Abstract
We analyzed the peak spring tidal current speeds, annual mean tidal power densities ( T P D ) and annual energy production ( A E P ) obtained from experiment 06.1, referred as the “HYCOM model” throughout, of the three dimensional (3D), global model HYCOM in an area covering the Baja California Pacific and the Gulf of California. The HYCOM model is forced with astronomical tides and surface winds alone, and therefore is particularly suitable to assess the tidal current and wind-driven current contribution to in-stream energy resources. We find two areas within the Gulf of California, one in the Great Island Region and one in the Upper Gulf of California, where peak spring tidal flows reach speeds of 1.1 m per second. Second to fifth-generation tidal stream devices would be suitable for deployment in these two areas, which are very similar in terms of tidal in-stream energy resources. However, they are also very different in terms of sediment type and range in water depth, posing different challenges for in-stream technologies. The highest mean T P D value when excluding TPDs equal or less than 50 W m−2 (corresponding to the minimum velocity threshold for energy production) is of 172.8 W m−2, and is found near the town of San Felipe, at (lat lon) = (31.006–114.64); here energy would be produced during 39.00% of the time. Finally, wind-driven currents contribute very little to the mean T P D and the total A E P . Therefore, the device, the grid, and any energy storage plans need to take into account the periodic tidal current fluctuations, for optimal exploitation of the resources.
Highlights
Tides, winds, and density gradients contribute to the generation, the characteristics, and the evolution of ocean currents, but their percentage contribution may vary in space and time
The analysis is performed over the domain and with the bathymetry shown in Figure 1, which is the ETOPO1 bathymetry with some sounding corrections in the Great Island Region (GIR) courtesy of CICESE (Zamudio, pers. comm.), described in [35]
At some locations in these areas, energy would be produced for around 31% to 39%
Summary
Winds, and density gradients contribute to the generation, the characteristics, and the evolution of ocean currents, but their percentage contribution may vary in space and time. Tidal currents are assumed to play a small role because the water depth is usually large. Tidal currents can be identified very in in-situ measurements or numerical simulations, because the tidal forcing is harmonic with well defined frequencies given by the tidal potential [1,2]. In general it is more complex to separate the residual current into wind-driven and density-driven components, except when one develops or applies a numerical model that is only forced with tides. Energies 2020, 13, 1095 and with surface wind fields. Two of such models have been found in the literature, one is the global
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