Siting for Marine Hydrokinetic Devices by Means of a Self-Propulsion Glider

Dehlsen Associates, LLC (DA) founders have a long history with renewable energy, establishing both Clipper Windpower and Zond Systems (now GE Wind). DA’s Aquantis C-Plane is designed to provide 4MW per platform in ocean currents with a target cost of energy of 0.08 $/kWh by means of off-the-shelf, highly reliable components. Though previous ADCP sampling was performed in partnership with Florida Atlantic University from 2000-2002, these results offer low resolution 15-min averages, insufficient for the design. Finer spatial and temporal resolution data is required in order to outline turbulence characteristics, wave orbital distribution with depth, and also quantify concerns of potentially harmful events such as internal waves, hurricane surge, and eddies for stability and blade design. A stationary, real-time data acquisition system will be installed in May at the Navy SFOMF offshore Dania Beach to collect this necessary resource data. The proposed mobile glider would be used for commercial siting by: characterizing regions with high flow rates, providing environmental data in these regions, and would be correlated with fish finders and parametric sub-bottom profilers would be used to characterize the resource and site environmental conditions.