Tide Analysis in The Riau Strait,in search of alternative energy for

Indonesia
Zamna Mujadida_26020216140059_Oseanografi_A

Introduction

Energy is closely related to nature and technology. Energy is obtained from nature resources
and used to power the technology. At present, the demand for energy are greatly increased,
influenced by the rise of population growth and human activity. The imbalance in demand and
supply of energy resulted in the depletion of energy reserves. This phenomenon happen
especially in fossil energy, which is currently the world's main energy source.The fossil energy
crisis caused by imbalance is happening worldwide. There are no other way can be taken except
two things, the energy saving campaign and the discovery of new energy sources. These two
things are currently the big concern for many developed countries.

Energy sources derived from fossil fuels have higher efficiency and cheaper in terms of
exploration and production. The technology for exploration and production in fossil energy has
been developed for longer time than other alternative energy sources. The obsessive use of
fossil energy has hurt the planet by climate change and global warming. Usage of fossil fuels
produce carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane, which are the primary cause of
climate change and global warming. Therefore, it is necessary to find and develop alternative
energy sources as a substitute for fossil energy. Although the time needed to transition from
fossil energy to alternative energy will not take a short time.

Indonesia has been a long net importer for fossil energy. The demand is far outweigh the
national supply of fossil energy. The net export and import ratio for energy has long been
greatly imbalanced since the beginning of new millenium. This resulted in the inability of
country to supply the whole nation, whilst the fuel is needed to kickstart the development in
the developing country. Thus, the development of alternative energy is urgent.The presidential
decision made in 2016 stated that the country's new goal is to have renewable sources
contribute to 17% of the total national energy needs by 2025, of which 5% must come from
hydroelectric power plants.

Ocean energy, especially tidal energy, has become an important research subject for this
country. Indonesia is an archipelagic country that is covered by large amount of ocean. Thus,
this country has a huge potential in ocean energy. The ocean can produce two types of energy:
thermal energy from the sun's heat, and mechanical energy from the tides and waves. This
research will discuss mainly on the mechanical energy from the tides and waves. Using the
power of the tides, energy is produced from the gravitational pull from both the moon and the
sun, which pulls water upwards, while the Earth’s rotational and gravitational power pulls water
down, thus creating high and low tides. This movement of water from the changing tides is a
natural form of kinetic energy. Tidal power is a known green energy source, at least in terms of
emitting zero greenhouse gases. It also doesn’t take up that much space.

Indonesia’s ocean makes many narrow lanes between islands or straits. The strait will
strengthen the current and provide several locations likely to exploit tides. This research has
been applied to determine the ocean energy potential of the Riau Strait region. When using a
hydrodynamic model to simulate the tides and currents of the region, researchers can find the
best tidal projection, doing so by assuming peak flow velocities in various straits, then
determine the configuration of tidal arrangements that are optimized to maximize energy
production (Skolds, 2017).

The Marine Energy Resource Map (Firdaus and Guy,2017) shows that there are ten straits in
Indonesia that have the potential in tidal energy, one of which is the Riau Strait. The Riau Strait
is located between Batam Island and Bintan Island. These islands are the most densely
populated in the province which is also an industrial area with high electricity needs. Riau
Islands Province has a relatively low electrification ratio, 75.53%, which means that almost a
quarter of the population in this area does not have access to electricity. The potential
maximum energy resource in the region reaches 6 Gigawatt (GW). This area has several
channels and different water depths of around 20 m. This water depth is suitable for many types
of tidal turbines.