assessment of the marine power potential in colombia

8182019 Assessment of the Marine Power Potential in Colombia

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullassessment-of-the-marine-power-potential-in-colombia 112

Assessment of the marine power potential in Colombia

AF Osorio a Santiago Ortega b Santiago Arango-Aramburo cn

a Grupo de Investigacioacuten en Oceanografiacutea e Ingenieriacutea Costera (OCEANICOS) Faculty of Mines Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medelliacuten Carrera 80

65ndash 223 Bloque M2 Medelliacuten Colombiab Grupo de Investigacioacuten en Oceanografiacutea e Ingenieriacutea Costera (OCEANICOS) Universidad Nacional de Colombia Sede Medelliacuten Escuela de Ingenieriacutea de

Antioquia Envigado Medelliacuten Colombiac Decision Sciences Group Faculty of Mines Universidad Nacional de Colombia Carrera 80 65-223 Bloque M8a Medellin Colombia

a r t i c l e i n f o

Article historyReceived 3 June 2014Received in revised form9 June 2015Accepted 18 September 2015Available online 10 November 2015

Keywords

Marine energyRenewablesClimate ChangeMitigation

a b s t r a c t

In this paper we estimate the potential marine energy available from different types of resources inColombia waves tides currents salinity gradients and thermal gradients focussing on speci1047297c locationsThe main constraint on this analysis is the lack of long-term marine instrumentation and data In order toovercome this dif 1047297culty we use oceanic numerical modelling with data from reanalysis models climaticdata from remote sensors and primary data from existing instrumentation and 1047297eldwork The modelswere calibrated and run to calculatemdashbased on existing marine systemsmdashthe potential nationwidemarine power resources on different time and spatial scales for both the Colombian Caribbean andPaci1047297c coasts For each marine resource we 1047297rst explain the method used to assess the power potentialthen we present the potential marine energy result Further we carry out a policy analysis where wediscuss not only the power potential but also the barriers (mainly cost) faced by marine energy Given thepotentials found by earlier studies these results de1047297ne for Colombia and also for Central and SouthAmerica generally the road map for future pre-feasibility analysis taking into account the energydemands of the populations existing technologies and the environmental social and geographicalcharacteristics of the regions

amp 2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

Contents

1 Introduction 9672 Assessment of power potential waves 967

21 Method 96722 Results 968

3 Assessment of power potential tides 96831 Methodology 96832 Results 970

4 Assessment of power potential thermal gradients and currents 97041 Methodology 97042 Results 971

5 Assessment of power potential salinity gradients 97151 Methodology 97152 Results 973

6 Policy analysis and critical assessment 97361 Critical technological and environmental issues 97362 Public attitude towards marine energy 97363 Barriers to renewable (marine) energy diffusion 97464 Policy instruments to promote renewable energy 97565 Colombian energy policy status on renewables 975

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

journal homepage wwwelseviercomlocaterser

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

httpdxdoiorg101016jrser2015090571364-0321amp 2015 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved

n Corresponding author Tel thorn 57 314 8558854E-mail addresses afosorioarunaleduco (AF Osorio) santiagortegagmailcom (S Ortega) saarangounaleduco (S Arango-Aramburo)

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 966ndash977



7 Final comments 976Acknowledgements 976References 977

1 Introduction

There has been an increasing focus on global warming in recentdecades in particular on the emissions of CO2 and other green-house gases and in general on the impact that human activity hason the climate and the problems this might create There exists aseries of agreements in which the international community hasagreed to reduce emissions using different strategies Thus thereis a general consensus about the need to reduce emissions butthere is less agreement on how it should be done who should doit and what it will cost To begin with the Kyoto Protocol frame-work promotes the implementation of policies for research anddevelopment of renewable energy sources carbon sequestrationtechnologies and innovative environmentally-friendly technolo-gies [1] A revision of this agreement took place at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002

which encouraged a greater share of renewable energy in energysupplies [2] Despite the lack of concrete targets for renewableenergy sources [3] the revision in1047298uenced energy policy in thisrespect

Electricity generation is one of the major contributors to GHGemissions or more speci1047297cally it is the use of thermal generationcapacity based on oil coal and gas There are other generationtechnologies which do not contribute to emissions such asnuclear as well as alternative energy sources such as wind solarhydro plants (both large and small-scale plants) and marineenergy For a country trying to reduce emissions the use of renewable resources for generation should ideally be the 1047297rstchoice both for capacity expansion and when replacing existingcapacity There are well-known environmental problems relating

to nuclear plants (such as radioactive waste) and large-scale hydroplants (local environmental problems with dams) which we donot deal with in this paper Beyond those alternatives with theirpros and cons we focus here on the potential of marine energy inColombia

In this paper we explore the potential marine energy availablefrom a range of different sources waves tides salinity gradientsand thermal gradients This analysis will provide initial estima-tions of the potential in speci1047297c areas One of the main restrictionsfor analysing the marine power potential in the country is the lackof long-term marine instrumentation necessary to make anappropriate and sound characterisation of oceanographic phe-nomena To overcome this dif 1047297culty a path using oceanicnumerical modelling was followed The simulations used inputs

from reanalysis models and climatic data from remote sensors tomodel different oceanographic phenomena and to generate syn-thetic information The models were calibrated using data fromexisting instrumentation and 1047297eldwork After these processes themodels were run to calculate the existing nationwide resource ondifferent time and spatial scales Once there is long-term andreasonably reliable oceanographic information an estimate of thepower potential is calculated The methodologies were applied toevaluate the power for each resource in several areas on theColombian Caribbean and Paci1047297c coasts

The rest of the paper is organised as follows The next foursections present assessments of the power potentials for wavestides thermal gradients and currents and saline gradients Foreach power source we 1047297rst explain the method of assessing the

potential then we present the result Section 6 presents policy

analysis where we discuss not only the power potential but alsothe barriersmdashmainly costmdashfaced by marine energy Section 7provides 1047297nal comments

2 Assessment of power potential waves

21 Method

We use a simulation model to mimic wave behaviour over timeand quantify the wave power potential The model chosen tosimulate waves was the SWAN ndash Simulating WAves Nearshoremodel [4] which is a third-generation wave model developed atthe Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands There is awide variety of wave models such as WAM and WaveWatchIII

however we have chosen SWAN because of its ability to propagatewaves on different scales and because simulation results can bedownscaled using nested runs [5]

Inputs for the modelling include bathymetries and 10 m-highwind data The bathymetries were constructed using informationfrom the ETOPO1 a 1 arc-minute global relief model of the Earthssurface developed by the NOAA [6] and from the ldquoSistema deModelado Costerordquo (SMC) Coastal Modelling System [7] a pro-gramme developed by the University of Cantabria that contains adatabase of the bathymetries of the Colombian maritimeterritories

The Caribbean Sea can be considered a sheltered sea (see Fig 1)as the Antilles stop most of the wave 1047298uxes from the NorthAtlantic This means that the waves present in the Colombian

Caribbean are generated by the trade winds inside the CaribbeanBasin [8] Under this considerations contour data was not used forthe simulations The wind data was taken from by North AmericanRegional Reanalysis ndash NARR [9] made by the National Center forEnvironmental Prediction NCEP and the National Center forAtmospheric Research NCAR Thirty-two years of 10 m-high winddata at 3-h intervals (ie eight times daily) is presented in a gridwith data points approximately 025deg apart The simulations cov-ered a region between latitude 6ndash22degN and longitude 60ndash90degWResults are downscaled to different grids with 1047297ner resolution andsmaller domains until a 3 arc-minute resolution is reached Thecalibrations and validation of the SWAN model for this Caribbeanregion have been previously tested [5]

Wind data from the NARR is available only in a fraction of the

Paci1047297c Ocean therefore the winds for simulating waves in theColombian Paci1047297c are taken from the Global Reanalysis 1 Project

(NCEPNCAR) Data from this project is presented every 6 h (iefour times daily) for a period of 60 years There is data for aworldwide grid with lower resolution where data points areapproximately 25deg apart [10]

The Paci1047297c having swell waves with long periods is unlike thesheltered Caribbean Sea Modelling the totality of the Paci1047297c Oceanis a complex exercise that was previously carried out by theEnvironmental Hydraulics Institute IH Cantabria for the GOW

Global Ocean Waves 21 Project [11] IH Cantabria modelled wavesworldwide over a 1deg 1deg grid using the NCEPNCAR data Wavedata from this project was used as a contour map for modellingthe Paci1047297c Ocean As in the Caribbean Sea results were down-

scaled until a 3 arc-minute resolution was reached

AF Osorio et al Renewable and Sustainable Energy R eviews 53 (2016) 966 ndash977 967



Wave power is calculated by integrating the directional spec-trum density S ω θ eth THORN a function of frequency (ω) and direction θ eth THORN

according to the following equation

P frac14 ρ g

Z 2π

0

Z 1

0c g ω heth THORNS ω θ eth THORNdωdθ eth1THORN

where c g is the group velocity ρ is the water density and g isgravitational acceleration The SWAN model calculates the wavepower as x and y are spatial components and these vectors can beadded to 1047297nd the power magnitude [12]

22 Results

Fig 1 presents the seasonal mean wave-power variation in theColombian Caribbean Sea It shows that the highest values of meanwave power range around 5ndash7 kWm and appear from Decemberto April coinciding with one of the windy summer seasons inColombia in such periods of time there is less rain over Colombianterritory and so the water level of the rivers and the reservoirsdecreases [13] Conversely during the rainy seasons the meanwave-power values barely reach 1 kWm

The modelling of wave power potential also examines thePaci1047297c Ocean Fig 2 shows the Colombian Paci1047297c coast with themean wave-power for the periods MAM and JJA The 1047297gure showsthat the maximum wave power is close to half of that estimatedfor the Caribbean Sea ie about to 2ndash3 kWm However this ispresent throughout the year except for the single trimester JJA

when the wave resource is less abundantWe also explore the San Andreacutes and Providencia islands anisolated island system with important political connotations Themodelling results show that the wave power there is less than1 kWm throughout the year In general terms the wave powerresource in Colombia is relatively small when compared withother places of the world where 40 kWm and above is consideredan attractive level of wave power However signi1047297cant power maybe generated with schemes such as the one proposed in othersheltered seas such as the Baltic [14] where the technology hasbeen developed to be optimal in seas with signi1047297cant wave heightsless than 2 m and peak periods around seven seconds Thisscheme focuses on wave farms of small and abundant wave energydevices and could be applied in places near cities on the Colom-

bian Caribbean coast

During the summer months there is less rain over Colombianterritory and so the water level of therivers and the reservoirsdecreases As a consequence hydropower generation is sig-ni1047297cantly reduced When this happens the thermal power plantsenter the system to meet power demand and the cost of electricenergy rises

A wave power plant in the Colombian Caribbean may be fea-sible if it is understood to work as a complement for the electricitysystem in the summer season It would have the capacity to workat peak generation and sell renewable energy at high prices whilereducing the emission of greenhouse gases In this situation theproject must be located near a large city with high local powerdemands and suitable grid connection it would also require a portinfrastructure to coordinate maintenance and transport for the

plant The city that has the highest wave-power values togetherwith these other desirable characteristics is Santa MartaThe small seasonal variation of the waves on the Colombian

Paci1047297c coast makes wave power a potential attractive alternativefor small non-grid-connected communities However this alter-native was not considered because it requires details at a smallerscale of this study

3 Assessment of power potential tides

31 Methodology

Tides in Colombia offer a resource mainly on the Paci1047297c side

where there is a 3ndash

4 m tidal range The Colombian Paci1047297c regionhas low-density population and scarce infrastructure and thushuman intervention in the area has been minimal There are someplaces in the Colombian Paci1047297c where tidal current could be har-nessed using barrages in the Buenaventura Tumaco and Malagabays The 1047297rst two places have grid-connected ports that satisfythe need for infrastructure to operate and maintain a tidal powerplant and in the Malaga there is a military base However thereare also several protected nature reserves located in this region onthe mainland and in the bays and estuaries Tidal barrages makegreat demands on infrastructure and consequently are associatedwith signi1047297cant negative environmental impacts in sensitive eco-systems which led us to discard such areas from the analysis

To estimate the power potential from tidal energy in Buena-

ventura and Tumaco we use a simulation model called H2D for

Fig 1 Seasonal mean wave-power variation in the Colombian Caribbean Left side DJF (Decemberndash JanuaryndashFebruary) Right side SON (SeptemberndashOctoberndashNovember)

AF Osorio et al Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 53 (2016) 966 ndash977 968



the tidal dynamics The model solves the shallow water equationdesigned for long-wave propagation capable of determining thesea surface level the speed of the current These speeds and thecurrents from the CLOPARDSP are used to obtain the 1047298ux 1047297eld in a

coastal area As in the case for the wave-simulation in the Paci1047297c

the data for the bathymetries came from the NOAA ETOPO1 model[6] and from the Sistema de Modelado Costero (SMC) [7] The winddata came from the Global Reanalysis 1 Project [10] the data cor-responded to the node located at a distance of 290 km from the

Colombian Paci1047297c coast The power potential is given by the

Fig 2 Seasonal mean wave-power variation in the Colombian Paci1047297c Left side MAM (MarchndashAprilndashMay) Right side JJA (Junendash JulyndashAugust)

Fig 3 Tidal power per unit [Wm2] of area in Ebb tide (left) and Flood tide (right) Bays




following equation

P frac14 ε ρ AV 3

2 eth2THORN

where P is power ε is the ef 1047297ciency of the turbine ρ is the densityof the seawater A is the area to be harnessed and V is the velocityof the current Calculations are made assuming a density of 1030 kgm2 an ef 1047297ciency of 35 and results are in terms of unitof area

32 Results

The results of our simulations are shown in Fig 3 The simu-lations show that the mean current speeds for Buenaventura Bayand Malaga Bay are clustered round the 08 ms The places withmaximum power show values between 100 Wm2 (ebb tide) and250 Wm2 (1047298ood tide) and are located in the farthest area of theBay In Delta San Juan there are some places with more powerpotential however the sediment transport will affect the feasi-bility of real plant

The highest power could yield a maximum power supply of close to 81 MW for Buenaventura Bay Nevertheless the simulatedspeed is very low compared with places where there might befuture commercial developments [15ndash17] that have currentspeeds of the order of 2 ms which would be equivalent to about

960 Wm2

Despite the lack of potential for tide power we foresee

a potential to power small dwellings or communities by them-selves building small barrages with minor environmental impactsto meet their power supply needs

4 Assessment of power potential thermal gradients and

currents

41 Methodology

The estimation of the power potential of thermal gradients and

currents requires simulation of the behaviour of the temperatureand salinity of the Colombian oceans in order to calculate thecurrents and temperature gradients We use the Stony BrookParallel Ocean Model (sbPOM) [18] a modi1047297cation of the PrincetonOcean Model (POM) and the MERCATOR model httpwwwmercator-oceanfr) These models consider different climatic variablesas forcers such as atmospheric pressure air temperature at 2 mprecipitation relative humidity at 2 m cloud coverage at differentheights and 10 m-high wind data Daily temperature informationfrom January 2002 to December 2008 was obtained from theFrench Global Ocean Reanalysis and Simulations (MERCATOR-GLORYS) details of the reanalysis production are discussed else-where [1920] Wind data was taken from QuikSCAT [21] whichhas a spatial resolution of 05deg 05deg Data from reanalysis model

was selected for the other hydroclimatic variables NARR

Fig 4 Speed of the oceanic currents in Colombia Monthly means for the months of April (a) October (b) June (c) and December (d)




Reanalysis [9] was used for the Caribbean Basin and the JRA-25[22] reanalysis was used for the Paci1047297c Basin

Data from oceanographic cruises was used to calibrate themodel and validate the results In the Paci1047297c data was gatheredduring the 18 expeditions of the ldquoCentro de Control de Con-taminacioacuten del Paciacute1047297co (CCCP)rdquo made in the period from 1988 to2006 In the Caribbean data comes from 37 expeditions by theCentro de Investigaciones Oceanograacute1047297cas e Hidrograacute1047297cas (CIOH)

that cover the 1969ndash

2010 period [23] Following Nihouss [24]ldquotemperature ladderrdquo estimation of OTEC resources the net power(P net ) generated is the product of the evaporator heat load and thegross OTEC conversion ef 1047297ciency (pEεtg ∆T 2T 2 where εtg is theturbo generator ef 1047297ciency of 85) With 30 of gross power atdesign conditions (ΔT designfrac14 20 degC)

P net frac14Q ww ρc p3ηεtg

16eth1thornηTHORNT 2ethΔT 2 03ΔT 2design THORN eth3THORN

where Q wwfrac1410 m3s is the surface water 1047298ow-rate used in thestandard OTEC process ρ frac141025 kgm3 is an average seawaterdensity c p4 kJkg K is the speci1047297c heat of seawater ƞfrac1405 isused when twice as much surface warm-water (Q ww) as coldwater (Q cw) is involved in the process (Q cwfrac14ƞQ ww)

42 Results

The simulations show that the main ocean currents in theColombian waters are present at distances of several hundredkilometres from the shoreline The largest current-speed reaches07 ms far below the recommended 2 ms According to currenttechnology (wwwfp7-marineteu) and power potential accordingto Eq (2) this would lead to an equivalent of 40 Wm2 of powerThe geographical distribution of the currents is shown in Fig 4The low potential for maximum current speed suggests that oceancurrents would not provide a feasible power supply for Colombia

In the oceanic regions the thermocline is intense and not toodeep there is a temperature difference of over 20 degC between thesuper1047297cial and the deep waters This favourable condition occurs

in speci1047297c areas of the tropical coastal region basically betweenthe tropics of Cancer and Capricorn [25] As foreseen the simu-lations con1047297rm that the tropical location of Colombia conditionsthe super1047297cial waters maintaining high super1047297cial temperaturesall year round Under this scenario the places where the thermalgradients can be harnessed are where the continental shelf is verysteep dropping to depths of over 1 km within a few kilometres of the shore

There are only two regions in Colombia with these geographicfeatures and a high power demand the city of Santa Marta and theisland of San Andreacutes On the one hand Santa Marta is well con-nected to the grid so high cost OTEC is not currently a feasibleoption in the hydro-based power market On the other hand SanAndreacutes Island stands out as the most promising location because itis not grid-connected and its energy supply is based on fossil fuelsSan Andreacutes Island has previously been identi1047297ed as a suitable

place for OTEC but no studies of the variation of the resource haspreviously have been undertaken [26] The simulations show thatthat the depth required for the 20 degC temperature differenceneeded for OTEC varies with other annual variations but it isalways found in depths below 700 m as displayed in Fig 5 Thefact that the gradient is found at a depth of less than 1000 mmakes an eventual project more attractive as the pipeline can beshorter or the thermal ef 1047297ciency may be higher

Moreover the island could bene1047297t enormously from an OTECproject as it may also use a whole range of deep cold-seawatertechnologies such as sea-water air conditioning and low tem-perature thermal desalination among others This could have avery positive impact on the island as it may help to apply energyef 1047297ciency programmes give access to fresh water and release

pressure on the aquifers of the island If the cold water is used for arange of different purposes in the context of a modular eco-park itcould empower local business and research initiatives setting thegrounds for sustainable development of the island

Based on Eq (3) for the net power (P net) and taking intoaccount that thermal differences at this site are always greaterthan 215 degC this difference produces relatively high net OTECpower values during the entire period oscillating between 23 and35 MW It is also evident that inter-annual oscillations are notsigni1047297cant with mean Surface Seawater Temperature around281 degC and maximum (minimum) values of 295 degC (267 degC)respectively More details of the OTEC energy for San Andres Islandcan be found in Devis-Morales et al [27]

5 Assessment of power potential salinity gradients

51 Methodology

Nowadays it is possible to generate electricity using a salinitygradient which is observed mainly when freshwater rivers dis-charge into the sea However not every river offers adequate

Fig 5 Seawater temperature simulations for San Andreacutes Island




conditions for the operation of salinity-gradient power plantsThese power plants require a relatively short distance between thesalt and the fresh water in river mouths with an intense andextended mixing zone [28]

The Colombian Caribbean Sea has a micro-tidal range whereriver mouths tend to present saline wedges with strong verticalsalinity strati1047297cations and a well-de1047297ned halocline This salinitystructure results in completely saline water being found at a short

distance from the river mouth reducing the necessary length of pipelines and the energy needed for pumping

The tidal movements in the estuaries of the Colombian Paci1047297cOcean (3ndash4 m) however create weak and continual vertical stra-ti1047297cations in the water column and an intense mix of the river andocean water that extends for many kilometres thus such char-acteristics make power generation from salinity gradients infea-sible in this region Therefore we only consider the power

potential from salinity gradients for the Caribbean SeaIn the context of the mentioned framework project it wassimulated the hydrodynamic features of the Colombian Caribbeanin river mouths using ELCOM (the Estuary Lake and Coastal OceanModel) The ELCOM model was developed by the ldquoCentre forWater Researchrdquo (CWR) of the University of Western Australia[29] This three-dimensional model works on the hydrodynamicand thermal processes on strati1047297ed bodies of water under externalenvironmental forcing thereby simulating the temporal and spa-tial behaviour of variables such as speed temperature and salinityusing a semi-implicit 1047297nite differences scheme

The ELCOM model was calibrated and validated for the rivermouths of Atrato [30] Canal del Dique [31] and Leoacuten [32] as suf 1047297cientof the necessary 1047297eld data had been gathered by members of the

OCEANICOS Group of the Universidad Nacional de Colombia Therewas no 1047297eld information on the Magdalena river so data fromoceanographic cruises near those river mouths gathered by theDireccioacuten General Mariacutetima of the Colombian Navy were used asboundary conditions for the model For the simulation we selectedthe months of September and February which are typical months of the dry and wet seasons in the Colombian Caribbean region We alsoconsidered the ENSO phenomenon for the simulations taking intoaccount three time periods 1996ndash1997 for an ENSO-neutral year1997ndash1998 for a warm ENSO phase (El Nintildeo) and 1998ndash1999 for thecold ENSO phase (La Nintildea) The theoretical salinity-gradient energy iscalculated using the salinity gradients found in the simulations whichcan be quanti1047297ed using the vant Hoff osmotic pressure equation [33]

π frac14 2RCT eth4THORN

where π is the osmotic pressure R is the ideal gas constant C is thesalt concentration in the water and T is the water temperature Thedifference in osmotic pressure between the two bodies of water (Δπ )is expressed as

∆π frac14 2RethC mT m C r T r THORN eth5THORN

where C m and T m represent the ocean salt concentration and tem-perature and C r and T r represent the freshwater rivers salt con-centration and temperature The potential energy depends on thedifference of osmotic pressure and the mean 1047298ow of the river (Q m) asis shown in the following equation

E frac14 ∆π Q m eth6THORN

In practice not all of this potential power can be used because

of technical limitations in the energy conversion process Thetechnical potential can be calculated using the coef 1047297cients esti-mated by Stenzel and Wagner [28] for Pressure-Retarded-Osmoticpower plants The coef 1047297cients take into account the behaviour of the osmotic and hydraulic pressures at each side of the membranethe energy and pressure losses in the process and the overallef 1047297ciency of the machinery Assuming the mean 1047298ow of the riverthe technical potential is estimated to be 205 of the theoreticalosmotic potential When calculating the electricity generation thisfactor is set to be 187 to be conservative Besides the technicallimitations there are environmental and social restrictions inrelation to the rivers These restrictions have to satisfy the need toguarantee the ecosystems conservation and the continuation of economic activities such as navigation and 1047297shing To calculate this

ecological potential we assume an extraction factor of 10 of the

Fig 6 Mean salinity pro1047297les for a representative month of the dry season (Feb-ruary) under different ENSO phases in the Leoacuten River Mouth These simulationsshow the formation of saline wedges in the river mouth Salinity values are given inpractical salinity units




multiannual mean river 1047298ow as proposed by Stenzel and Wagner[28] However discussions about technical potential and ecologicalpotential are still open

52 Results

Simulations for the river mouths show that saline wedges arecreated in every river that 1047298ows into the Colombian CaribbeanColombias river 1047298ows are very sensitive to the ENSO but the

results show that the salinity structure is maintained for each of the phases and the climatic seasons of the country This meansthat power generation only depends on fresh water availability assalt water is available at all times Fig 6 shows the Canal delDiques mouth to illustrate the behaviour of the river mouths inthe region (for more detail see Alvarez and Osorio [34])

Our assessment shows that there is a potential for hundreds of MW of installed capacity on the Colombian Coast with differentsizes of projects In fact the technical and ecological powerpotential for the several rivers will in actuality be minor probablyaround only 2ndash5 of the theoretical power It implies that thevalues for Magdalena River will be hundreds of MW of installedcapacity and rivers such as Atrato Leon and Canal del Dique willhave tens of MW of power potential respectively These results are

shown in Table 1The theoretical salinity-gradient energy (SGE) potential forColombia is around 1 of the world potential SGE ndash around26 TW in the context of prospects for the various energy sources[35] These salinity gradients were found to be the most interest-ing marine renewable power source for Colombia as the Car-ibbean Coast has the proper oceanographic conditions and veryabundant freshwater resources in the large rivers that 1047298ow intothe sea Moreover the Colombian Caribbean coast has a popula-tion of several million inhabitants and the largest cities in theregion are located in close proximity to these rivers Salinity-gradient power plants (SGPP) may become an important com-plement to the national power system as they could providerenewable power generation on the coast for a grid that has its

generation plants located mainly in the mountainous region of thecountry The main obstacle for SGPP is the development of thetechnology which is still far from becoming commercial [36]

6 Policy analysis and critical assessment

Despite the consensus about the need to reduce emissionsthere is less agreement on how it should be done who should do itand what it will cost [37] There has been an increasing focus onthe use of renewable technology in Europe and the US whichtogether are considered as the major contributors to GHG emis-sions More precisely wind which has reached a signi1047297cant levelof contribution to the generation of electricity in some countries

[3] and other technologies such as photovoltaic are expected to

contribute more in the way of generation by renewable technol-ogies over the next decade [38]

Colombia joined the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition(JREC) that aims to ldquofocus on international regional and nationalpolitical initiatives that will help foster policies for the promotionof renewable energyrdquo Commitment to the JREC initiative showssupport for renewable energy to some extent South America ingeneral and Colombia in particular have been relativelyenvironmentally-friendly in terms of electricity generation over

the last 1047297fteen years but this has slowly been replaced by morethermal generation with signi1047297cantly increasing GHG emissionsin opposition to the stated objective of most countries interna-tional organisations and environmentalists [39] Thus energypolicies should be put in place for a return to a more sustainabletrend with a focus on renewable electricity

61 Critical technological and environmental issues

The diffusion of marine energy is still far from taking off Thereare a number of barriers not only for renewables in general butalso for marine energy in particular Despite the potential world-wide and in Colombia this technology is still in the early stages of development We have summarised in Table 2 the main critical

issues regarding both technology and environment from IRENAThe status of the technology for waves is full-scale projects of single devices for tides it ranges from pilot to full-scale testingprojects of single devices OTEC has demonstration and small-scale(less than 1 MW) projects and 1047297nally salinity gradients have onlypilot projects

62 Public attitude towards marine energy

Consistent with the concerns previously discussed publicattitude towards marine energy is an issue These issues areamong others the concept of place attachment the idea that theocean is a cultural heritage and what bene1047297ts local residentsmight gain from these projects Thus one important issue for

developing ocean energy projects is public opinion Previous stu-dies in United States [42] and Europe [4344] have shown thatpublic attitude toward the technology is generally positive InDelaware (USA) the support levels have shown values around 80for wind farm projects [43] However in the context of lessdeveloped technology (such as wave and tides) in Oregon thereare lower levels of support for wave energy with around 50 infavour [19] mainly due to a lack of awareness of wave energyrather than opposition to it In Europe more than 60 of peoplehave a positive attitude towards offshore wind farms [4445]Another study [46] reports preference for tidal energy (around 65ndash70) and wave power (around 85ndash90)

Despite the situation in the USA and Europe there is a pre-dominantly positive attitude toward the harnessing of offshore

renewable energy Nevertheless given the cultural education and

Table 1

Salinity-gradient theoretical potential for selected rivers on the Colombian Caribbean Coast [34]

River Mean Flow Osmotic Pressure Theoretical potential (MW)n

no-ENSO year El Nintildeo year La Nintildea year

(m3s) (MJm3) Dry season Rainy season Dry season Rainy season Dry season Rainy season

Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321

Canal del Dique 148 27 157 212 41 86 215 213Atrato 129 25 33 181 32 134 39 136Leoacuten 90 3 184 188 188 186 188 186

n

Practical values of potential are probable around 2ndash5 of the theoretical values




their relation with new technologies in Colombia it is not clearwhether local communities will support the development of Ocean renewable projects

On the one hand a positive public attitude could be created byaspects such as a more cost-effective energy solution reduction of

fossil fuel use and energy savings positive environmental impactsand security of supply On the other hand a negative opinion of marine energy is in1047298uenced by its environmental impacts as wellas high costs when compared to other energy alternatives Finallyin some local places habitants may see the ocean as a special placeand an important cultural resource that they dont want to seeaffected We turn now to analyse the barrier for marine energydiffusion

63 Barriers to renewable (marine) energy diffusion

The penetration of renewable energy is restricted because of anumber of barriers A comprehensive survey of barriers torenewable energy diffusion is presented by IEA [47] The barriers

are classi1047297ed into categories such as 1047297nancial economic marketetc however given the nature of marine energy the main barriersare cost and the development of the technology In fact the costfactor is a common barrier for most forms of renewable energy(apart from micro hydro which is less reliable and large-scalehydro mentioned above)

Renewable energy is more expensive compared with conven-tional thermal power plants especially in South America [5051]Moreover conventional generation technologies (pulverised steamcoal coal open cycle gas turbine and CCGT) are cheaper and morereliable than wind solar and other renewables despite the sig-ni1047297cant cost reductions and ef 1047297ciency gains over the last decade[39] Thus ldquoThe growing interest in the establishment of a mini-mum share of renewable sources in the world energy matrix after

the Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development

(WSSD) has raised the question about the means for such newtechnologies to compete with the traditional onesrdquo [57] To illus-trate this issue we present Table 2 which displays a comparison of costs for different renewable power generation technologies bothfor installation cost and energy production

The cross comparison of renewable energy with other energysources shows that marine energy is among the most expensivetechnologies the values are in the highest ranges both forinstalled capacity and for power production From the table it isalso noticeable that the scales for wave and tidal are limited to2 MW of installed capacity However the literature also reports anumber of larger power plants such as the 240 MW plant at LaRance in northern France and the 254 MW Sihwa Barrage in theRepublic of Korea both are tidal range plants [44]

The situation in the Colombian case is being worsened by thecurrent economic incentives for investment in power plants TheColombian power system has created a forward marketndashthereliability chargendashauctions all supply contracts for 1047297rm energy[4952] The mechanism put in place an obligation for the gen-erators to make investments as a result it is expected to bring on-line more than 3000 MW (around a quarter of the installedcapacity in 2012) Thus there is not much opportunity forinvestment in new technology in the next decade

Regarding the technical barrier all marine energy alternativesdiscussed in this paper are still in the very early stages of thetechnologies The maturity of renewable energy technologies ingeneral can be classi1047297ed into demonstration and commercialisa-tion the commercialisation class is divided into inception take-off and consolidation [39] Some technologies are already fullymature such as hydro and geothermal Most of the renewables arein the take-off andor consolidation stages of maturity In parti-cular the different forms of marine energy are only now emerging

from the RDampD phase [39]

Table 2

Critical technology and environmental assessment (source technology briefs from IRENA)

TechnologyStatus Critical issues

Technological Environmental

Waves Full scale testing of single devices 1 Over a hundred concepts and technologies exist but very few areclose to commercialisation

2 A full scale testing of an array of devices is needed

3 Lack of industrial cohesion and absence of supply chains to achievethe next generation of the technology it is necessary to improvebasic subcomponents of the technology such as generators andelectric components mooring systems control systems andmaterials

4 Insuf 1047297cient grid and port infrastructure in many coastal locations

1 Uncertainties regarding environmental impactssuch as changes in the shoreline arti1047297cial reefsand noise

2 Lack of clarity in environmental regulations zon-ing licensing and stakeholder consultationprocedures

Tides Pilot projects ndash full scale testing of single devices

1 Need to increase the ef 1047297ciency of the turbines2 Lack of knowledge regarding materials performance and operation

and maintenance procedures3 Insuf 1047297cient grid and port infrastructure in many coastal locations4 Lack of industrial cohesion needed to scale up device demonstra-

tions into arrays

1 Impacts on large scale sediment transport andcoastal dynamics [40]

2 Mammal interaction and underwater noise3 Limited baseline data of seawater biodiversity4 Lack of clarity in environmental regulations zon-

ing licensing and stakeholder consultationprocedures

Thermal gradients ndash OTEC- semonstra-tion ndash small scale 1 MW existing plants

1 High upfront capital costs for construction These make the tech-nology unattractive for continental locations

2 Biofouling sealing and maintenance of the pipes3 Having a larger scale plant (410 MW) is key to have further

developments

1 Construction in fragile marine environnements2 Marine life alterations by the operation of the

facility algae bloom3 Unknown risk for marine life at the seabed due to

the large scale pumping of nutrients4 Lack of clarity in environmental regulations zon-ing licensing and stakeholder consultationprocedures

Salinity gradients Pilot Projects 1 Elevated costs and insuf 1047297cient power density of the membranes2 Fouling issues in the membrane3 Lack of a technological supply system as few companies4 produce membranes and other necessary components at a

large scale

1 Uncertainties about the effects of a plant operationin sediment transport

2 Uncertainties in the impacts to local fauna and1047298ora due to the changes in the salinity structure[41]




64 Policy instruments to promote renewable energy

With the challenging barriers previously characterised energysupport policies are required in order to catalyse the diffusion of renewable energy To reach the goals for renewable energy there isa need to overcome the technical and cost barriers which are themain obstacles to diffusion To tackle this problem a number of policy options have been put in place around the world A genericclassi1047297cation of policy instrumentsoptions is reported in the lit-erature [53] which is divided into legislative and non-legislativemeasures The legislative measures includes demand and control(eg forced investment and forced shut-downs) and market basedwhich are divided into supply-push (eg direct subsidies and tax

deduction) and demand-pull (eg renewable portfolio standard ndash

quotas- and green power purchasers) The non-legislative includeplayer-initiated (eg green prices and self-obligation) and infor-mativeadministrative (eg resource mapping and investor advis-ing) For further details of the policy instrumentsoptions see [53]

Given the nature of marine energy and the current market-based power systems implies we have particular interest in someof the market-based supply-push strategies direct subsidies andFeed-in tariffs (FiTs) Both subsidies and FiTs are supply-pushstrategies that allow the policy maker to direct policy towardsthe desired technology in our case towards marine energy [55]On the one hand subsidies provide funding in order either to getprices for consumers below market level or to keep prices forproducers above market level [47] where the cost differential is

absorbed by the government Subsidies in renewable energy arenormally given as a 1047297xed percentage of the total investment cost[48] On the other hand a FiT is a price paid by the government tothe electricity supplier for every unit of electricity produced laterwhen the FiT stops this cost is passed on to the consumersthrough higher retail electricity price or it is assumed by theGovernment [56]

65 Colombian energy policy status on renewables

Nowadays many countries around the world have imple-mented some type of policy for renewable electricity In SouthAmerica different 1047297nancial schemes and incentives to promotethe use of renewable energy depend on each country without

coordinated regional initiatives or goals but there has not been

any successful programme leading to large-scale investment inrenewable generation only marginal plants [39]

The Colombian power market allows small plants (o20 MW)to be on the electricity dispatch without the need to enter into thecompetition however such bene1047297ts are not directed to certaintechnologies but rather to them all including thermal plantsColombia has passed a law to promote energy ef 1047297ciency andalternative energy sources (Law 6972001) which is regulated by

the Decree 36832003 of the Minister of Mines and Energy of Colombia Law 7882002 set income tax exemptions for 15 yearsfor wind biomass and agricultural waste while marine energywas left out together with solar geothermal and small hydro Thecondition for the tax exemption is ldquoArrange obtain and sell CO2

emission reduction certi1047297cates in accordance with the Kyoto pro-tocol Invest at least 50 of the money obtained from the certi1047297-cates in the social development of the community in1047298uenced bythe companyrdquo Even for wind a simulation study suggests that it ismore ef 1047297cient to promote renewable generation with direct sub-sidies rather than the current 1047297scal policies [50] More recentlyLaw 11512007 established the National Development Plan whichpromotes the use of renewable energy sources for non-interconnected areas and allocates funding for renewable energy

via FANZI (Fund of Financial Aid for Electri1047297cation of the Inter-connected Rural Areas)Very recently (May 13th 2014) the Colombian Government

issued Law 17512014 to integrate non-conventional energy intothe national power system This law aims to establish a legal fra-mework and instruments to promote investment researchdevelopment and use of non-conventional energy sources mainlyrenewables In particular the Law includes explicitly all sources of marine energy It was issued in order to effect commitments torenewables such as those promoted by the International Renew-able Energy Agency-IRENA The Law includes the creation of afund for their promotion tax exemptions accelerated accountingdepreciations replacement of diesel promotion etc Neverthelessthe Law is still lacking rules for its implementation and applica-

tion which should be written by May 2015 Its effectiveness istherefore an empirical question with regard to the rules of implementation

Regarding the technical barrier there is a need for research anddevelopment on marine energy A number of initiatives andresearch programmes are in place worldwide we focus on theColombian case COLCIENCIAS (Colombian Science Council)administers all Government funding of research The mainresearch initiative is Law 12862009 called the Science andTechnology Law (in Spanish Ley de Ciencia y Tecnologiacutea) whichplaced COLCIENCIAS under the direct control of the presidencyThe main achievement resulting from this law was a fundingallocation of over US$ 50 million per year taken from coal and oilroyalties Additionally there is the Center for Research and Inno-

vation in Energy ndash CIIEN which has been created as by the largestColombian utility company to provide some support for four localuniversities in the Antioquia region in fact the research beingreported in this paper was funded via CIIEN (see Acknowl-edgements) Both initiatives have RampD in renewable energy ontheir research agendas

In summary the energy policies already in place in Colombiaare focussed on biofuels CO2 emission reduction and encourage-ment of energy ef 1047297ciency The new law on promotion of alter-native energy sources (17152014) is just in place where its effectis an empirical question to be tested in the near future Biofuels onthe other hand have had stronger energy policies in place bothpolicy support for biofuel production and mandatory rules forbioethanol blends in transportation fuels Our comments are in

fact consistent with the CLCDS (Colombian Low Carbon

Fig 7 Opportunities for marine renewable energy in Colombia (circle size on themap indicates the magnitude of the theoretical marine renewable power)




Development Strategy) according with discussions with theGovernment leaders

7 Final comments

Within the renewable-energy portfolio we aim to includemarine energy in various forms We have presented the potentialfor such energy in different forms such as waves tides salinitygradients and temperature gradients Given the potentials foundso far a pre-feasibility analysis can now be conducted taking into

account the energy demands of the populations the existingtechnologies and the environmental social and geographicalcharacteristics of the regions This is in order to identify andprioritise the most feasible locations and schemes for harnessingmarine renewable energy in Colombia Identifying the potential is

just the 1047297rst step towards harnessing marine power in ColombiaTechnical studies to identify locations are needed for a completefeasibility analysis Such studies may include the environmentaland social impact 1047297nancial analysis performance of the plant andits relationship with the electricity market among others Thenumerical modelling uses state-of-the-art models and secondaryinformation from reanalysis projects existing marine and climaticinstrumentation oceanic cruise records and previous studies

Studying the marine power resource for Colombia is necessary

for the countrys development as such studies are currently veryscarce It can be seen as an opportunity to expand the renewableresource base for power generation both in Colombia and in otherLatin-American countries Latin-America is a good bet for thedevelopment of renewable power projects on wind and biomassbut there have been very few advances in marine renewable Bypursuing this route Colombia makes itself a guiding light andregional leader on the research and development of marinerenewable energy in Latin-America broadening the spectra of opportunities beyond national frontiers As a summary Fig 7shows the places around the country where marine renewablepower appears promising and may be located

Renewable generation must become economically competitiveotherwise it is not realistic to expect that developing countries

can afford to invest in these technologies South America needs to

sustain the economic growth needed for development andexpensive electricity will have a negative effect on GDP Howeverthe advantages of these renewable sources besides the environ-mental bene1047297ts are that they are faster to install than the moreconventional generation systems (around two or three years)Unless renewables become more economically competitive itseems probably that markets if left to them would be unlikely toreverse the decline in sustainable generation in South AmericaMoreover there are a number of technological and environmentalissues that should be overcome in order to push forward the dif-fusion of this vast energy source

For Colombia in particular we emphasise the requirements fora proper design of the rules of the new law on promotion of alternative energy sources (17152014) The Technology Lawshould be used to improve and learn more about renewableenergy in general and marine power technology in particular Theenergy policies are not focussed on promoting renewable energythey focus mostly on biofuels CO2 emission reduction and energyef 1047297ciency We propose use of the traditional promotion policiessuch as FiT or direct subsidies Alternatively we also suggestcreating a rule or a Law in which large power companies mustinvest in renewable energy either pilot plants or in researchThese energy policy options require further elaboration and in-depth consideration of Colombias energy future Table 3

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Center for Research andInnovation in Energy ndash CIIEN grant number CT-51000438013 Theauthors are grateful for discussions and comments fromresearchers involved in the project ldquoASSESMENT OF POTENTIAL POWER AND TECHNOLOGY FOR MEASUREMENT AND POWER GENERATION IN COMMERCIAL LEVEL IN THE COLOMBIAN SEArdquoparticularly MSc Pablo Agudelo co-leader of this project Dr LuisOtero and Dr Julio Correa leader of components The authors wantto express a special gratitude towards CIOH (Centre of Research inOceanography and Hydrography) from DIMAR (Direccioacuten GeneralMaritima) of the Republic of Colombia for institutional support

(researchers and data) We thank to anonymous reviewers which

Table 3

Comparison of renewable energy in terms of status scale production and costs

Technology Status Typical scale 2009 Total Global production Range of cost

Installation USDkW Operation USDMWh

Bioenergy (stand alone)ψ C 100 kW to 100 MW 266 2600ndash4 100 69ndash150Bioenergy (co1047297ring)ψ C 20ndash100 MW 430ndash900 22ndash67Geothermal (1047298ash) C 10ndash250 MW 66 2 000ndash4 000 50ndash80

Geothermal (binary)ψ

C 12ndash20 MW 2 400ndash5 900 60ndash200Solar PV (groundmounted) C 1 kWndash50 MW 22 2 700ndash4 100 110ndash490Solar PV (roof top)ψ C 1 kWndash250 MW 3 300ndash5 800 110ndash490Concentrating solar power (trough)ψ C 1ndash250 MW 085 4200ndash8400 180ndash300Concentrating solar power (tower)ψ DHydro (large)ψ C 100 kWndash10000 MW 3 077 1 000ndash2 000 18ndash100Hydro (small and medium)ψ C 100 kWndash300 MW 2 000ndash4 000 50ndash100Wind onshoreψ C 1 kWndash500 MW 344 1 400ndash2 500 40ndash160Wind offshoreψ C 100ndash1000 MW 3 3 200ndash5 800 100ndash190Wave and tidalψ RampD D 100 kWndash2 MW 053 4 500ndash5 000 200ndash350Waveψψ RampD D NA NA 6 200ndash16 100 NATidal range RampD D NA NA 4 500ndash5 000 NATidal current RampD D NA NA 5 400ndash14 300 NAOcean current RampD D NA NA NA NAOcean thermal RampD D NA NA 4 200ndash12 300 NASalinity gradient RampD D NA NA NA

RampD Research and Development D Demonstration C CommercialSourcesψ [54] ψψ2005 US$ [58]




comments contribute to the paper Finally for editorial commentsfrom Dr Paul G Ellis

References

[1] Kyoto UN Protocol to the United Nations framework convention on climatechange New York United Nations 1998

[2] UN World summit on sustainable development Johannesburg United

Nations 2002[3] REN21 Renewables 2013 global status report Paris France Renewable Energy

Policy Network for the 21st Century 2013[4] Booij N Ris RC Holthuijsen LH A third generation wave model for coastal

regions J Geophys Res 1999104(C4)7649ndash66[5] Ortega S Osorio AF Agudelo-Restrepo P Estimation of the wave power

resource in the Caribbean Sea in areas with scarce instrumentation Casestudy Isla Fuerte Colombia Renew Energy 2013240ndash8

[6] Amante C Eakins W ETOPO1 1 Arc Minute Global Relief Model ProceduresData Sources and Analysis NOAA Tech Memo NESDIS NGDC-24 2009

[7] Gonzaacutelez M Medina R Gonzaacutelez-Ondina J Osorio A Meacutendez FJ Garciacutea E Anintegrated coastal modeling system for analyzing beach processes and beachrestoration projects SMC Comput Geosci 200733916ndash31

[8] Ortega S Estudio de aprovechamiento de la energiacutea del oleaje en Isla Fuerte(Caribe Colombiano) Tesis de Maestriacutea en Ingenieriacutea de Recursos HidraacuteulicosPosgrado en Aprovechamiento de Recursos Hidraacuteulicos - Universidad Nacionalde Colombia - Sede Medelliacuten 2010

[9] Mesinger F DiMego G Kalnay E Mitchell K Shafran P Ebisuzaki W et alNorth American regional reanalysis a long-term consistent high-resolutionclimate dataset for the North American domain as a major improvement uponthe earlier global reanalysis datasets in both resolution and accuracy Bull AmMetereol Soc 2006

[10] Tolman HL User manual and system documentation of WAVEWATCH-III ver-sion 222 NOAANWSNCEPMMAB 2002

[11] Reguero BG Meneacutendez M Meacutendez FJ Miacutenguez R Losada IJ A Global OceanWave (GOW) calibrated reanalysis from 1948 onwards Coast Eng 20126538ndash55

[12] Iglesias G Carballo R Wave energy potential along the death coast (Spain)Energy 2009341963ndash75

[13] Poveda G Waylen P Pulwarty R Annual and inter-annual variability of thepresent climate in northern South America and southern MesoamericaPalaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 2006234(1)3ndash27 May

[14] Bernhoff H Sjoumlsted E Leijon M Wave energy in sheltered areas a case studyof the Baltic Sea Renew Energy 2006312164ndash70

[15] Garrett C Cummins P Generating power from tidal currents J Waterw PortCoast Ocean Eng 2004130(3)114ndash8

[16] Fallon D Hartnett M Olbert A Nash S The effects of array con1047297guration on the

hydro-environmental impacts of tidal turbines Renew Energy 20146410ndash

25[17] Walters R Tarbotton M Hiles C Estimation of tidal power potential RenewEnergy 201351255ndash62

[18] Jordi A Wang DP sbPOM a parallel implementation of Princenton OceanModel Environ Model Softw 20123859ndash61

[19] Ferry N Parent L Garric G Barnier B Jourdain NC Mercator ocean teamMercator global eddy permitting ocean reanalysis GLORYS1V1 descriptionand results Mercator Ocean Q Newsl 20103615ndash27

[20] Tranchant B Testut CE Renault L Ferry N Birol F Brasseur P Expected impactof the future SMOS and Aquarius Ocean surface salinity missions in theMercator Ocean operational systems new perspectives to monitor the oceancirculation Remote Sens Environ 20081121476ndash87

[21] Pickett MH Tang W Rosenfeld LK Wash CH QuikSCAT satellite comparisonswith nearshore buoy wind data off the US west coast J Atmos Ocean Technol2003201869ndash80

[22] Onogi K Tsutsui J Koide H Sakamoto M Kobayashi S Hatsushika H et al The JRA-25 Reanalysis J Meteor Soc Jpn 200785369ndash432

[23] DIMAR Atlas Cartograacute1047297co de los Oceacuteanos y Costas de Colombia BogotaacuteColombia Repuacuteblica de Colombia-Armada Nacional- Direccioacuten General Mar-

iacutetima DIMAR ndash Centro de Investigaciones Oceanograacute1047297cas e Hidrograacute1047297casCIOH 2005

[24] Nihous GC A preliminary assessment of ocean thermal energy conversion(OTEC) resources J Energy Res Technol 2007129-110ndash7

[25] Solar Energy Research Institute Ocean thermal energy conversion an Over-view Golden CO Solar Energy Research Institute 1989 p 36 SERISP-220-3024

[26] Torres R Andrade C Potencial en Colombia para el aprovechamiento de laenergiacutea no convencional de los oceacuteanos Boletiacuten Cientiacute1047297co CIOH 200611ndash25

[27] Devis-Morales A Montoya-Sa nchez RA Osorio AF Ocean Thermal EnergyResources in Colombia Renew Energy 201466759ndash7769

[28] Stenzel P Wagner HJ Osmotic power plants Potential analysis and site cri-teria 3rd International Conference Ocean Energy Bilbao 2010

[29] Hodges BR Dallimore C Estuary Lake and Coastal Ocean Model ELCOM v22Science Manual Centre of Water Research Univ of Western Australia 2006 p62

[30] Roldaacuten P Modelamiento del patroacuten de circulacioacuten de la bahiacutea Colombia Golfode Urabaacute-implicaciones para el transporte de sedimentos (Masters thesis)Colombia Universidad Nacional de Colombia 2008 p 97

[31] Goacutemez-Giraldo EA Osorio AF Toro F Osoacuterio JD Alvarez O Arrieta A Estudiosobre el patron de circulacion de corrientes en bahia barbacoas y su in1047298uenciasobre las islas del rosario Avances recur hidraacuteul 20092021ndash39

[32] Aacutelvarez-Silva O Osorio AF Goacutemez-Giraldo A Determination of the wave meanregime in the mouth of Leoacuten River (in Spanish) Dyna 2012173ndash195ndash102

[33] Gerstandt K Peinemann KV Skilhagen SE Thorsen T Holt T Membraneprocesses in energy supply for an osmotic power plant Desalination200722464ndash70

[34] Alvarez-Silva O Osorio AF Salinity gradient energy potential in Colombiaconsidering site speci1047297c constrains Working Paper Universidad Nacional deColombia 2014

[35] A T Jones W Finley Recent developments in salinity gradient power Oceans2003 MTSIEEE conference San Diego California USA 2003

[36] Post JW Veerman J Hamelers HV Euvernik GJ Metz JS Nymeijer K et alSalinity-gradient power Evaluation of pressure-retarded osmosis and reverseelectrodialysis J Membr Sci 2007288(1-2)218ndash30

[37] Benjamin J Keen M Climate policy and the recovery IMF Staff Position NoteSPN 20090928

[38] Bagnall DM Boreland M Photovoltaic technologies Energy Policy2008364390ndash6

[39] Arango S Larsen E The environmental paradox in generation how SouthAmerica is gradually becoming more dependent on thermal generationRenew Sustain Energy Rev 2010142956ndash65

[40] Neill SP Litt EJ Couch S Davies AG The impact of tidal stream turbines onlarge-scale sediment dynamics Renew Energy 200934(12)2803ndash12[41] Ortega S Stenzel P Alvarez-Silva O Osorio AF Site-speci1047297c potential analysis

for pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) power plants ndash The Leoacuten River exampleRenew Energy 201468466ndash74

[42] Lilley J Firestone J The effect of the 2010 Gulf oil spill on public attitudestoward offshore oil drilling and wind development Energy Policy 201362(0)90ndash8

[43] Firestone J Willett K Blaydes L Katya S Public acceptance of offshore windpower across regions and through time J Environ Plan Manag 201255(10)1369ndash86

[44] Ladenburg J Attitudes towards offshore wind farmsmdashThe role of beach visitson attitude and demographic and attitude relations Energy Policy 201038(3)1297ndash304

[45] Ladenburg J Attitudes towards on-land and offshore wind power develop-ment in Denmark choice of development strategy Renew Energy 200833(1)111ndash8

[46] Ian B Jodie W Ian W Out of sight but not out of mind Public perceptions of wave energy J Environ Policy Plan 201113(2)139ndash57

[47] IEA Renewable energy policy considerations for deploying renewables ParisFrance International Energy Agency 2011[48] Paz LRL da Silva NF Rosa LP The paradigm of sustainability in the Brazilian

energy sector Renew Sustain Energy Rev 200711(7)1558ndash70[49] Arango S Dyner I Larsen ER Lessons from deregulation understanding

electricity markets in South America Util Policy 200614196ndash207[50] Coelho ST Lucon O How adequate policies can push renewables Energy

Policy 200432(9)1141ndash6[51] IIASA Global energy assessment-toward a sustainable future Cambridge

Cambridge University Press 2012[52] Cramton C Stoft S Forward reliability markets less risk less market power

more ef 1047297ciency Util Policy 200816194ndash201[53] Enzenberger N Wietschel M Rentz O Policy Instruments Fostering Wind

Energy Projects a multi-perspective evaluation approach Energy Policy200230793ndash801

[54] Moor A de Towards a Grand Deal on subsidies and climate change Nat ResourForum JNRF 2001252 May 2001

[55] Cansino JM Pablo-Romero MP Romaacuten R Tax R incentives to promote greenelectricity an overview of EU-27 countries Energy Policy 2010386000ndash8

[56] Keyuraphan S Thanarak P Ketjoy N Rakwichian W Subsidy schemes of renewable energy policy for electricity generation in Thailand Procedia Eng201232(0) pp 440ndash448 httpdxdoiorg101016jproeng2012011291

[57] Zuluaga M Dyner I Incentives for renewable energy in reformed Latin-American electricity markets the Colombian case J Clean Prod 200715(2)153ndash62

[58] Ruiz-Mendoza BJ Sheinbaum-Pardo C Electricity sector reforms in four Latin-American countries and their impact on carbon dioxide emissions andrenewable energy Energy Policy 201038(11)6755ndash66




7 Final comments 976Acknowledgements 976References 977

1 Introduction

There has been an increasing focus on global warming in recentdecades in particular on the emissions of CO2 and other green-house gases and in general on the impact that human activity hason the climate and the problems this might create There exists aseries of agreements in which the international community hasagreed to reduce emissions using different strategies Thus thereis a general consensus about the need to reduce emissions butthere is less agreement on how it should be done who should doit and what it will cost To begin with the Kyoto Protocol frame-work promotes the implementation of policies for research anddevelopment of renewable energy sources carbon sequestrationtechnologies and innovative environmentally-friendly technolo-gies [1] A revision of this agreement took place at the WorldSummit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002

which encouraged a greater share of renewable energy in energysupplies [2] Despite the lack of concrete targets for renewableenergy sources [3] the revision in1047298uenced energy policy in thisrespect

Electricity generation is one of the major contributors to GHGemissions or more speci1047297cally it is the use of thermal generationcapacity based on oil coal and gas There are other generationtechnologies which do not contribute to emissions such asnuclear as well as alternative energy sources such as wind solarhydro plants (both large and small-scale plants) and marineenergy For a country trying to reduce emissions the use of renewable resources for generation should ideally be the 1047297rstchoice both for capacity expansion and when replacing existingcapacity There are well-known environmental problems relating

to nuclear plants (such as radioactive waste) and large-scale hydroplants (local environmental problems with dams) which we donot deal with in this paper Beyond those alternatives with theirpros and cons we focus here on the potential of marine energy inColombia

In this paper we explore the potential marine energy availablefrom a range of different sources waves tides salinity gradientsand thermal gradients This analysis will provide initial estima-tions of the potential in speci1047297c areas One of the main restrictionsfor analysing the marine power potential in the country is the lackof long-term marine instrumentation necessary to make anappropriate and sound characterisation of oceanographic phe-nomena To overcome this dif 1047297culty a path using oceanicnumerical modelling was followed The simulations used inputs

from reanalysis models and climatic data from remote sensors tomodel different oceanographic phenomena and to generate syn-thetic information The models were calibrated using data fromexisting instrumentation and 1047297eldwork After these processes themodels were run to calculate the existing nationwide resource ondifferent time and spatial scales Once there is long-term andreasonably reliable oceanographic information an estimate of thepower potential is calculated The methodologies were applied toevaluate the power for each resource in several areas on theColombian Caribbean and Paci1047297c coasts

The rest of the paper is organised as follows The next foursections present assessments of the power potentials for wavestides thermal gradients and currents and saline gradients Foreach power source we 1047297rst explain the method of assessing the

potential then we present the result Section 6 presents policy

analysis where we discuss not only the power potential but alsothe barriersmdashmainly costmdashfaced by marine energy Section 7provides 1047297nal comments

2 Assessment of power potential waves

21 Method

We use a simulation model to mimic wave behaviour over timeand quantify the wave power potential The model chosen tosimulate waves was the SWAN ndash Simulating WAves Nearshoremodel [4] which is a third-generation wave model developed atthe Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands There is awide variety of wave models such as WAM and WaveWatchIII

however we have chosen SWAN because of its ability to propagatewaves on different scales and because simulation results can bedownscaled using nested runs [5]

Inputs for the modelling include bathymetries and 10 m-highwind data The bathymetries were constructed using informationfrom the ETOPO1 a 1 arc-minute global relief model of the Earthssurface developed by the NOAA [6] and from the ldquoSistema deModelado Costerordquo (SMC) Coastal Modelling System [7] a pro-gramme developed by the University of Cantabria that contains adatabase of the bathymetries of the Colombian maritimeterritories

The Caribbean Sea can be considered a sheltered sea (see Fig 1)as the Antilles stop most of the wave 1047298uxes from the NorthAtlantic This means that the waves present in the Colombian

Caribbean are generated by the trade winds inside the CaribbeanBasin [8] Under this considerations contour data was not used forthe simulations The wind data was taken from by North AmericanRegional Reanalysis ndash NARR [9] made by the National Center forEnvironmental Prediction NCEP and the National Center forAtmospheric Research NCAR Thirty-two years of 10 m-high winddata at 3-h intervals (ie eight times daily) is presented in a gridwith data points approximately 025deg apart The simulations cov-ered a region between latitude 6ndash22degN and longitude 60ndash90degWResults are downscaled to different grids with 1047297ner resolution andsmaller domains until a 3 arc-minute resolution is reached Thecalibrations and validation of the SWAN model for this Caribbeanregion have been previously tested [5]

Wind data from the NARR is available only in a fraction of the

Paci1047297c Ocean therefore the winds for simulating waves in theColombian Paci1047297c are taken from the Global Reanalysis 1 Project

(NCEPNCAR) Data from this project is presented every 6 h (iefour times daily) for a period of 60 years There is data for aworldwide grid with lower resolution where data points areapproximately 25deg apart [10]

The Paci1047297c having swell waves with long periods is unlike thesheltered Caribbean Sea Modelling the totality of the Paci1047297c Oceanis a complex exercise that was previously carried out by theEnvironmental Hydraulics Institute IH Cantabria for the GOW

Global Ocean Waves 21 Project [11] IH Cantabria modelled wavesworldwide over a 1deg 1deg grid using the NCEPNCAR data Wavedata from this project was used as a contour map for modellingthe Paci1047297c Ocean As in the Caribbean Sea results were down-

scaled until a 3 arc-minute resolution was reached






P frac14 ρ g

Z 2π

0

Z 1



22 Results










31 Methodology



















following equation

P frac14 ε ρ AV 3

2 eth2THORN


32 Results



960 Wm2




currents

41 Methodology















42 Results










51 Methodology


























52 Results




















Table 1





Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321


n


















Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References



































































P frac14 ρ g

Z 2π

0

Z 1



22 Results










31 Methodology



















following equation

P frac14 ε ρ AV 3

2 eth2THORN


32 Results



960 Wm2




currents

41 Methodology















42 Results










51 Methodology


























52 Results




















Table 1





Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321


n


















Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References










































































following equation

P frac14 ε ρ AV 3

2 eth2THORN


32 Results



960 Wm2




currents

41 Methodology















42 Results










51 Methodology


























52 Results




















Table 1





Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321


n


















Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References








































































42 Results










51 Methodology


























52 Results




















Table 1





Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321


n


















Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References





















































































52 Results




















Table 1





Magdalena 7232 29 13582 15478 15599 15466 15496 15321


n


















Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References














































































Table 2













tions into arrays







developments





large scale































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References


























































































7 Final comments










Acknowledgements



Table 3












References


































































References































































assessment of the marine power potential in colombia

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