International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) 2021

Tocardo is delighted to share the results of a two years multidisciplinary investigations of environmental effects of Tocardo’s tidal power plant in the Eastern Scheldt at ICOE 2021. The ocean energy industry will come together April 28-30, 2021 during the all-virtual ICOE 2021 conference to discuss device innovation, market developments and regulatory affairs to support the commercialization of the sector. This major event is hosted by the National Hydropower Association (NHA), and is supported by the International Energy Agency (IEA) through Ocean Energy Systems (OES).

Multidisciplinary Investigations of environmental effects of the Tocardo’s 1.25 MW tidal power plant

The Oosterschelde storm surge barrier is a dam that contains 62 gates that can be closed during storm surges. In 2015, Tocardo Tidal Power installed a 1.2MW tidal power plant in one of the gates comprising an array of 5 turbines. The presentation at ICOE discusses the methods and results of a unique two-year monitoring program to assess impacts on both the biotic and abiotic ecosystem as well as effects on the reliability of the storm surge barrier itself. The collaborative research project was lead by MET-support on behalf of Tocardo and undertaken by four renowned Dutch research institutes: Wageningen Marine Research, Deltares, Technical University of Delft and University of Utrecht. The Zeeuwse Milieu Federation (ZMF) facilitated regional stakeholder meetings.

In the download section below you can find the following publications and reports in relation to this project:

• Report: Monitoring Getijdenturbines Oosterscheldekering (NL)
• Position paper: Effects of the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier and tidal energy turbines on harbor porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) and harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) movements (ENG)
• Article I: The performance of a weir-mounted tidal turbine: Field observations and theoretical modelling
• Article II: The performance of a weir-mounted tidal turbine: An experimental investigation
• Article III: Estimating the stability of a bed protection of a weir-mounted tidal turbine

About the OP-Zuid program

The collaborative research project was supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the OP-Zuid program 2014–2020 and with financial support from province of Zeeland. Research by TU-Delft was also supported by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research within the research program The New Delta with project number 869.15.008