Abstract
Tidal and ocean currents in the Tsugaru Strait are considered as one of the potential marine-renewable-energy sources in Japan. Wake behind a tidal turbine modifies the physical environment around the turbine through velocity deficit as well as vortex generation. This study proposes a computational procedure to incorporate the resistance by a tidal turbine in a computation using a three-dimensional ocean circulation model, MITgcm. The resistance force due to a turbine is calculated by the Blade Element Momentum method which has been used for determining a flow around a wind turbine. The residence is distributed into a few grids around the turbine location using the Immersed Boundary Method, which enables to evaluate the effects of a turbine in a large scale computation by the circulation model. Velocity difference originated at the turbine location was found to spread over a wide area in the strait.
