PNNL

Abstract

Abstract: Commercial development of tidal stream energy devices is hampered by technical and financial challenges, as well as slowed by uncertainty about potential environmental effects that drive permitting (consenting) processes. The adverse effect of greatest concern for operating tidal devices is the potential for marine animals to collide with turbine blades, causing injury or death. Due to the energetic and often murky waters where tidal turbines are installed, there is a lack of empirical evidence of collision. This paucity of observations often leads to adverse permitting de-cisions, which further restricts the deployment of tidal energy devices that are needed to collect this evidence. This paper relies on the framework of stressors and receptors that is used widely in marine energy studies, and creates a stepwise probabilistic methodology that applies existing knowledge to further elucidate the risk to marine mammals, fish, and diving seabirds from oper-ating tidal turbines. A case study of striped bass from the Bay of Fundy in Canada accompanies the methodology, to partially demonstrate its use.