Project Overview

The marine energy research funded by the Ability R&D Energy Research Centre of City University of Hong Kong has focused on the resource assessment of HK waters and the potential application of tidal and wave energy conversion technologies. An international seminar held at SEE in December 2011 drew together interested parties to work on focusing marine energy research in Asia. SEE researchers were instrumental in setting-up and organizing the first of the regular bi-annual series of conferences with the first Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference (AWTEC) taking place in Jeju, Korea in November 2012. There are proposals for this preliminary project to lead to in-depth theoretical research, proto-type trials and ultimately the implementation of devices for the first time in Hong Kong waters. The stages are shown below.

• Assessment of marine energy resource through numerical analysis, GIS and 2D/3D modeling to find the most suitable sites. Selection factors include: velocity of currents, accessibility of site, bathymetry, seabed composition, etc.
• Selection of adequate device designs through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis. Mainly due to the relative newness of marine energy conversion devices, many different designs exist.
• Testing of prototypes in a wavetank or by towing them in a water channel. Potential sites for device towing in a calm water channel have been spotted around Hong Kong.
• Implementation of prototypes in real conditions on selected site.