Hydrodynamic optimization of PowerCone technology for tidal energy applications

海洋可再生能源以潮汐、波浪和海上风力的形式存在，是最丰富但相对未开发的可再生能源之一。特别是对于潮汐能，最近的兴趣集中在开发流内能量转换器，其将动能从快速流动的潮汐蒸汽转换为电力。在加拿大，已经确定了190个潜在地点，这些地点的电力足以满足每年3 060万人的电力需求。 位于芬迪湾的米纳斯通道被认为是世界上最好的潮汐能发电站之一，据估计，这一发电站就可以为140万加拿大家庭提供足够的电力。有了这样的潜力，令人惊讶的是，目前没有并网涡轮机在米纳斯海峡运行。这是由于电力的平准化成本（LCOE），与其他可再生能源相比，这是很高的，因为涡轮机必须在恶劣的能量，湍流环境中运行。 通过模仿大自然，Biome Renewables开发了对现有风力涡轮机转子的改造，实现了上级空气动力学性能。因此，于二零二一年六月，全尺寸风力涡轮机效率创下52%的新非官方世界纪录。 该项目的主要目标是推进流中潮汐应用的技术，同时提高我们对潮汐涡轮机在现实海洋环境中性能的理解。这将通过使用最先进的高性能计算和流体动力学形状优化来实现。 因此，降低LCOE和提高涡轮机可靠性是公用事业供应商广泛采用的关键障碍。 根据最近的成本降低，未来预计100兆瓦和1吉瓦的潮流安装成本分别为每千瓦时0.26美元和0.115美元。这将通过创新和规模经济来实现，并利用从这类研究项目中获得的科学证据。 新斯科舍省300兆瓦的商业规模容量将带来17亿美元的国内生产总值，约22 000个全职工作岗位。

Ocean renewable energy in the form of tides, waves, and offshore wind is one of the most abundant, but relatively untapped, renewable energy sources available. Specifically for tidal energy, recent interest has focused on the development of in-stream energy converters that transform kinetic energy from fast-flowing tidal steams to electricity. In Canada, 190 potential sites have been identified with sufficient power to meet the annual electricity needs of 30.6 million. Minas Passage, located in the Bay of Fundy, is considered one of the world's best tidal energy sites and it has been estimated that this single site could provide sufficient electricity to power 1.4 million Canadian households. With such potential, it is surprising no grid-connected turbines are currently operating in Minas Passage. This is due to the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE), which is high in comparison to other renewable sources because turbines must operate in a harsh energetic, turbulent environment. By mimicking nature, Biome Renewables developed a retrofit to existing wind turbine rotors that achieves superior aerodynamic performance. This resulted in a new unofficial world record for full-scale wind turbine efficiency in June 2021 of 52%. The primary objective of the project is to advance this technology for in-stream tidal applications, while simultaneously improving our understanding of tidal turbine performance in realistic ocean environments. This will be achieved using state-of-the-art high-performance computing and hydrodynamic shape optimization. Thereby, reducing the LCOE and increasing turbine reliability, the key barriers to widespread adoption by utility providers. Based on recent cost reductions, future projected costs at 100 MW and 1 GW of installed in-stream tidal are $0.26 and $0.115 per kWh, respectively. This will be achieved through innovation and economies of scale, using scientific evidence gained from research projects such as this one. A 300 MW commercial-scale capacity in Nova Scotia would result in $1.7 billion of GDP, approximately 22,000 full-time equivalent jobs.