National Cheng Kung University’s Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory is preparing to install a submerged turbine off the coast of Taitung County in an experiment to generate electricity from the energy of the Kuroshio Current.
“If the Kuroshio Current can generate electricity efficiently, it could provide a renewable energy source to replace nuclear power, and create a new industry for Taiwan,” researcher Yang Ray-yeng said October 23.
If the test is successful in harnessing the energy of the current, which flows north in the Pacific Ocean to the east of Taiwan at a rate of 1 to 1.5 meters per second, it could generate 10 to 15 kilowatts of electricity per second, enough to supply 9,000 households for an hour.
With support from the National Science Council, the lab will anchor its ocean current turbine 10 nautical miles from Donghe Township’s Jinzun Harbor at a depth of over 100 meters, Yang said. Trial runs with the pilot turbine, designed in Taiwan, have been carried out in the Jianan Canal and Xingda Harbor in Kaohsiung City’s Qieding Township, he added.
Before mooring the turbine offshore, the research team will meet with fishermen and county government representatives to make sure the turbine does not interfere with fishing. Taiwan’s frequent typhoons, earthquakes and northeast monsoons pose other difficulties for the experiment, which is scheduled to test the electricity-generating potential of the current over a two-year period.
While Scandinavian countries have already succeeded in yoking ocean currents to produce electricity for small communities and sparsely inhabited islands, their systems are in calmer seas, much shallower water and faster currents, Yang said. “Taiwan has to develop the technology to suit its own conditions,” he pointed out.
