Investment Analysis Of Tidal Wave Current Turbine In Nigeria Using Artificial Neural Network

ABSTRACT

The dependence on fossil fuels for energy production has come to an alarming stage. Energy demand continues to increase with growing population. Consequently fossil fuel reserves are continuously draining and the world is confronted with their extinction in near future. This implied the use of non-conventional energy sources. Out of many such sources Tidal is the one which requires high amount of research. Tidal current technologies have salient advantages such as cleaner than fossil fuels, intermittent but predictable, security and diversity of supply, and limited social and environmental impacts. This paper presents the tidal stream turbines’ working, types, investment analysis, application of artificial neural network in tidal electricity and some information about current and future power stations.

CHAPTER ONE

1.0                                                        INTRODUCTION

1.1                                         BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

The oceans which cover more than 70% of the Earth’s surface and with 53% of its population living near a coast are receiving significant and growing attention as a potential source of energy that would contribute to increasing global demand sustainably. Theoretically, the oceans contain an energy source that is far larger than the human race could utilize, though, in practical terms, much of the resource remains inaccessible. Despite the difficulties, several governments and private institutions around the world are revisiting the idea of tidal power as a greener alternative to fossil fuel and nuclear power generation schemes.

Tidal stream energy continues to gain attention as a source of predictable and renewable energy. Tidal streams are very close in concept to traditional wind turbines; however, instead of operating with air currents, they draw energy from water currents/tidal waves. Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun on the rotating earth. The associated motion of these bodies leads the surfaces of the oceans to be raised and lowered periodically, according to some interacting cycles. These cycles can be categorized as (1) half-day cycles, which are due to the rotation of the earth within the gravitational field; (2) 14-day cycles which are a combination of the gravitational field of the moon and the sun, yielding alternating spring (maximum) and neap (minimum) tides; (3) half-year cycles which are due to the inclination of the moon’s orbit relative to that of the earth, yielding, in general, maxima in the spring tides in March and September; and (4) other cycles such as those more than 19 years and 1600 years due to complex gravitational interactions [1].

Tidal stream energy works much like hydro-electric power (HEP) and wind turbine (WT) systems that use underwater devices that resemble wind turbines and are placed in fast tidal streams to extract energy. An array of these devices is often deployed to deliver significant amounts of energy to the electricity grid. The amount of energy obtainable from a tidal energy power system varies with location and time. A single tidal stream generator is, however, able to produce significantly more power than a wind turbine due to the higher density of water. The output changes as the tide ebb and flood are daily varying by a factor of four over a spring-neap cycle. Nonetheless, tidal energy is highly predictable in both magnitude and timing, more so than the wind and solar forms of energy. Tidal currents are the horizontal components of the flow of water that are associated with propagating waves. We note that in some regards, the velocities can be greatly enhanced and magnified in straits between islands or between islands and mainland [2]. The current in the water is, thus, much more reliable than the wind in the air.

The modern world as we know it today will grind to a halt without the necessary electrical energy infrastructure. Access to stable and secure energy is a key driver of today’s economic prosperity. Most nations today are taking an “all of the above” strategy towards energy security and sustainability; countries are developing every available energy resource within their terrain to meet the growing demand due to population pressures in a sustainable way. Evidently, fossil fuels and carbonaceous forms of energy are no longer the energy of the future. They are neither sustainable nor advantageous to the environment. Even with the price collapse of oil, renewable forms of energy continue to grow in capacity and remain very competitive with conventional forms of energy [3].

The electrical energy problem in Nigeria can be broadly categorized into three main pillars: (1) quantity; (2) reliability; and (3) efficiency. Quantity reflects the supply–demand imbalance, where what is generated and supplied is non-optimal. The supply–demand gap is believed to be the biggest in the world. Reliability pertains to the frequency or regularity of electrical energy supply, whereas efficiency stems from the overall effectiveness of the system to wheel power to the end-users from the source, and the quality of the supplied electricity to be effectively used. Nigeria continues to be ranked as a developing nation, on the whole, due to its poor electrical energy supply. Her generating capacity, which is less than 5000 MW, is much less than the energy produced by less-populous countries, e.g., South Africa, whose capacity is about 50,000 MW. Nigeria produces about 40 kW per thousand people, whereas South Africa produces 270 kW per thousand people. The several phases of electrical energy utilization, that is, generation, transmission, and distribution continue to account for about only 1% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It has been estimated that GDP growth could be increased by as much as 11% if electrical energy supply was regular. Several reforms initiated by past and present government administrations are yet to be fully and more efficiently realized.

From a developer’s and an investor’s perspective, it is paramount to know the effectiveness and economics of utilizing an energy resource for electricity production. The associated costs of renewable energy technologies (RETs) continue to plummet due to improved technologies, regulatory incentives, increasing supply, and, demand for RETs, making them very competitive with conventional forms of energy. To evaluate the economics, the comparison is based on a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) analysis. The LCOE analysis is an approximation that yields a break-even sales price. It allows for the evaluation of any energy resource regarding its cost-effectiveness and goes further to evaluate upfront capital expenditures such as operating costs that need to be spent annually. We determine a price point for utilizing tidal energy in Nigeria and determine the variables that can contribute toward achieving and sustaining grid-parity with traditional grid power costs.

The objectives of concerned scientists, energy enthusiasts, environmentalists, and researchers are to continue to present the many alternatives that are available to alleviate the electrical power problem, which would lead to a more sustainable energy future. Resource characterization constitutes the first step in that approach. Thus, in this work, we perform resource characterization of Nigeria’s tidal energy resources, for selected sites, together with an LCOE analysis of the respective sites. Several studies have been reported on geographical sites in various parts of the world, to the assessment of the potential for tidal current energy utilization [4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]. Tidal current technology continues to progress rapidly particularly in the United Kingdom.

This research is designed to estimate, analyze and forecast the market volume and revenue for the tidal power generation market. It provides an in-depth analysis of the market size of wave and tidal power in terms of volume (installed capacity) and revenue (investments in the sector for adding capacity). The report analyzes the tidal energy sector in detail along with deep dive research spanning three regions and eight countries. It provides detailed analysis, historical data and statistically refined forecast for wave and tidal energy plants regionally. Country-wise markets for wave, tidal or both forms of energy have been provided individually, depending upon the investment sentiment in the respective economies.

1.2                                                  PROBLEM STATEMENT

Other source of renewable energy face problems such as: they are exhaustible energy source, unpreditiable, unclean, low energy density and costly. Tidal energy came to solve thses problems. There are a number of advantages to tidal energy. Because the force behind tidal energy comes from the pull of the moon, it is an inexhaustible energy source. As long as the moon continues to orbit the earth, there will be energy in the tides.

This relationship to the moon also makes tidal energy a predictable energy source. Other forms of renewable energy, such as wind and solar energy, are dependent on random weather patterns. But tidal energy is based on the rise and fall of tides, which is more uniform and reliable.

It is a clean energy source because, unlike the burning of fossil fuels, it does not release greenhouse gases or other pollutants into the air. It is also a cheap energy source. After the initial investment is paid off, the cost of generating electricity is very low. Tidal energy has a high energy density, meaning that the tides store a larger amount of energy than most other forms of renewable energy, such as the wind.

1.3                                    AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The tidal stream turbines are also known as underwater windmills. They are driven by the kinetic energy of the moving water in similar way that wind turbines use moving air. The generator is placed into a marine current that typically results when water being moved by tidal forces comes up against, or moves around, an obstacle or through a constriction such as a passage between two masses of land. A tidal generator converts the energy of tidal flows into electricity. The main aim of this work is to analyze how artificial neural network can be used to enhance the performance and use of tidal current turbine. At the end of this work the investment analysis of the work shall be discussed.

1.4                                           SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

As students under this field of study (electrical and electronics engineering),this work help us to understand the following:

1. The use of artificial neutral network in tidal turbine.
2. How electricity can be produce from underwater

• The importance of tidal wave current.