optimization - Past perspectives and future challenges
in Renewable Energy
Neill S
(2021)
Tidal range resource of Australia
in Renewable Energy
Pappas K
(2023)
Sensitivity of tidal range assessments to harmonic constituents and analysis timeframe
in Renewable Energy
Pennock S
(2022)
Temporal complementarity of marine renewables with wind and solar generation: Implications for GB system benefits
in Applied Energy
Piggott M
(2022)
Comprehensive Renewable Energy
Todeschini G
(2022)
Medium-term variability of the UK's combined tidal energy resource for a net-zero carbon grid
in Energy
Vouriot C
(2018)
Fate of large-scale vortices in idealized tidal lagoons
in Environmental Fluid Mechanics
Warder S
(2022)
Sedimentological data-driven bottom friction parameter estimation in modelling Bristol Channel tidal dynamics
in Ocean Dynamics
Description | The optimisation methodology developed as part of the research has indicated that there are several operational improvements that can be made in the operation of prospective tidal energy proposals. More information can be found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917317671 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261918319093 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0029801821012282 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148120305000 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964569120301319 https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/8/10/780 |
Exploitation Route | The software developed to produce these outcomes is available with additional information using an example. https://github.com/thangel/tidalplant https://github.com/thetisproject/thetis/tree/master/examples/tidal_barrage |
Sectors | Construction,Energy,Environment |
URL | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261917317671 |
Description | The methodology has now been demonstrated with industrial collaborators (Tidetec Ltd) and also applied to produce evidence for UK Government BEIS regarding the potential of tidal energy |
First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
Sector | Construction,Energy,Environment |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Title | Thetis |
Description | Contributions to a coastal ocean model funded by UKRI that is developed as part of research grants related to marine energy |
Type Of Material | Computer model/algorithm |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | The software has been used for most of the research outputs |
URL | https://thetisproject.org/ |
Description | Atlantis Resources |
Organisation | Atlantis Resources Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Provision of modelling expertise and model outputs to advise on resource assessment |
Collaborator Contribution | Measured data for validation of models |
Impact | Currently working on a UK-wide resource assessment of tidal energy resources as part ofthe research grants |
Start Year | 2019 |
Description | Collaboration with Tidetec |
Organisation | TideTec |
Country | Norway |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | I support this collaboration with advice on industrial projects and contribute as academic partners on proposals for pilot scale projects |
Collaborator Contribution | Tidetec is supporting an industrial PhD studentship, partly supported by EPSRC through the WAMSS CDT and are providing industrial information, technology data that are hugely helpful in extending the models developed during the fellowshop |
Impact | This is a work in progress. |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Imperial College London |
Organisation | Imperial College London |
Department | Faculty of Engineering |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are collaborating closely on the focus of the grant topic, through frequent research visits and contributions to the software developed as part of the grant. Working closely with Prof Matthew Piggott and the Applied Modelling and Computation Group at the Department of Earth Science and Engineering |
Collaborator Contribution | Several collaborative outputs have been produced, in the form of journal articles |
Impact | Several technical articles are under review on that front: - Modelling the ecological impacts of tidal energy barrages (under review in Ocean and Coastal management) - Evaluating the eutrophication risk of an artificial tidal lagoon (under review in Ocean and Coastal management) - On the potential of linked-basin tidal power plants: an operational and coastal modelling assessment (under review in Renewable Energy) - Hydro-morphodynamics 2D modelling using a discontinuous Galerkin discretisation (under review in Computers & Geosciences) |
Start Year | 2018 |
Description | University of York |
Organisation | University of York |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Collaboration on tidal energy ecological impact assessments. |
Collaborator Contribution | Contribution of technical expertise and research models |
Impact | - Modelling the ecological impacts of tidal energy barrages (under review in Ocean and Coastal management) |
Start Year | 2019 |
Title | Thetis |
Description | Coastal ocean model |
Type Of Technology | Software |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Open Source License? | Yes |
Impact | Several marine energy assessment tools associated with the objectives of the grants have been developed and used |