Multi-scale ocean response to a large tidal stream turbine array

• Published in: Renewable energy 2017-12, Vol.114, p.1160-1179
• Main Authors: De Dominicis, Michela, O'Hara Murray, Rory, Wolf, Judith
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: FVCOM; Marine renewable energy; NW European Shelf; Pentland Firth; Tidal stream energy; Tidal stream turbine array
• ISSN: 0960-1481; 1879-0682
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2017.07.058

The tidal stream energy sector is now at the stage of deploying the world's first pre-commercial arrays of multiple turbines. It is time to study the environmental effects of much larger full-size arrays, to scale and site them appropriately. A theoretical array of tidal stream turbines was designed for the Pentland Firth (UK), a strait between Scotland and the Orkney Islands, which has very fast tidal currents. The practical power resource of a large array spanning the Pentland Firth was estimated to be 1.64 GW on average. The ocean response to this amount of energy extraction was simulated by an unstructured grid three-dimensional FVCOM (Finite Volume Community Ocean Model) and analysed on both short-term and seasonal timescales. Tidal elevation mainly increases upstream of the tidal array, while a decrease is observed downstream, along the UK east coast. Tidal and residual flows are also affected: they can slow down due to the turbines action or speed up due to flow diversion and blockage processes, on both a local and regional scale. The strongest signal in tidal velocities is an overall reduction, which can in turn decrease the energy of tidal mixing and perturb the seasonal stratification on the NW European Shelf. •The tidal stream practical power resource in the Pentland Firth is estimated to be 1.64 GW.•The ocean response to 1.64 GW extraction has been numerically simulated using an unstructured 3D hydrodynamic model.•Both local and region-wide effects are analysed, for the first time, on seasonal time-scales.•A large array can introduce noticeable changes to the tidal elevation, marine currents and ocean stratification patterns.