Abstract
Marine renewables represent a promising and innovative alternative source for satisfying the energy demands of growing populations while reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. Most technological advancements and energy yield assessments have focused on promoting the use of kinetic energy from tidal streams with flow velocities higher than 2.0 m s−1. However, slower-moving flows from ocean currents are recently explored due to their nearly continuous and unidirectional seasonal flows. In this study, the potential of the Yucatan Current was analysed at nearshore sites over the insular shelf of Cozumel Island in the Mexican Caribbean. Field measurements were undertaken using a vessel-mounted Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) to analyse the spatial distribution of flow velocities, along with Conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) profiles as well as data gathering of bathymetry and water elevations. Northward directed flow velocities were identified, with increasing velocities just before the end of the strait of the Cozumel Channel, where average velocities in the region of 0.88–1.04 m s−1 were recorded. An estimation of power delivery using horizontal axis turbines was undertaken with Blade Element Momentum theory. It was estimated that nearly 3.2 MW could be supplied to Cozumel Island, amounting to about 10% of its electricity consumption.
Highlights
The use of renewable energy baseload power is a growing concern to successfully reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and satisfy the increasing global energy demands [1]
A preliminary description of the circulation related to the eastern Yucatan coast and its relationship with the Cozumel Channel resulted in the velocity field averaged over 2010–2013, as shown in Figure 3a and presented by Martínez et al [36]
The kinetic energy of the Yucatan Current flowing over the insular shelf of Cozumel Island was spatially analysed
Summary
The use of renewable energy baseload power is a growing concern to successfully reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and satisfy the increasing global energy demands [1]. Ocean currents and tidal energy could represent an annual global potential of 800 and 300 TWh, respectively [7]. Despite the increased investment on marine energy technologies [8,9] and the deployment of the first two commercial arrays for tidal current approach [10,11], technological advancements are limited to specific regions, which decreases the global commercialisation of this technology. At the time of writing, tidal currents higher than 2.5 m s−1, normally found in large shelf seas such as Western Europe, Yellow Sea and northern Australia, have been the focus of resource assessments and the implementation of large marine turbine systems [12]. If the viable threshold velocity required for the optimum operation of a turbine or converter decreases below 2.0 m s−1, the potential supply from ocean currents and tidal streams could increase dramatically, becoming a global commodity
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