INVESTIGATION ON PERFORMANCE AND ARRAY OPTIMIZATION OF AN OPERATING MARINE HYDROKINETIC (MHK) TURBINE FARM IN GREAT-TONB OF IRAN

During last five decades the sky-rocketing demand for energy production parallel to the limited resources of fossil fuels, with proven harmful side effects, around the world led into the search for alternative resources of energy. Among available alternative energy resources, the renewable energy resources have attracted the attention of many scientists and engineers. One type of renewable energy is the Marine Hydrokinetic (MHK) energy, which also is referred to as Tidal Energy. The most importantadvantage of MHK resources over other renewable energy resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal and etc. is it’s high level of predictability. There are numerous narrowestuaries and MHK sites around the world, where has large energy density to be captured and used to produce energy, that made MHK resources to be promising renewable energy resource. The goal of the present study is to investigate the feasibility of implementation of an array of Tidal Energy Converters (TECs), methods of array optimization and its potential effect on one of these promising location, Great- Tonb, connecting the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman in south of Iran.