Hydrodynamic changes imposed by tidal energy converters on extracting energy on a real case scenario

The development on tidal turbine technology is ongoing with focus on several aspects, including hydrodynamics, operation and environment. Before considering an area for exploitation, tidal energy resource assessments in pre-feasibility energy extraction areas must include the relevant characteristics of the device to be used. The present paper uses the momentum source approach to represent a floatable tidal energy converter (TECs) in a coastal hydro-morphodynamic model and to perform model simulations utilising different TEC array schernes by quantifying the aggregated drag coefficient of the device array. Simulations for one-month periods with nested models were performed to evaluate the hydrodynamic impacts of energy extraction using as output parameters the reduction in velocity and water-level variation differences against a no-extraction scenario. The case study focuses on representing the deployment of floatable E35 Evopod TECs in Sanda Sound (South Kintyre, Argyll, Scotland). The range in power output values from the simulations clearly reflects the importance of choosing the location of the array, as slight changes in the location (of