Determining tidal turbine farm efficiency in the Western Passage using the disc actuator theory

Abstract

Tidal power potential is determined across the Western Passage in Passamaquoddy Bay using the Finite Volume Community Ocean Model (FVCOM). The tidal turbines are implemented in FVCOM using the disc actuator theory method to determine the power potential for different densities and arrangements of tidal turbines. At the most efficient setting for 10 turbines across the Western Passage, the optimal turbine drag coefficient is 2.0 and the average power output, in a 2-week period, is ∼819 kW. Results suggest that for a single row of turbines, the addition of turbines decreases the efficiency of the turbine farm, but this decrease in efficiency is less than 7 %. A parallel distribution of turbines in an array diminishes the average power for turbines in the shadow of other turbines, while staggered distribution in an array increases the average power extraction for some turbines, due to the speed gains in the gaps between turbines. A simple tidal farm optimization using the OpenTidalFarm (OTF) model suggests a similar tidal farm distribution.