Simulating the 5 kW New Energy Current Energy Converter in a Turbulent Environment

Microgrids have many factors, such as energy resource variability, to consider when adding a new source of power. While large grids can balance out fluctuations, microgrids typically require energy storage to handle these fluctuations in demand or availability. Current Energy Converters (CEC) naturally fluctuate with the ocean or river current. These fluctuations can vary day to day with rain fall or glacier melt but are considered more predictable than wind or solar. For microgrids, these fluctuations may represent a higher proportion of the energy mix, their relative contributions must be understood and properly taken into consideration. Power curves from CEC manufacturers don't typically provide enough information to predict how a CEC will perform in turbulence or transitional flows. Being able to predict power generation in a range of flow conditions is critical to properly model a CEC integrated into a microgrid. A University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF)-owned New Energy 5kW CEC has been tested over several seasons at UAF's Tanana River Test Site (TRTS) while high resolution velocity measurements were being collected upstream of the CEC via an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). This field data is being used to develop a model of the CEC to better predict how it performs under mean and turbulent flow fluctuations. The resulting Simulink model can be used in microgrid modeling for evaluating integration of a CEC device.