Tidal current resource assessment and study of turbine extraction effects in Banks Strait, Australia

Abstract

Banks Strait, Australia has been identified as highly promising for tidal turbine deployments. To assess this site's feasibility, high-resolution unstructured mesh two-dimensional (2D) models were generated using the newly developed COMPAS hydrodynamic model. Model results were calibrated and validated against results from five Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler field datasets. Simulation results indicating that considerable tidal energy resources exist, with maximum tidal currents of almost 3 m/s found at depths suitable for both small and large-scale Tidal Energy Converters (TEC) array installations, making this region promising for tidal energy extraction for both on and off-grid energy demands. Two examples of tidal farms consisting of a 1.2 MW array of 3 m diameter TEC's in shallow water and a 60 MW array of twin-rotor 20 m diameter TEC's in deep water were then simulated. The study used two methods to determine farm power output using the 2D models: the first method estimated the output directly from current velocity predictions based on the developed resource model, whilst the second method simulated the TEC energy extraction using a bottom friction model. For both TEC arrays minimal changes in near and far-field mean current flow and surface elevations were found.