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Far-field effects of tidal energy extraction in the Minas Passage on tidal circulation in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine using a nested-grid coastal circulation model

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Abstract

The Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada has the highest tides in the world. Harnessing the tidal energy in the region has long been considered. In this study, the effects of tidal in-stream energy extraction in the Minas Passage on the three-dimensional (3D) tidal circulation in the Bay of Fundy (BoF) and the Gulf of Maine (GoM) are examined using a nested-grid coastal ocean circulation model based on the Princeton Ocean Model (POM). The nested-grid model consists of a coarse-resolution (~4.5 km) parent sub-model for the GoM and a high-resolution (~1.5 km) child sub-model for the BoF. The tidal in-stream energy extraction in the model is parameterized in terms of nonlinear Rayleigh friction in the momentum equation. A suite of numerical experiments are conducted to determine the ranges of extractable tidal in-stream energy and resulting effects on the 3D tidal circulation over the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine (BoF-GoM) in terms of the Rayleigh friction coefficients. The 3D model results suggest that the maximum energy extraction in the Minas Passage increases tidal elevations and tidal currents throughout the GoM and reduces tidal elevations and circulation in the upper BoF, especially in the Minas Basin. The far-field effect of tidal energy extraction in the Passage on the 3D tidal circulation in the BoF-GoM is examined in two cases of harnessing tidal in-stream energy from (a) the entire water column and (b) the lower water column within 20 m above the bottom in the Passage. The 3D model results demonstrate that tidal in-stream energy extraction from the lower water column has less impact on the tidal elevations and circulation in the BoF-GoM than the energy extraction from the whole water column in the Minas Passage.

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Acknowledgements

This study is funded by the Offshore Energy and Environmental Research. The authors wish to thank reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions that helped to strengthen our article, Peter Smith and his group at BIO for sharing their ADCP data, and Richard Karsten, Joel Culina, Keir Colbo, and Kyoko Ohashi for their suggestions. This research utilized ACEnet computational resources.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada

    Daisuke Hasegawa, Jinyu Sheng & Keith R. Thompson

  2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, NS, Canada

    David A. Greenberg

Authors
  1. Daisuke Hasegawa
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  2. Jinyu Sheng
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  3. David A. Greenberg
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  4. Keith R. Thompson
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Correspondence to Jinyu Sheng.

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Responsible Editor: Herman Gerritsen

Topical Collection on Joint Numerical Sea Modelling Group Workshop 2010

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Hasegawa, D., Sheng, J., Greenberg, D.A. et al. Far-field effects of tidal energy extraction in the Minas Passage on tidal circulation in the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine using a nested-grid coastal circulation model. Ocean Dynamics 61, 1845–1868 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0481-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-011-0481-9

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