“Building the Foundations of a Research Platform”

Two PhD students teamed up to create an underwater turbine to track tidal energy.

According to CleanTechnica, University of New Hampshire students Parviz Sedigh and Mason Bichanich have never seen their work deployed underwater. They did so thanks to partnerships with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, as well as funding from the Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office.

They used NREL’s Modular Ocean Data Acquisition facility, which allows their turbine to collect data on tidal energy. The clean energy source could power up to 21 million homes in the United States. Since the country can’t use all of that power, some will be reserved for water dwellers like fishermen and boaters.

The turbine is the size of a harbor seal and will not only collect data but also help power the drawbridge. It will support community education through UNH’s Living Bridge Project and will be placed under the Memorial Bridge in Portsmouth.

The turbine will collect data on power output, environmental conditions and turbine load, and track other equipment, such as PNNL’s acoustic camera. The camera will track floating hazards and debris data.

“We recently had a lobster trap attack,” Bichanich said.

Aidan Bharath, project manager at NREL, said, “Bichanich and Sedigh are building the foundation of a research platform that will enable testing and comprehensive monitoring of future turbine components.”

Tidal power works by converting tidal current into fast-flowing water and converting it into energy. It works similarly to how wind turbines use air to generate energy.

According to PNNL, water is a more efficient source of energy than solar or wind because it is denser. It also does not produce toxic gases or other waste.

Using clean energy sources will have a positive impact on the community by improving their health and reducing healthcare costs associated with gaseous pollutants.

The UNH student partnership isn’t the only tidal turbine being deployed. Orbital Marine Power installed a turbine in Orkney, Scotland, in 2021. Now it’s using the same technology to install one on the Washington coast.

If you live by the water, you can encourage your community to install tidal turbines by getting involved and demanding change.

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