Review and assessment of the German tidal energy resource

authored by

Alexander Korte, Christian Windt, Nils Goseberg

Abstract

To mitigate climate change, a transformation of the energy sector towards a low-emission power generation is necessary. Tidal energy technology has matured in recent years and has the potential to balance Europe’s future power grid. While reviews of the tidal energy resource exist for a number of European countries, along the German North Sea coast is overlooked so far. This paper closes this gap and provides a comprehensive review and assessment of the German tidal energy resource. Germany’s North Sea coast is characterised by comparatively low current velocities and shallow waters. Using available data from the EasyGSH-DB North Sea Model, Germany’s practical tidal energy resource is estimated in a range between 66.6 and 565.8 GWh y ^{- 1} to, excluding the most energetic sites in the estuaries of Elbe, Weser, and Ems. A stakeholder questionnaire aimed at tidal energy technology developers has shown that it is considered important to further develop the technology towards the use in shallow water and under low current velocities.

Organisation(s)

Coastal Research Centre

External Organisation(s)

Technische Universität Braunschweig

Type

Review article

Journal

Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy

Volume

10

Pages

239-261

No. of pages

23

ISSN

2198-6444

Publication date

02.2024

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment, Water Science and Technology, Energy Engineering and Power Technology, Ocean Engineering

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy, SDG 13 - Climate Action

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s40722-023-00309-7 (Access: Open)