Energy capture evaluation of tidal current turbines arrays in Uldolmok strait, South Korea

This paper presents a quantitative method for evaluating tidal energy extraction in Uldolmok Strait located in the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula, which is well known for having an impressively fast tidal current speed, up to 6 m/s. The advantages of this method are expressed by maximizing the power captured by all the turbines deployed in a tidal farm and by optimizing the array layout size with twelve different configurations. The energy yield of the proposed designs is evaluated based on flow data for the hydrodynamic model used, impacts of sea depth, device installation constraints, and wake effects between the turbines on the farm. The results show that staggered layouts achieve higher efficiency for energy extraction than centered arrangements in all cases. Moreover, an array configuration with 48 turbines is least efficient for tidal farming as it suffers the highest energy losses caused by the wake effects in comparison with other designs. When considering the optimum energy yield and cost of energy for tidal farming, the small-scale farm could be the most satisfactory selection because it ensures the capital cost of the entire tidal project as well as minimizes the negative effects on the marine environments in Uldolmok. •Tidal farming with a large number of turbines can be carried out with a shorter simulation time.•Site specific tidal prediction methods are used to convert the results of the flow solver into spatial flow fields for each flow state.•Energy yield of tidal farms takes into account energy loss due to wake effects, which helps evaluate more accurately the annual energy yield of the various array layouts.•Staggered layouts achieve a higher efficiency for energy extraction than centered arrangements in all cases.•Small-scale farm could be the most satisfactory selection for tidal farming in the Uldolmok Strait when considering the optimum energy yield and cost of energy for tidal farming.