IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v253y2025ics0960148125012261.html

Spatially varying seasonal modulation to tidal stream energy potential due to mixed tidal regimes in the Aleutian Islands, AK

Author

Listed:
  • Spicer, Preston
  • Yang, Zhaoqing
  • Wang, Taiping
  • Deb, Mithun

Abstract

We provide an assessment of the tidal stream energy resource of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska via a validated barotropic tidal numerical model of the region. Eight island passes are identified as energy “hotspots”. The annual mean kinetic energy fluxes, KEF, calculated at each pass vary from 1000 to 11,000 MW, while the annual available energy, AAE, varies from 5 to 42 MWh m−2. Notable seasonal modulation to monthly power density averages and ranges are noted at some passes and not others. Seasonal adjustment is linked to the semi-annual solar declination cycle which enhances (dampens) diurnal (D1) tidal amplitudes in summer/winter (spring/fall) as well as the time-varying phase lag between D1 and semidiurnal (D2) fortnightly tidal cycles. Annual variability in monthly mean power density scales with the tidal current form factor, Fu, with the largest seasonal change occurring for Fu>1 (D1 dominated tide). The spread in power density over a month is on average smaller for passes with mixed tides (Fu=1) than those with D1 or D2 dominance, as changes to fortnightly phase lag become influential to net power density ranges when tides are mixed. This study outlines overlooked, but relevant, long-term modulation to tidal streams in regions with mixed tides.

Suggested Citation

  • Spicer, Preston & Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping & Deb, Mithun, 2025. "Spatially varying seasonal modulation to tidal stream energy potential due to mixed tidal regimes in the Aleutian Islands, AK," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:253:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125012261
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.123564
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125012261
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.123564?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Ye & Willman, Lindsay, 2014. "Feasibility analysis of offshore renewables penetrating local energy systems in remote oceanic areas – A case study of emissions from an electricity system with tidal power in Southern Alaska," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 42-53.
    2. Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping & Branch, Ruth & Xiao, Ziyu & Deb, Mithun, 2021. "Tidal stream energy resource characterization in the Salish Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 188-208.
    3. Deb, Mithun & Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping & Kilcher, Levi, 2023. "Turbulence modeling to aid tidal energy resource characterization in the Western Passage, Maine, USA," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(P1).
    4. García-Medina, Gabriel & Yang, Zhaoqing & Wu, Wei-Cheng & Wang, Taiping, 2021. "Wave resource characterization at regional and nearshore scales for the U.S. Alaska coast based on a 32-year high-resolution hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 595-612.
    5. Ahn, Seongho & Haas, Kevin A. & Neary, Vincent S., 2020. "Wave energy resource characterization and assessment for coastal waters of the United States," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    6. Deng, Guizhong & Zhang, Zhaoru & Li, Ye & Liu, Hailong & Xu, Wentao & Pan, Yulin, 2020. "Prospective of development of large-scale tidal current turbine array: An example numerical investigation of Zhejiang, China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brand, Matthew Willi & Huang, Yicheng & Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping, 2025. "Tidal stream energy resource characterization for powering the blue economy applications for Southeastern Alaska," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    2. Suarez, Leandro & Guerra, Maricarmen & Williams, Megan E. & Escauriaza, Cristián, 2025. "Tidal energy resource assessment in the Strait of Magellan in the Chilean Patagonia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    3. Li, Ning & García Medina, Gabriel & Yang, Zhaoqing & Cheung, Kwok Fai & Hitzl, David & Chen, Yi-Leng, 2023. "Wave climate and energy resources in the Mariana Islands from a 42-year high-resolution hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    4. Deb, Mithun & Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping, 2025. "Characterizing in-stream turbulent flow for tidal energy converter siting in Cook Inlet, Alaska," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    5. Shao, Zhuxiao & Gao, Huijun & Liang, Bingchen & Lee, Dongyoung, 2022. "Potential, trend and economic assessments of global wave power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 1087-1102.
    6. Yang, Zhixue & Ren, Zhouyang & Li, Hui & Pan, Zhen & Xia, Weiyi, 2024. "A review of tidal current power generation farm planning: Methodologies, characteristics and challenges," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C).
    7. Seongho Ahn & Kevin A. Haas & Vincent S. Neary, 2020. "Dominant Wave Energy Systems and Conditional Wave Resource Characterization for Coastal Waters of the United States," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-26, June.
    8. Kamranzad, Bahareh & Takara, Kaoru, 2020. "A climate-dependent sustainability index for wave energy resources in Northeast Asia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    9. Buenau, K.E. & Sather, N.K. & Arkema, K.K., 2025. "A marine energy and ecosystem service framework for coastal communities," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    10. Yang, Zhaoqing & García Medina, Gabriel & Neary, Vincent S. & Ahn, Seongho & Kilcher, Levi & Bharath, Aidan, 2023. "Multi-decade high-resolution regional hindcasts for wave energy resource characterization in U.S. coastal waters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 803-817.
    11. García Medina, Gabriel & Yang, Zhaoqing & Li, Ning & Cheung, Kwok Fai & Lutu-McMoore, Elinor, 2023. "Wave climate and energy resources in American Samoa from a 42-year high-resolution hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 604-617.
    12. Shi, Xueli & Liang, Bingchen & Li, Shaowu & Zhao, Jianchun & Wang, Junhui & Wang, Zhenlu, 2024. "Wave energy resource classification system for the China East Adjacent Seas based on multivariate clustering," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    13. Garnier, Soizic & Murray, Rory O'Hara & Gillibrand, Philip A. & Gallego, Alejandro & Robins, Peter & Moriarty, Meadhbh, 2025. "Particle tracking modelling in coastal marine environments: Recommended practices and performance limitations," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 501(C).
    14. Li, Shoutu & Chen, Qin & Li, Ye & Pröbsting, Stefan & Yang, Congxin & Zheng, Xiaobo & Yang, Yannian & Zhu, Weijun & Shen, Wenzhong & Wu, Faming & Li, Deshun & Wang, Tongguang & Ke, Shitang, 2022. "Experimental investigation on noise characteristics of small scale vertical axis wind turbines in urban environments," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 970-982.
    15. Carballo, R. & Fouz, D.M. & López, I. & Iglesias, G., 2024. "Hydrokinetic energy site selection under high seasonality: The i-IHE index," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    16. Cai, Qinlin & Zhu, Songye, 2021. "Applying double-mass pendulum oscillator with tunable ultra-low frequency in wave energy converters," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    17. Zhang, Lijun & Li, Ye & Xu, Wenhao & Gao, Zhiteng & Fang, Long & Li, Rongfu & Ding, Boyin & Zhao, Bin & Leng, Jun & He, Fenglan, 2022. "Systematic analysis of performance and cost of two floating offshore wind turbines with significant interactions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 321(C).
    18. Delpey, Matthias & Lastiri, Ximun & Abadie, Stéphane & Roeber, Volker & Maron, Philippe & Liria, Pedro & Mader, Julien, 2021. "Characterization of the wave resource variability in the French Basque coastal area based on a high-resolution hindcast," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 79-95.
    19. Veigas, M. & López, M. & Iglesias, G., 2014. "Assessing the optimal location for a shoreline wave energy converter," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 404-411.
    20. Yang, Zhaoqing & Wang, Taiping & Branch, Ruth & Xiao, Ziyu & Deb, Mithun, 2021. "Tidal stream energy resource characterization in the Salish Sea," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 188-208.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:253:y:2025:i:c:s0960148125012261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.