Hydrodynamic modelling of tidal range energy. Severn Estuary barrage and Swansea Bay lagoon

This book presents a method for hydrodynamic modelling of tidal power plants. In the face of climate change, tidal power plants will play an important role in the transition to renewable energy and in the decarbonisation of society. Tidal energy is not dependent on weather conditions and is fully predictable, allowing accurate forecasts for several years into the future. Its main drawback is that it is limited to areas with high tidal ranges, such as the Atlantic coasts of the UK, France and Canada, as well as other seacoasts around the world. The role of hydrodynamic models in the design of hydropower plants is primarily to understand the impact on the environment and to optimise the operation of the plant itself.

The book is divided thematically into three sections. The first section provides a comprehensive overview of the background to tidal power and reviews the available literature. The second section contains a detailed description of the theoretical background and the numerical modelling methodology using the open source software Delft3D. The last section consists of two case studies on which the methodology was tested. They deal with the hydrodynamic impacts of two planned tidal power plants in the UK, namely a barrage in the Severn Estuary and an artificial lagoon in Swansea Bay.