Author(s): Katelyn Kirby; Colin D. Rennie; Julien Cousineau; Sean Ferguson; Ioan Nistor

Linked Author(s): Ioan Nistor, Colin Rennie

Keywords: Riverine hydrokinetic energy resource; River flow measurements; Renewable power assessment; Acoustic Doppler current profiler; Fluvial field survey measurement techniques

Abstract: The International Electrotechnical Commission standards for estimating river hydrokinetic energy resources have not yet been tested in practice. With the intent of providing practical considerations to communities and turbine developers of which river characteristics may impede hydrokinetic energy estimation, six river locations were surveyed with two locations being surveyed multiple times for a total of nine surveys. This work also provides insight into how to identify sites that are most likely to be feasible before costly and timeconsuming field investigations are conducted. It was found that non-ideal survey conditions often precluded accurate hydrokinetic resource assessment. Importantly, in low-to-moderate sloped areas, most feasible hydrokinetic sites were downstream of either rapids or depth constrictions. Within the data sample, channels with highly complex flow splits due to either mid-channel islands or underwater caves were not feasible for hydrokinetic energy resource assessment.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3850/978-90-833476-1-5_iahr40wc-p0049-cd

Year: 2023