Time Steps Closer to Development of Industry Guidance on Tidal Turbulence to Reduce Risk for Industry

Rockland’s strategic UK partner, Partrac, has announced that the TiME (Turbulence in Marine Environments) project is entering the final stages of data analysis following the success of turbulence measurement surveys. The project, developed to improve the understanding of the effect of marine turbulence on tidal arrays in Scottish waters, is being delivered with partners Ocean Array Systems, ABPmer, and IT Power, whilst being funded by the Scottish Government and managed by the Carbon Trust through the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) Array Technology Innovation Programme.

Comprehensive turbulence measurement surveys using Rockland’s Nemo system were undertaken by Partrac in the challenging tidal environments of both the Sound of Islay and the Inner Sound, Pentland Firth.  The first round tidal sites were selected for their commercially viable characteristics to ensure captured survey data and guidance supports the ongoing commercial development at these two sites.

The surveys were designed specifically to measure turbulence using different methods and technologies so that each can be evaluated, and turbulence can be mapped across a tidal energy development site.

ABPmer is incorporating the data in resource characterisation, Ocean Array Systems is providing turbulence characterisation and hydrodynamic analyses, and IT Power is contributing their knowledge of engineering design, device performance and tidal turbine array modelling.

Following the analysis of the data, industry guidance is expected to be released later this year, providing a unified framework for measuring, classifying and predicting the effect of turbulence on resource assessment, device design/operation and array yield.

For further information please visit: www.partrac.com