Partners in the Turbulence in Marine Environments consortium have outlined how improved data can lead to cost reductions in tidal arrays in Scottish waters.
TIME members Partrac, Ocean Array Systems, ABPmer and IT Power have released guidance from the initiative, which include new methods to measure and characterise turbulence.
“Data from these new methods were . . . used to show that designing tidal turbines and array layouts to the true turbulence existing at different points in a site could lead to significant cost reductions,” said the group.
Sam Athey, director and co-owner at Partrac, said: “This has been an exciting and challenging project to manage. With the successful attainment of 100% data return from innovative turbulence measurement surveys, and assessment and classification of turbulence by our expert partners at OAS, ABPmer, and IT Power, the project team has developed guidance that provides a framework for the tidal industry to measure, classify and analyse turbulence for commercial tidal arrays.”
The project was funded by the Scottish government and managed by the Carbon Trust through the Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund (MRCF) Array Technology Innovation Programme. The full guidance can be accessed here.
Image: Partrac on the job (Partrac)
