Revista de Ingeniería

revinge | eISSN 2011-0049 | ISSN 0121-4993

Tidal Current Potential for Energy Generation along the Colombian Coastline

No. 28 (2008-11-01)
  • John M. Polo
    Ingeniero Civil, candidato a Magíster en Hidrosistemas. Grupo Hidrociencias. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. EMDEPA Consultoría S.A. Bogotá D.C., Colombia johnmichaelpolo@gmail.com
  • Jorge Rodríguez
    Ph.D. Profesor Asociado. Director del Departamento de Ingeniería Civil. Grupo de Hidrociencias. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá D.C., Colombia rodriguezja@javeriana.edu.co
  • Armando Sarmiento
    M.Sc. Profesor Asistente. Grupo de Hidrociencias. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Bogotá D.C., Colombia asarmien@javeriana.edu.co
https://doi.org/10.16924/revinge.28.13

Abstract

This article reports the energy potential obtained from tidal currents along the Colombian coastline (approximately 3100 km). Landsat images and GIS software were used to digitalize the coastline. These images were correlated with bathymetric charts and geographical locations that presented characteristics suitable for tidal energy generation projects were identified. Tidal levels were obtained from several measurement stations and model predictions and used to estimate tidal levels at specific locations of interest. Tidal current velocity and tide level inside the bay or strait was obtained with the Keulegan model and validated whit previous studies and measurements.

Keywords: energy extraction, hydrodynamics, renewable energy, tidal current