Experimental study on the tidal current and pumped storage hybrid power generation*

Recently, tidal current energy has been considered as a good candidate for the alternative energy source to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. The present research project is aimed to develop a tidal current and pumped storage hybrid power generation system, which is combined with the dual flapping type system as the tidal current generator. In the hybrid concept, the flapping type tidal current generator in the changed power transmission of vertical arrangement can be applied to pump seawater through its mechanical power, which becomes a new concept in hybrid power generations. Through an experimental study and its parametric analysis conducted while varying design factors, a high pitch angle and a high arm angle were found to be advantageous. In the future, the design of a real-scale prototype with the tidal current and pumped storage hybrid power generation system will be realized based on present results.