ABSTRACT
Numerical simulation is an essential tool to predict ocean conditions at tidal energy sites. Studies for individual sites have shown that wave effects can potentially reduce the average tidal energy potential by 8-15%. Coupling of hydrodynamic flow and wave models is often undertaken to improve the accuracy of outputs from both models however this can prove to be computationally expensive. This work discusses the question of whether operating the flow and wave simulations in a fully coupled mode provides significant improvement over running the models separately. A regional coupled flow-wave model has been established covering the English Channel using Delft3D Flexible Mesh coupled with SWAN. This work presents a comparison study of the models when run as a fully coupled simulation and as a one way offline simulation. Output is presented at several sites where the potential for tidal energy is considered. The statistical analysis of the differences is discussed.
