OES Annual Report 2012 - Ocean Energy Systems

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In addition to technology advancement R&D activities, there were a number of advances in environmental
research and information sharing in 2012. The knowledge management system Tethys, developed by DOE’s
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), was released in the spring of 2012 at the Global Marine
Renewable Energy Conference in Washington, DC (http://mhk.pnnl.gov/wiki/index.php/Tethys_Home).
Tethys is a database and knowledge management system that provides access to information and data
pertaining to the potential environmental effects of MHK and offshore wind development. Tethys also hosts
data from Annex IV that will be available in early 2013.
Many U.S. MHK environmental studies were completed in 2012, including a number of studies funded by
DOE. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) released reports on fish blade strike experiments, which
evaluated fish survival and injury rates following passage through a flume containing a hydrokinetic turbine.
This research demonstrated that fish were largely able to avoid the turbines, and survival rates were very
high. PNNL and SNL completed an analysis to assess the mechanics and biological consequences of blade
strike on a Southern Resident Killer Whale by an OpenHydro turbine blade and found that adult whales are
not likely to experience significant tissue injury, even in a worst case scenario.
PNNL completed two studies to assess the effects of electromagnetic field (EMF) and tidal turbine noise
exposure on a variety of marine species. SNL finished a multi-year effort to modify an Environmental Fluid
Dynamics Code (EFDC) model to predict impacts to system hydrodynamics and sediment transport from
the operation of a tidal turbine; this tool is now available for regulator and developer use. Argonne National
Laboratory also completed a project to develop conceptual models that assess potential MHK technology
impacts to biological resources. Final reports from these studies and others will be available on PNNL’s
Tethys database: http://mhk.pnnl.gov/wiki/index.php/Browse_Knowledge_Base. Other studies funded
jointly by several U.S. agencies are being completed this year, including efforts to identify monitoring
protocols for MHK and offshore wind projects, and a project evaluating the efficacy of various active
acoustic devices for MHK monitoring purposes.
DOE has also initiated several environmental research studies this year that will continue into 2013. DOE’s
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is working with Alden Laboratory to assess fish injury, morality, and
behavior around a hydrokinetic turbine in light and dark conditions in a test flume. ORNL is also assessing
the effects of EMF and turbine noise exposure on freshwater fish behavior in a net-pen mesocosm setting.
SNL has begun to develop a model to assess the effects of a WEC on the hydrodynamics and sediment
transport in a coastal system.
Participation in Collaborative International Projects
Annex IV is an international ocean energy environmental data sharing effort, led by the United States and
comprised of six member nations (Canada, Ireland, Spain, Norway, and New Zealand), to expand global
knowledge of current research and monitoring efforts on the potential environmental effects of ocean
renewable energy development around the world. In 2012, the team working on this effort worked to gather
data on environmental research occurring worldwide, to compile that research into a central database, and
to draft a final report on the effort. The final report, the database, and its contents were reviewed by an
international group of experts at a workshop in Ireland in October. The final report, comprised of three
environmental issues presented as case studies, and the metadata from international research studies and
device monitoring efforts will be housed on Tethys and made publicly available in early 2013. The U.S. is
currently proposing an extension of Annex IV to the OES member nations.
Annex V, which began in 2012, is intended to provide a global forum for exchanging and assessing ocean
energy project technical data. The annex is comprised of a series of workshops that share knowledge and
understanding of data and analysis across the spectrum of ocean resources and energy generation devices.
These are expected to include:
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The measurement and analysis of ocean kinetics
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Sensors and instrumentation design and use
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Experimental methods and protocols
ANNUAL
REPORT 2012