Development of a cost effective, variable depth, tidal and river current measurement buoy for energy assessment purposes

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This project will engage with Mavi Innovations, a marine renewable energy (MRE) resource assessment and technology company, in order to develop an economical, submerged water flow measurement device for use in MRE resource assessments. MRE includes tidal and river in-stream (no use of dams or barrages to impound water) floating or submerged turbines which harness the energy of the water and convert it to electricity. Water flow measurement is used for the purposes of conducting a resource assessment, which is a critical initial stage of any MRE project as it provides the up-front analysis of energy availability within the water. A proper resource assessment will help provide information for conducting a financial analysis of whether a MRE site will be feasible for development or not. The specific problem Mavi faces is the high cost of up-front resource assessments, particularly in off-grid and remote areas. The incumbent technology used to measure currents, acoustic doppler current profilers (ADCPs), which are essentially underwater sonars, are complex and expensive, costing upwards of $50,000 to fully deploy and retrieve only one device. This project will aim to construct an anchored buoy system for Mavi which will hold several current measurement instruments and record velocities over prolonged periods, all for roughly one-tenth the cost of an ADCP. The project will begin with building and trialing the buoy technology in a lake environment or flume tank at UBC, followed by river testing at the Canadian Hydrokinetic Turbine Test Facility (CHHTC) in Manitoba or in rivers in BC depending on logistical considerations. Finally, the technology will be deployed in an ocean tidal environment at several sites of interest which have been identified near Campbell River, BC. Mavi Innovations specializes in MRE resource assessment and is involved in various projects directly related to it, including work on two sites here in BC. Mavi has also constructed a prototype 22 KW turbine designed for surfaced and submerged deployments in both river and tidal channels and holds several tidal site permits for possible development.