Abstract
This work was undertaken in the TIGER project in order to develop, and practically test at a key tidal stream site (MeyGen, UK), the development of a novel approach to collecting flow data at multiple potential future tidal turbine locations which could be robust enough for large-scale tidal stream array development/optimisation.
This novel approach has the potential to provide more accurate flow data for the development of large-scale tidal stream arrays than current industry-standard approaches which are mainly based on hydrodynamic modelling. As accurate flow data is a key parameter for design purposes and for energy yield analysis, the novel approach is of significant interest to Normandie Hydroliennes for the development of its tidal stream project at Raz Blanchard, France, as well as the wider tidal stream sector.
MeyGen has approached the IEC TS 62600-201 maintenance team to discuss its findings from the work, and the approach is planned to be incorporated into future editions of the IEC TS 62600-201 technical specification.
As part of the field work involved the collection of high-fidelity turbulence data from seabed-mounted 5-beam ADCP measurements, and it is highly beneficial for the tidal stream industry to have more public domain information on turbulence from such deployments, these turbulence results are also presented – together with an analysis of how the results differ when using a 4-beam and 5-beam method.
The field work also involved the collection of high-fidelity flow data from vesselmounted ADCP measurements to assess the wakes from operational turbines. As there is very limited public domain information on tidal stream turbine wakes from operational turbine deployments, these results are also presented.
Normandie Hydroliennes hopes, and anticipates, that this publication will assist the whole tidal stream industry as it develops larger-scale arrays.