Tidal energy site resource assessment in the East River tidal strait, near Roosevelt Island, New York, New York

Journal Article · 21 June 2014 · Renewable Energy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.06.002 · OSTI ID:1115675

Gunawan, Budi ^[1]; Neary, Vincent S. ^[1]; Colby, Jonathan ^[2]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
2. Verdant Power, Inc., New York, NY (United States)

This study demonstrates a site resource assessment to examine the temporal variation of the mean current, turbulence intensities, and power densities for a tidal energy site in the East River tidal strait. These variables were derived from two-months of acoustic Doppler velocimeter (ADV) measurements at the design hub height of the Verdant Power Gen5 hydrokinetic turbine. The study site is a tidal strait that exhibits semi-diurnal tidal current characteristics, with a mean horizontal current speed of 1.4 m s^-1, and turbulence intensity of 15% at a reference mean current of 2 m s^-1. Flood and ebb flow directions are nearly bi-directional, with higher current magnitude during flood tide, which skews the power production towards the flood tide period. The tidal hydrodynamics at the site are highly regular, as indicated by the tidal current time series that resembles a sinusoidal function. This study also shows that the theoretical force and power densities derived from the current measurements can significantly be influenced by the length of the time window used for averaging the current data. Furthermore, the theoretical power density at the site, derived from the current measurements, is one order of magnitude greater than that reported in the U.S. national resource assessment. As a result, this discrepancy highlights the importance of conducting site resource assessments based on measurements at the tidal energy converter device scale.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 1115675
• Report Number(s): SAND--2013-9197J; 479944
• Journal Information: Renewable Energy, Journal Name: Renewable Energy Journal Issue: C Vol. 71; ISSN 0960-1481
• Publisher: ElsevierCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English