Providing distributed electrical generation through retrofitting disused docks as tidal range energy schemes

Abstract

As the nature of modern industry has changed, a range of infrastructure such as smaller historic docks have fallen into disuse, and attempts to redevelop these basins typically focus on the development of housing and commercial spaces with a waterside location as a high-value component. These sites provide the opportunity for repurposing as tidal range energy schemes without incurring many of the drawbacks of a traditional scheme. A 0D model was used to ascertain the potential energy output that sites around the UK could generate, using disused dock basins as an initial development case, with a total of 28 basins generating ∼34 GWh/year, based on the first quarter of 2022. Due to the size and locations of the docks, the ability of this renewable energy method to generate at times of high demand, a role in which fossil fuels are still dominant in the UK energy mix, was highlighted. Thus, a method to ascertain the feasibility of using infrastructure which utility has declined, or where pre-existing physical characteristics could be well suited to tidal range, to contribute to the energy system is established.