First Tidal Turbine in the Pacific Northwest Signals Wave of the Future
“Having collaborated with PNNL-Sequim for over a decade, it’s difficult to overstate the benefits of working with the Lab on technology development. The in-water turbine deployment is a major milestone for that system and a credit to the entire team,” said Brian Polagye, professor of Mechanical Engineering at UW.
Location, Location, Location
To test how the compact 3-foot by 4-foot turbine would handle long-term tidal forces, the team had to determine exactly where to place the turbine in PNNL-Sequim’s underwater testbed.
“For a turbine of this size, small-scale ocean dynamics really make a difference. Being off by a few meters—maybe due to a small dip or rise in the seafloor—could have a really big impact on the actual current speeds at the turbine and how well we could test its long-term performance,” explained Cavagnaro.
Models used to simulate tidal energy are helpful for selecting a general testing area but don’t provide information about current speeds on such a small scale. Leveraging PNNL’s expertise and capabilities, the team was able to “microsite” the testbed by measuring current speeds while onboard a research vessel. This was the best way to pinpoint an ideal testing site with the most consistent current speeds.
“While shallow and relatively accessible, the conditions still presented numerous hurdles and the local knowledge of PNNL was critical in establishing our plans for deployment, operations, and recovery,” said Christopher Bassett, senior mechanical engineer at UW-APL.
More Testing in Sequim’s Future
Along with the turbine, the team deployed and tested a custom environmental monitoring package designed to support wildlife monitoring efforts in remote ocean locations and inform future marine energy use. Emma Cotter, PNNL environmental engineer and joint appointee at UW, is another UW alum whose graduate research directly contributed to the development of the Adaptable Monitoring Package (AMP).
With support from DOE’s Water Power Technologies Office through the Testing Expertise and Access for Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program, PNNL and UW are also collaborating with MarineSitu, Inc., to analyze the data they gathered on turbine performance and environmental interactions monitored by the AMP.
“Working with PNNL through TEAMER to support the UW deployment of the Turbine Lander allowed us to showcase our capabilities for providing marine environmental monitoring services while continuing to advance the state of the art,” said James Joslin, founder and president of MarineSitu, “Data and lessons learned from this deployment have already helped us to provide better monitoring solutions to our customers. We are hopeful that the results from this project will help advance the greater marine energy industry and are looking forward to our next collaboration.”
Another turbine deployment is already on the docket—representative of PNNL-Sequim’s growing role as a regional center for marine energy testing and development.
The tidal turbine deployment and testing was sponsored by the Naval Facilities Engineering and Expeditionary Warfare Center and represents an enduring partnership with UW-APL and the Navy to advance marine energy technologies.
Alexandra Freibott is a communications professional at PNNL. The article was originally posted to the website of PNNL.
