%0 Journal Article
%T Tidal Current Energy Resources off the South and West Coasts of Korea: Preliminary Observation-Derived Estimates
%A Do-Seong Byun
%A Deirdre E. Hart
%A Woo-Jin Jeong
%J Energies
%D 2013
%I MDPI AG
%R 10.3390/en6020566
%X In this study we estimate the prospective tidal current energy resources off the south and west coasts of Korea and explore the influence of modeling tidal current energies based on 15-day versus month-long data records for regimes with pronounced perigean/apogean influences. The tidal current energy resources off southern and western Korea were calculated using 29-day in situ observation data from 264 stations. The resultant annual energy densities found at each station were categorized into six groups, with a greater percentage of sites falling into the lower-energy groups: 1.1% for >10 MWh¡¤m £¿2; 2.7% for 5 to 10 MWh¡¤m £¿2; 6.8% for 3 to 5 MWh¡¤m £¿2; 9.1% for 2 to 3 MWh¡¤m £¿2 and 80.3% for <2 MWh¡¤m £¿2. Analysis shows that the greatest concentration of high annual energy densities occurs in the Jeonnam Province coastal region on the western tip of southwest Korea: 23 MWh¡¤m £¿2 at Uldolmok, 15 MWh¡¤m £¿2 at Maenggol Sudo, 9.2£¿MWh¡¤m £¿2 at Geocha Sudo and 8.8 MWh¡¤m £¿2 at Jaingjuk Sudo. The second highest annual energy density concentration, with 16 MWh¡¤m £¿2, was found in Gyudong Suro, in Gyeonggi Province¡¯s Gyeonggi Bay. We then used data from the 264 stations to examine the effect of perigean and apogean influences on tidal current energy density evaluations. Compared to derivations using month-long records, mean annual energy densities derived using 15-day perigean spring-neap current records alone overestimate the annual mean energy by around 10% whereas those derived using only the apogean records underestimate energy by around 12%. In particular, accuracy of the S 2 contribution to the energy density calculations is significantly affected by use of the 15-day data sets, compared to the M 2 component, which is relatively consistent. Further, annual energy density estimates derived from 29-day records but excluding the N 2 constituent underestimate the potential resource by about 5.4%. Results indicate that one month of data is required to accurately estimate tidal current energy in regimes showing pronounced perigean and apogean differences in spring-neap tidal current patterns and that inclusion of the N 2 constituent in calculations is preferable. This finding has widespread applicability for green energy resource assessments, for example, in regions of the Unites States Atlantic coast and in New Zealand.
%K tidal currents
%K tidal current energy
%K perigean and apogean
%K spring-neap tides
%U http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/6/2/566