Large-scale physical response of the tidal system to energy extraction and its significance for informing environmental and ecological impact assessment

Abstract

The impact of harvesting tidal energy on the underlying tidal hydrodynamics is examined. Understanding of both the near-and far-field physical response of the tidal system is necessary in order to inform environmental and ecological impact assessment. A number of numerical model test cases are presented which provide first stage indications of the potential response of the system.