Suspro carries out metocean studies including coastal site characterization and tidal energy resource assessment. Tidal energy resource assessment presents the following stages:
1.Site data collection. Suspro collects, processes and analyses the following site data:
- Sea surface elevation at the site, near and far-field
- Current velocity
2.Site numerical modelling. Suspro produces a bespoke two-dimensional or three-dimensional numerical model of the coastal site. This process includes the following stages:
- Mesh convergence in the near-field of the site
- Calibration and validation of the numerical model to best approximate the measured data available at the site
- Analysis of the location of the open boundaries
3.Analysis of natural state site conditions. Suspro analyses the undisturbed conditions at the site. This information is used for:
- Preliminary site selection for tidal array
- Analysis of environmental impacts derived from the operation of the tidal array
4.Tidal farm design. Based on the technical, environmental, economic and social site constraints, Suspro optimizes the design of the tidal array to maximize the energy yield and minimize the environmental impacts.
5.Energy yield assessment. Based on the technology employed, size and layout of the array and local flow conditions, Suspro can provide an estimate of the expected hourly, annual and project lifetime energy yield. Furthermore, Suspro can provide the predicted environmental changes in the near-field and far-field environment.