Assessment of tidal current resources in Banks Strait, Australia

Current research conducted as part of the ARENA (Australian Renewable Energy Agency) AUSTEn (Australian Tidal Energy) “Tidal Energy in Australia – Assessing Resource and Feasibility to Australia’s Future Energy Mix” project has identified the Banks Strait, Australia, an approximately 15 km wide channel located between the Furneaux Island Group and the north-eastern corner of mainland Tasmania, as highly suitable for tidal turbine deployments. To perform a site resource assessment of this region, two nested 2D structured mesh models were developed using the Sparse Hydrodynamic Ocean Code (SHOC) model. The model tidal elevations, current velocities and harmonic constituents were calibrated and validated against Acoustic Wave and Current profiler (AWAC) field data. Model results were then used to determine the velocity flow fields and resource area at depths suitable for tidal turbine deployments, determine annual energy production in the Strait, and examine wave / current interaction effects. Simulation results indicate that considerable tidal resources exist in the Banks Strait region, with maximum tidal currents in excess of 2 m/s found in both the westward and eastward directions over a large contiguous area, with water depths suitable for large-scale tidal turbine array installations. All modelling was conducted to International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Stage 1 resource assessment specifications. Due to promising results, future work will extend this work to the more detailed IEC Stage 2 specifications to advance the project / tidal turbine installation to the next feasibility stage