RT Journal Article
T1 Hydrokinetic energy site selection under high seasonality: The i-IHE index
A1 Carballo Sánchez, Rodrigo
A1 Fouz, David Mateo
A1 López Moreira, Iván
A1 Iglesias, G.
K1 Hydrokinetic energy
K1 Tidal power
K1 River inputs
K1 Intra-annual variability
K1 Numerical modelling
AB A novel index is developed to select sites for hydrokinetic energy exploitation in coastal areas with high resource seasonality – the typical case being estuaries whose hydrodynamics are highly influenced by variable river discharges. The intra-annual Integrated Hydrokinetic Energy (i-IHE) index is constructed by means of a new penalty function that modifies the Integrated Hydrokinetic Energy (IHE) index. The i-IHE index thus defined is applied to a case study: the Miño Estuary (NW Iberian Peninsula), with seasonal variations of up to 1000 % in the riverine discharge. The hydrodynamics are modelled by the state-of-the-art Delft3D-FLOW code using a high-resolution 2DH grid. The results confirm a strong variability in the resource, with time periods shorter than seasons. The results obtained for the penalty function throughout the Miño Estuary, with values ranging between 0.5 and 0.75, show the relevance of the i-IHE index in order to not overestimate the potential of coastal areas subject to large intra-annual variability. Compared to the conventional IHE index, the novel i-IHE index highlights smaller areas with greater energy potential. The larger exploitable energy in these areas, along with the lower costs and fewer restrictions for hydrokinetic energy operation, will be of interest to developers and stakeholders.
PB Elsevier
SN 0960-1481
YR 2024
FD 2024-10-24
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39841
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10347/39841
LA eng
NO Carballo, R., Fouz, D. M., López, I., & Iglesias, G. (2024). Hydrokinetic energy site selection under high seasonality: The i-IHE index. Renewable Energy, 23710.1016/j.renene.2024.121695
NO This work was supported the PORTOS project, which is co-financed by the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme through the European Regional Development Fund [grant number EAPA_784/2018] and by ‘Axudas para a consolidación e estruturación de unidades de investigación competitivas e outras accións de fomento nas universidades do Sistema Universitario de Galicia (2023–25)’ with reference number ED431B 2023/17. During this work, D.M. Fouz was supported by a predoctoral grant of the ‘Convocatoria de contratos predoutorais do Campus de Especialización Campus Terra’ with reference number 8042-272B-64100.
DS Minerva
RD 22 abr 2026