The Bay of Fundy is home to some of the world's largest tides and has long been identified as one of the world's premier locations for the installation of tidal power generating systems. This paper deals with the assessment of hydrodynamic impacts throughout the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine due to power generation by tidal lagoons located in Minas Basin. The lagoon concept involves temporarily storing seawater behind an impoundment dike and generating power by gradually releasing the seawater through conventional low-head hydroelectric turbines. Tidal lagoons represent a relatively novel approach to tidal power generation, and are intended to achieve high efficiency while avoiding some of the environmental problems associated with tidal barrages. A detailed two-dimensional (depth-averaged) finite-element numerical model, based on the TELEMAC system, has been developed, calibrated against observed water levels and velocities, and applied to simulate tidal hydrodynamics throughout the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine, both for existing conditions without a lagoon and for two scenarios with tidal lagoons operating in Minas Basin. A 12 km2 offshore lagoon with 14 turbines generating -124 MW on average and a 24 km2 coastal lagoon with 24 turbines generating -220 MW on average have been investigated. This paper provides a summary of the work that has been performed to date and presents results describing the local and far-field changes in water levels and tidal currents due to tidal lagoons operating in the upper Bay of Fundy.
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