Effects of the Ocean Current on the Tidal Energy Resource in the Tsugaru Strait

Current in the Tsugaru strait that is constructed by ocean and tidal currents is one of the potential renewable energy sources in Japan.We investigated the effects of the ocean current on the tidal current field in the strait through numerical experiments using a three dimensional circulation model.Non-linear effects of the ocean current caused difference in the formation of the residual current as well as the harmonic constants of the diurnal and semidiurnal tidal constituents, which also resulted in the difference in median and dispersion of the current velocity.The direction of the current was found to have low standard deviation within 60° as westward tidal current is balanced out by the eastward ocean current.