Turbulence is a significant issue at every site being considered for instream tidal energy development. The turbulence in strong tidal flow creates fluctuating forces that can degrade turbine performance and shorten turbine lifespan. Properly characterizing turbulence is a critical step to designing durable devices and accelerating the pace of technology development.

The three work packages of this project address the challenge of characterizing turbulence by:

• Validating mobile methods of measuring the turbulence and turbine operation in turbulent flow
• Developing the data analysis methods to include turbulence analysis in resource and site assessment

This project examined sites in Grand Passage and Minas Passage, two locations where tidal turbines have or will be deployed in flows that display a variety of turbulent features.