Numerical assessment of tidal potential energy in the Brazilian Equatorial Shelf

• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.119684
• Publication Date: 2023-11-17T19:27:09Z
• Authors: Alessandro L. Aguiar; Martinho Marta-Al...; Mauro Cirano; Janini Pereira; Letícia Cotrim da...
• Keywords: Tidal height; Regional modeling; Clean energy; Tidal barrage

The Brazilian Equatorial Shelf (BES) is one among the macrotidal regions worldwide. This study used a high-resolution numerical configuration of the ocean model ROMS (Regional Ocean Modeling System) forced with realistic surface and lateral forcing, as well as with tides and river discharges. Tidal heights of more than 2 m were found in three regions in BES due to the large tidal amplification across the estuarine channels inside each region: Amazon, Pará, and Maranhão, and for a considerable time fraction. Heights between 4 and 5 m occurred with a frequency greater than 20%–30% in some regions. All hypothetical barrages proposed in this study were capable of an annual power production, in two-way mode, higher than La Rance (533 GWh year, two-way operation, France) and Sihwa (553 GWh year, flood-only operation, South Korea), except one with the same production as Sihwa barrage. The installation effort was evaluated using the Gibrat ratio, the ratio between the length of the barrage and its annual energy production. Among the proposed barrages, the most efficient ones have an annual power generation greater than 1500 GWh year and a Gibrat ratios between 1.17 and 3.26, much lower than the Gibrat ratio of Sihwa tidal barrage.<br/>This work was financially supported by PETROBRAS, Brazil and the Brazilian oil regulatory agency ANP (Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis), within the special participation research project Rede de Modelagem e Observação Oceanográfica (REMO). Research grants (no: 151427/2020-8 and 380293/2022-6) were offered by the Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq). Research grant no: 380293/2022-6 was within the scope of the project Rede Brasileira de Pesquisas sobre Mudanças Climáticas Globais (Rede Clima). M. Marta-Almeida was supported by European Union Atlantic Area Interreg project iFADO (EAPA/165_2016) and by project BlueForesting (PT-INNOVATION-0077) financed by the EEA Grants. Letícia Cotrim da Cunha acknowledges the following research grants: CNPq/PQ-2 309708/2021-4 from Brazilian Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq); FAPERJ/CNE SEI260003/003524/2022 from Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ); and UERJ Prociência 2021–2024.<br/>