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This paper proposes a High Performance Cuckoo Search Algorithm (HPCSA) for determining suitable operation parameters of the optimal wind-hydro-thermal system scheduling (OWHTSS) problem. The objective of the problem is to reach the lowest electricity generation cost of thermal power plants (TPPs) and wind power plants (WPPs) while exactly meeting all constraints of TPPs, WPPs and hydroelectric plants (HEPs). HPCSA is formed by applying improvements on the two main techniques of original Cuckoo Search Algorithm (CSA) to cover CSA’ drawbacks such as searching random solution spaces, always using two random solutions for getting a jumping step and suffering from slow convergence. HPCSA accompany with CSA, Adaptive CSA (ACSA), Snap-Drift CSA (SDCSA) and Water Cycle Algorithm (WCA) are run for solving four test systems in which the largest and complicated system is comprised of four TPPs, four HEPs and two WPPs with the uncertain wind feature. The result comparisons indicate that HPCSA is superior to applied and previous methods, and other modified versions of CSA in the literature in terms of better cost, higher stability, faster search ability and higher success rate. As a result, it leads to a conclusion that HPCSA is a strong metaheuristic algorithm for solving OWHTSS problem.

Energy coming from large hydroelectric plants is recognized worldwide due to the great environmental impact caused by the deviation of the rivers during the construction period and the dams while they are operating. This paper shows the design and construction of a micro hydroelectric power plant (MHPP) that was carried out in Cundinamarca Department, in Colombia, in order to analyze the feasibility of generating electric power with micro-power plant, which can be dispatched to the National Interconnected System, taking into account technical and economic aspects for the recovery of the investment. On the other hand, different scenarios are considered, such as self-consumption or the sale of energy to users of the rural sector that are close to the project, performing the financial analysis with economic indicators such as Internal Rate of Return, Uniform Annual Equivalent Cost and Net Present Value. These types of initiatives take special relevance in Colombia because the country issued Law 1715 of 2014, whose purpose is to improve energy reliability, it supports these kinds of projects with tax incentives such as: Discount of Value Added Tax (19%), 50% deduction of the income tax for up to five (5) years and elimination of the tariff levies for the equipment that make up the project. Based on the considerations above and because of the testing of the 24 kVA micro hydroelectric power plant, a paper that deals with the entire construction process of the micro-plant has been prepared, which includes: Flow capacity, turbine selection, selection of the generator, design of the electrical installations and commissioning to verify the effective value of the energy generated and the feasibility of being dispatched to the National Interconnected System.

The North Region of Cameroon is home to a 72 MW hydroelectric dam, which provides electricity beyond the region’s needs. However, aging dam and distribution network leading to frequent load shedding, are contributing factors to look for other environmentally friendly alternatives such as wind power to sustain the energy needs of the region. Wind energy can significantly contribute to the energy mix, mainly during the dry season (March, April and May) when energy demands highly rise and load shedding can last forever, mainly in rural or remotes locations. The main purpose this study to evaluate the wind energy production, using bihourly data collected at 10 m above ground level over a period of fifteen years from 2005 to 2019 for the localities, Garoua and Guider. The novelty of this study is 2D and 3D topographical maps of the wind resource of Garoua and Guider have been computed as well as the map of wind energy produced using the WAsP software, with an accurate determination of wind speed, wind power density and energy produced. Based on the results, wind power can be considered as a reliable alternative for renewable energy production, if optimal site selection is made.

This paper presents renewable energy systems based on micro-hydro and solar photovoltaic for rural areas, with a case study in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The Special Region of Yogyakarta, located on the island of Java, Indonesia, has a high potential for the development of renewable energy resources, especially hydropower and solar power. Many rural areas in Yogyakarta lack a supply of electricity. In this study, data on the potential for hydropower and solar power in rural regions of Yogyakarta are processed to determine the best capacity of hydroelectric and solar power plants. The extended particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique has been used to ensure optimal capacity optimization of this hybrid systems. The final result of this study is the most optimal of hydropower and solar power generation capacity based on the calculation of cost of capital, grid sales, cost of energy, and net present value.

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Large-scale, reservoir hydroelectric facilities can play an important role in decarbonizing the electricity sector. However, new hydroelectric facilities are costly, and several recent projects in Canada have been subject to cost over-runs. In this paper, we develop a methodology for evaluating the cost-effectiveness of new reservoir hydroelectric projects. We apply this methodology to a case study of the Site C hydroelectric project currently under construction in British Columbia, Canada. Our approach makes use of a purpose-built linear programming capacity expansion and dispatch model, resolved at an hourly frequency and incorporating detailed treatment of balancing area requirements, available wind and solar resources, watershed constraints on hydroelectric potential, and endogenous electricity trade. Our simulations reveal that the value of the Site C project is unlikely to exceed its total cost, and only exceeds the avoidable cost of project cancellation in scenarios where BC and Alberta build additional inter-provincial transmission capacity and aim for 100% decarbonization of their electricity systems. Site C provides a cautionary tale for policymakers and planners pursuing large hydro-electric projects. Potential cost over-runs can render large hydroelectric projects uneconomic relative to alternatives. The decision to complete the Site C project is only justified by its high sunk costs. Faculty yes

The Turgo turbine is a relatively cheap, reliable and sustainable type of impulse turbine used in hydroelectric plants, which is generally suited for medium and high head applications. Nowadays, the development and use of technologies for harnessing very low-head water resources have become highly widespread due to the low negative impact generated on the environment. Additionally, the implementation of small innovative water-related projects can be an economical option for the generation of renewable energy in developing countries. Therefore, a low-cost Turgo turbine for low-head applications was designed and manufactured for evaluating the effects of several geometric parameters involved in the design and, subsequently, in the turbine efficiency. Among these parameters, the nozzle diameter, the number of nozzles and the jet impact location were studied. For this purpose, the response surface methodology based on a Box-Behnken design of experiments was used to determine the optimal operating conditions of the referred geometric factors aiming at the maximization of the turbine efficiency, as well as to investigate the effect of each parameter on the turbine efficiency. From the experimental design, a second-order regression model was generated, which was validated. The obtained findings indicated that the nozzle diameter had a considerable influence on the turbine efficiency in comparison with the other evaluated factors. Moreover, the results showed that the maximal experimental turbine efficiency was equal to 93.7% under optimal design conditions; i.e., when the nozzle diameter, number of nozzles and the jet impact location were equal to 16.685 mm, 2 and 60 mm, respectively. Therefore, the designed Turgo turbine reported a high efficiency, which could be used for the distributed power generation.

The objective of this study is to estimate the river’s capacity power generation and identify proper sites to install small hydropower stations The innovation in this study is estimating the river flow rate using different versions of the Soil and Water Assessment Tools (SWAT) model. Evaluating the flow rivers using different models helps to increase the accuracy of estimating river discharge and it can be effective in accurately identifying the river’s hydroelectric potential. In this investigation, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) alongside the SWAT model has been used to increases the model’s ability to estimate streams flow. Also, an optimized algorithm called Improved the Pathfinder Optimizer (IPFO) have been utilized to reduce error during the learning process. The results of this study showed that among the three proposed models, SWAT-ANN-IPFO has the best estimate for river flow. Then, using the SWAT-ANN-IPFO model and Geographic Information system (GIS) software assessed the power potential sites along the rivers. In this study, the selection of proper sites for the installation of small hydropower stations based on physiographic and hydrological characteristics has been evaluated. Two criteria, slope and discharge for this purpose have been investigated. In this study, in total, 2,031 suitable points identified for installing hydroelectric power stations. The class 4 waterways are the most prone to installing hydroelectric power plants, and the identified sites are almost 846 because it has more discharge volume and more head differences than other order streams.

Since 1924, Lebanon planned to use renewable energy and in particular hydraulic energy to produce the national need of electricity. Until the beginning of the 70, many steps have been achieved by the government where in 1974 around 41.5% of the Lebanese electricity was produced from hydroelectric stations. Unfortunately since then and due to the instability in the political regimen, electric plants and networks suffered from destruction, aging, increased demand, hacking and many other deterioration factors. Therefore and based on all the last mentioned troubles the electric sector in Lebanon transformed to be the major economic and environmental problem. This paper aims at presenting and analyzing the actual state of the electric sector in Lebanon emphasizing on its impact on air pollution and on the development of factories and small enterprises. Therefore, it will be shown that the problem with the electrical sector is essentially due to the old networks easily hacked, strong reliance on fuel-based electricity, which leads to increased air pollution without meeting the energy consumption demand. This underproduction of electrical energy leads to the development of a parallel electrical private sector also based on fuel burning what worsened air pollution problems despite all the measures taken by the governments to switch to greener electricity production. A case study on electricity consumption in different locations in Beirut is also presented and used to prove that shifting from fuel to solar production will decrease the economic impact of electricity. Hydroelectric energy was not considered due to a decrease in the precipitation level that made it difficult to produce enough energy from rivers and due to the high cost of rehabilitation and upgrading.

The main purpose of the article is with the results of scientific and serious research to let the world know the enormous harm of upstream hydroelectric dams, mainly of China, causing huge, multifaceted, and global damage. impact on the downstream area, but especially on the Mekong Delta of Vietnam: "Wetland" will become "dead land"The development of hydro-electric projects of the up-stream Mekong countries has been and will be inevitable and greatly impact on the down-stream areas, in which the Mekong Delta is suffering a lot of losses., especially, for Viet Nam.. The Processes have been happening at the same time: The process of depleting water, for agriculture, for industry, for daily life and people's livelihoods. The processes at the same time, the effects that resonate with the process of climate change cause great harm. The drought has accelerated the acidification process, because the potential drought of acid sulfate soil (1,700,000 ha) will become intense, damaging the ecosystem and human livelihoods..The drought due to the construction of hydroelectric dams upstream (especially Lan Thuong river, China) makes the process of salinization with saline intrusion fierce (seawater 4gr/L) Many, penetrating into the interior fields more than 100KM, the harm is extremely great. If want to reduce the harm, the Mekong River Commission must ask the upstream countries to share it with the downstream

The Xingu River Basin (XRB), located in the Brazilian Amazon, is of great importance both in national and international contexts, especially regarding hydroelectric generation in the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Complex and forest conservation policies, given that the XRB is home to important conservation areas, such as the Xingu Indigenous Park. This paper analyzes climate extreme indices in the XRB, a region that lacks this sort of information. Trends in 22 climate extreme indices were evaluated, 11 of them for air temperature and 11 for rainfall, based on spatially gridded and high resolution daily data, for the period from 1980 to 2016. The temperature indices showed significant upward trends in daily temperatures (both maximum and minimum), an indication that, in recent decades, the days and nights have become warmer in the XRB. For rainfall, the indices indicated a downward trend in the central and southern regions of the XRB (Middle and Upper Xingu), and increasing rainfall in the northern region of the basin (Lower Xingu), however, with lower statistical significance when compared to air temperature indices. Commonly, the areas that presented statistically significant trends in the assessed climate extreme indices correspond to areas where there have been alterations in land cover due to increasing use in recent decades (areas of forest that were modified for pasture and agriculture) and in areas still preserved. This paper is an important tool to support decision making in management and strategic planning of water resources (for power generation and multiple uses) and for the elaboration of forest conservation policies (for combatting and controlling deforestation) in the XRB, in times when the region is under constant pressure from agribusiness for the expansion of agriculture and livestock.

Hydropower is often presented as a clean, reliable, and renewable energy source, but is also recognized for its potential impacts on aquatic ecosystem biodiversity. We used direct empirical data of change in fish species richness following impoundment to develop ecological indicators to be used in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and accounting for hydropower impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Data were collected on 89 sampling stations (63 stations located upstream, and 26 located downstream of a dam) distributed in 26 reservoirs from three biomes (boreal, temperate and tropical). Overall, the impact of hydropower on fish species richness was significant in the tropics, of smaller amplitude in temperate biome and minimal in boreal biome, stressing the need for regionalisation when developing indicators. The impact of hydropower was consistent across scales for a given biome (same directionality and statistical significance across sampling stations and reservoirs). However, the indicators were sensitive to the duration of the study (the period over which data have been collected after impoundment), which can underestimate the impacts. This result highlights the need to account for the duration of the transient dynamics to reach a steady state (rate of change in species richness = 0) before developing ecological indicators. By using the LCA approach, our suggested indicators contribute to fill a major gap in assisting decision-makers when evaluating the potential of alternative energy technologies, such as hydropower, to decarbonize the worldwide economy, while minimizing the impacts on aquatic ecosystems.

This chapter research at the sharp expansion that renewable and intermittent sources have been promoting in electrical systems worldwide. In Brazil, a country with unique characteristics with a high degree of renewability due to the marked presence of water resources, the scenario is no different. Although these sources are marked by desirable attributes such as low operating cost and low impacts, their intermittence causes a series of difficulties that must become obstacles to unlimited expansion, as advocated by some actors in the environmental movements. The chapter summarizes the main points of difficulties and highlights from the international experience that there are limits that should restrict this expansion until a penetration of the order of 30% of the installed capacity of generation. This scenario may change in the meantime due to the greater presence of storage systems (possibly provided by the scale of penetration of electric mobility equipment and batteries), as well as in the Brazilian case if the environmental licensing conditions for the construction of hydroelectric plants with reservoirs could be changed to a more flexible level, so the Hydro power plants could function as large storage systems. It should be noted however that this hypothesis is today outside the context of Brazilian electric sector planning.

Electricity generation in the Western Balkans region finds itself at a critical point. The largest part of its installed capacity is based on coal and especially lignite-fired power units, the majority of which is old and coming toward the end of their lifetime. The installation of non-hydro renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power in the energy mix is at very low levels. This situation creates a lot of challenges that need to be addressed for the relevant power systems to enhance their competitiveness and harmonize their electricity markets among themselves and with EU neighboring systems. This work presents a generic mixed integer linear programming model that has been used for the solution of the unit commitment problem, implementing a co-optimization of the energy and reserves market. The applicability of the developed framework has been assessed for the determination of the optimal annual operating scheduling of the Serbian power system, taking also into consideration its interconnections with all the neighboring power systems. A successive solution of all the dates of a whole year has been executed, where the outputs of a specific date comprise the inputs of the next date. The outputs of the model show the dominance of the installed lignite-fired units, the importance of the hydroelectric units in terms of both security of supply and balancing services' provider, as well as the influence of other more liquid power exchanges on the Western Balkans power systems. The wholesale marginal price of the Serbian power system is proved to be highly correlated with the corresponding of the Hungarian one. The proposed optimization approach can provide useful insights on market participants, regulatory authorities, system operators, and policymakers regarding the formation of cost-competitive and decarbonized energy roadmaps, by highlighting the critical phases and the challenges of each design stage.

Renewable Energy Sources (RES), used to produce energy from natural processes, are nowadays used to meet the ever-increasing energy requirements worldwide, replacing conventional energy sources. Conventional energy sources are finite and under depletion. On contrary, renewable energy sources are constantly appearing in the natural environment. The main forms of RES are solar energy, wind energy, hydroelectric energy, geothermal energy and biomass. Many countries around the world have adopted the application of RES in order to become energy independent. However, the acceptance or the rejection of RES by citizens has an important role, as no new technology related to them can be effectively implemented without the social acceptance. The aim of this study is the investigation of the acceptance or the rejection of RES in Athens, the capital of Greece. The social acceptance of RES was examined using a structured questionnaire addressed to 536 inhabitants of Athens. Overall, the results reveal that most of the participants are in favour of the development of RES and declare themselves supporters to these investments. Nevertheless, the majority of the respondents do not want the projects to be located near their residences and they are not particularly willing to contribute financially to their development. The results of this study can be a useful tool for policy makers in order to design an effective energy policy toward the further penetration of RES in the energy mix.

The increased mobility (movability) of potential unstable rock massif at the Toktogul hydroelectric site was revealed by the results of deformation observations with the help of automated devices in the zones of influence of large structural disturbances. For this purpose, the parameters of vertical movements of adjacent rock blocks are considered, under the influence of Earth tides, which play the role of a natural test signal. The principal possibility of such assessment follows from the high reproducibility of the tidal action from the Moon and the Sun, which can be accurately calculated.

Power-to-gas (PtG) is a technology in development in the field of renewable energy (RE) and sustainable energy management. RE such as solar and wind are unreliable sources of energy due to their dependence on nature, which is highly unpredictable. This makes electricity production via the aforementioned sources largely intermittent and fluctuating. Large-scale mechanisms for energy storage to mitigate output fluctuations are complex, as several technical solutions (e.g., hydroelectricity storage and batteries) are often required, with integration, coordination, and planning still in the early stages of study and development. PtG can convert renewable electricity into a flexible fuel, that is, gas, that can be easily stored, transported, and converted to other valuable chemicals, diversifying the end use of RE. PtG integrates renewable electricity sources with a storage system while consuming other pollutants such as CO2 and waste. Methane, the end product in this case, is a highly efficient gaseous fuel and is carbon neutral when generated via PtG.

Renewable energy is often depicted as a clean source of energy and could have an effect in minimizing environmental impacts by reducing global warming and mitigating the greenhouse effect (Panwar et al., 2011; Wang and Han, 2014). A transition from fossil fuels to renewable sources has been growing in the past 30 years since the price of oil seems to increase constantly and, in contrast, there is a decline in the cost of renewable sources of energy (Herzog et al., 2018). Renewable energy was first adopted by most countries as an integral aspect of national energy policy goals after the 1973 oil crisis (Nepal, 2012). It also ignited interest in wind energy, water pumps, power supply in remote areas, and production of grid electricity powered by wind (Herzog et al., 2018). Among other renewable sources, wind energy has become a major attraction in today’s world because of its low pollution emissions and high efficiency (Wu and Hong, 2007). Wind energy is accepted globally as a clean energy ource and the cheapest replacement to coal (Nepal, 2012; Herzog et al., 2018). A 24% average annual growth in wind energy production across the world has been observed since 1990. Based on the trending decline in cost, analysts had forecasted that by the end of 2015 the electricity production cost of wind reached 2.5 US cents/KWh; lower than most fossils fuels (Herzog et al., 2018). According to a Greenpeace organization plan, by 2020 12% of all electricity production should be achieved from wind energy (Wang et al., 2011). Nepal, the focus of this chapter, is one of the developing countries that has been in the dark ages of the electricity crisis, with persistent power cuts since 2006 (Laudari, 2016). At present, hydroelectricity is the main source of grid electricity in Nepal, and only 56% of households in Nepal have access to the grid. Fig. 14.1 shows the power supply and demand for electricity from the year 2009 to 2018. It is observed that both supply and demand is increasing constantly throughout the year, however, the supply of power has not met its demand. According to Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA), Nepal has the potential to generate 2100 MW electricity from solar, 50 MW from microhydro, and 3000 MW from wind (SWERA, 2006; Gurung et al., 2013). Thus wind energy seems to be a viable solution as an alternative source to overcome the yearly drought of electricity in Nepal.

Due to the depletion of stocks of fossil fuels and because of its dire consequences on the planet, we must focus our attention on various sustainable energy sources. These include solar energy, hydroelectricity, nuclear energy, and biofuels. Biofuels are typically described as solid, liquid, or gaseous fuels derived from biologically sustainable feedstocks such as biomass (organic matter) from agriculture and forestry. They are categorized as biofuels of the first, second, third, and fourth generation based on the production process. From the categories of biofuels mentioned above, biofuels of the second and third generations are advanced biofuels. Gaseous biofuels are the most economical energy source as they require minimum capital and labor investment. Due to this, they are widespread across the rural community in the country. Biofuel programs can offer more development opportunities to farmers in rural communities if cost-effective technologies are made available for agro-feed conversions. Biogas, biomethane, hydrogen, and syngas are the commonly produced gaseous biofuels from biomass. Although biofuels are found as a substitute for traditional fossil fuels, they are still facing issues such as economic feasibility, scalable capacity, and availability of land, social concerns, and environment-related impacts. The assessment of the potential of gaseous biofuels, technological and economic constraints, and environmental concerns need to be systematically focused on its sustainability.

The use of fossil fuel, through greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, has a detrimental impact on the atmosphere and climate. Renewable energy is derived from natural sources such as water, wind, solar, geothermal, hydroelectric, nuclear, and biomass. The use of renewable energy offers a range of benefits, including pollution reduction, improving local and regional manufacturing, regional engineering and consulting services specializing usage of renewable energy sources, reducing the effects of power generation and transformation, growing rural service populations, and creating employment. The fasted renewable energy sources are rising electricity sources in the world, and various projections indicate that these resources will contribute significantly in the future. Renewable energy resources tend to be one of the most feasible and successful solutions for achieving sustainable development. Growing the share of sources of renewable energy will reduce emissions of GHGs, which is a major factor in global warming and global climate change. The operational costs of green energy capture technologies, which are increasingly decreasing and becoming economically competitive with fossil fuels, while decreasing the risk of climate change, are what is really needed globally. The goal of this chapter is to share the latest development and advanced in the production of green energy, transmission-distribution, materials, and processes for storage.

Fish behavior measurements are important for river and fishery scientists to protect fish resources and for ecological engineers to guide ecosystem conservation but they can pose a practical challenge. In this study, an acoustic camera was used to observe the migration patterns of fish species downstream of an under-construction hydroelectric dam, the Lianghekou dam in the middle Yalong River, China. The fixed-point method was employed to continuously measure fish migration using a dual-frequency identification sonar (DIDSON) during the spawning periods from April to August. The fish number and length measured by sonar were in fairly good agreement with the results of manual counting and field fishing, respectively. The results showed that the number of fish individuals migrating upstream (NFU) and fish length varied monthly and diurnally, and the NFU measured at dark twilight were 2–3 times greater than those measured during the daytime. The analysis showed that the upstream migratory behavior is dominated by the combined actions of river discharge, water temperature, and time of day. Based on the results, we suggest that the suitable operation time for future fish passage facilities could be when the river discharge ranges from 500 m3/s to 1500 m3/s and the water temperature ranges from 13 °C to 16 °C when the fishes in the study area mostly migrated upstream. The optimal operation time could be at night when the river discharge and water temperature are approximately 1000 m3/s and 15 °C, respectively. Although the indirect evidence of fish migration was recorded at a single location, this study reveals the great potential of acoustic cameras for measuring fish migration behavior downstream from hydropower stations which could be helpful for fish passage studies and fish resource conservation in China.

This submission contains the complete balanced process matrix of an off-grid community system primarily powered by a micro-hydroelectric powerplant. The system is meant to provide the needs of the community for electricity, potable water and ice. The system also considers the provision of a diesel engine generator set as a back-up to provide electricity. The data serves as inputs to simulate the performance of the system under different drought scenarios. The data provided here is in support of the co-submitted article of Aviso et al. [1].

In this paper we propose two non-intrusive methods for identifying hydro power plant dynamics using standard system identification techniques. The purpose of the tests is to obtain transfer functions relevant for the frequency containment reserves delivered by hydro power plants. To validate the methods, we analytically demonstrate under which conditions the methods will yield consistent results. Moreover, using a simulation example we discuss the validity of the methods when one of the conditions is not met. Results using measurements from the control system of a power plant in the Nordic power system are also provided.Our proposed methods also allow us to identify a transfer function that can be used to check new requirements developed by the Nordic TSOs. The transfer functions obtained by our methods is compared with the transfer function obtained using the TSOs’ methods using Monte Carlo Simulation. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijepes.2020.106180 © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/BY/4.0/)

Hydroelectric power (hydropower) is a renewable energy source where electrical power is derived from the energy of water moving from higher to lower elevations. It is a proven, mature, predictable and price competitive technology. Hydropower has the best conversion efficiencies among all known energy sources (about 90 % efficiency, water to wire). It requires relatively high initial investment, but has a long lifespan with very low operation and maintenance costs. The existing hydropower system has an annual generation capacity of 3500 TW·h·a−1 and contributes to 16 % of the annual electricity generation worldwide. There is still a large potential for further development, as the total technical potential has been estimated to be roughly 15 000 TW·h. Out of this, about 8000 TW·h has been classified as economical potential. In Europe close to 50 % of technical potential has already been developed, in Asia 25 % and in Africa only 8 %. Significant potential can also be found in existing infrastructure that currently lacks generating units (e.g. existing barrages, weirs, dams, canal fall structures, water supply schemes) by adding new hydropower facilities. Only 25 % of the existing 45 000 large dams in the world are currently used for hydropower, the other 75 % are used exclusively for other purposes (e.g. irrigation, flood control, navigation and urban water supply schemes). Hydropower offers significant potential for carbon emissions reductions, since greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are generally very low, typically less than 1 % of that from coal power plants. Hydropower is cost competitive, with levelised cost of energy (LCOE) typically in the range (3 to 5) USc·(kW·h)−1, which is comparable to the cost of energy from thermal power plants. Hydropower has an energy payback ratio (EPR) of 200–300, highest of all types of renewable energies. Hydropower can provide both energy and water management services and also help to support other variable renewable energy sources like wind and solar, by providing storage and load balancing services.

This document aims at establishing how the Ecuadorian electricity sector has functioned over time, from its creation to present day. Given the historical dependency on fossil fuels to generate electricity, primarily we will analyze the progression of this and the increase of clean energy within the energy matrix, mainly boosted by hydroelectric power plants. This text is divided into three sections: first, the developmentalism, in which the State invested and owned almost all of the electricity sectors—from generation to retail. Second, the market liberalization, where the privatization process did not work, but sector-specific regulation was created and a more technical view of electricity was introduced. Finally, the neo-developmentalism, where a State-centric view of the sector returned with a focus on leaving aside fossil-fuel dependency.

The Upper Lillooet River Hydroelectric Project (ULHP) is a run-of-river power generation scheme located near Pemberton, British Columbia, Canada, consisting of two separate hydroelectric facilities (HEFs) with a combined capacity of 106.7 MW. These HEFs are owned by the Upper Lillooet River Power Limited Partnership and the Boulder Creek Power Limited Partnership, and civil and tunnel construction was completed by CRT-ebc. The Upper Lillooet River HEF includes the excavation of a 6 m wide by 5.5 m high and approximately 2500 m long tunnel along the Upper Lillooet River Valley. The project is in a mountainous area; severe restrictions imposed by weather conditions and the presence of sensitive wildlife species constrained the site operations in order to limit environmental impacts. The site is adjacent to the Mount Meager Volcanic Complex, the most recently active volcano in Western Canada. Tunneling conditions were very challenging, including a section through deposits associated with the most recent eruption from Mount Meager Volcanic Complex (∼2360 years before the present). This tunnel section included welded breccia and unconsolidated deposits composed of loose pumice, organics (that represent an old forest floor), and till, before entering the underlying tonalite bedrock. The construction of this section of the tunnel required cover grouting, umbrella support, and excavation with a combination of roadheader, hydraulic hammer, and drilling-and-blasting method. This paper provides an overview of the project, a summary of the key design and construction schedule challenges, and a description of the successful excavation of the tunnel through deposits associated with the recent volcanic activity. Keywords: Run-of-river hydro project, Power tunnel, Umbrella support, Canopy tubes, Volcanic deposits, Pumice, Roadheader, Environmental constraints

Uncertainties existing in the process of dam deformation negatively influence deformation prediction. However, existing deformation prediction models seldom consider uncertainties. In this study, a cloud-Verhulst hybrid prediction model was established by combing a cloud model with the Verhulst model. The expectation, one of the cloud characteristic parameters, was obtained using the Verhulst model, and the other two cloud characteristic parameters, entropy and hyper-entropy, were calculated by introducing inertia weight. The hybrid prediction model was used to predict the dam deformation in a hydroelectric project. Comparison of the prediction results of the hybrid prediction model with those of a traditional statistical model and the monitoring values shows that the proposed model has higher prediction accuracy than the traditional statistical model. It provides a new approach to predicting dam deformation under uncertain conditions. Keywords: Dam deformation prediction, Cloud model, Verhulst model, Uncertainty, Inertia weight

Electricity storage encompasses a disparate list of technologies such as pumped-storage hydroelectricity, compressed-air energy storage, chemical batteries and flywheels. These technologies can provide the electricity system with heterogeneous services of energy transfers across months, weeks, days or intra-days, power transfers for an hour, a few minutes or seconds, and can assist operators in load following, frequency control, and uninterrupted power supply. The paper presents a unified economic analysis of these technologies and services. We underline the role of charge and discharge durations as a criterion for economic segmentation of technologies and services. We highlight the complementary value of storage in electricity systems with a high share of low variable cost and low carbon generation (nuclear, hydro, wind power, solar photovoltaic). We also underline the limited substitution value of storage for generation with high variable cost (gas combustion-turbines or gas-oil motor engines), given the high cost of state-of-the-art storage technologies, the current low cost of fossil fuels and low price of carbon emissions.

The first part of this chapter, written by Mario Potente Prieto, establishes some fundamental notions for urban energy planning with a focus on district heating networks. These fundamentals are based on how to use the different types of energy systems for each considered urban area. The chapter continues explaining the evolution of thermal networks throughout history and their current state of the art, including options that allow moving toward the fourth generation of district heating networks. Modeling methods for district heating networks are discussed by Pilar Monsalvete. Finally, some theoretical foundations are described for modeling and energy-exergy analysis. In Chapter 10 , all this knowledge is put into practice in a real case study located in the city of Vienna/Austria. The second part of the chapter written by Nina Solomakhina deals with multimodal networks. The more renewable energy sources and energy conversion technologies such as solar, wind, hydroelectric power, or fuel cells are being utilized, the more dependent utilities become one from another and the more they interact and exchange resources. For instance, renewable energy is typically intermittent, and it is often required to convert it into other utilities or store it for further use. Another example of interdependencies of utilities is cogeneration with the production of several utilities from a single fuel. In this section, the focus is on the city infrastructure networks that supply buildings with utilities such as electricity or heating and consider them jointly for the analysis of interdependencies between them. A graph-based approach to represent utility networks and their interconnections is suggested. Different applications of a graph-theoretical model are discussed that capture not only the topological structure of the city networks but also its physical properties. Further, we propose that such graph models can be used not only in vulnerability analysis where similar graphs have been used until now but also for other purposes, such as condition monitoring of the network or optimization control.

Turbine faults in hydroelectric power plants not only reduce the operation time of the plant, but also cause a serious loss of income. One of the most important turbine faults is the turbine wheel wear caused by the cavitation and accordingly the other machine equipment faults which cause excessive vibration. In this study, cavitation intensity that the turbines have been exposed in operating conditions has been investigated. As a result of the calculations, optimum working conditions of the units have been determined with graphs obtained in various operating conditions. The obtained data can be easily applied to all hydroelectric power plants exposed to cavitation, and safe operating conditions can be determined.

The main forms of renewable energy (RE) used today are biomass energy, hydroelectricity, wind energy, solar energy, and geothermal energy. Although several other RE sources have been extensively discussed, including various forms of ocean energy, these five are likely to still be dominant in 2050. In assessing the probable future of each RE type, it is important to know what factors will tend to enhance or decrease their future output. These include: their energy return on input energy; their technical potential; the impacts that future land use, climate, and other environmental changes will have on their availability; and alternatively, the effects of RE production on the environment.

It is well known that electrical power generation is the key factor for advances in industry, agriculture, technology, and the standard of living. Also, strong power industry with diverse energy sources is very important for a country's independence. In general, electrical energy can be generated from: (1) nonrenewable energy sources such as coal, natural gas, oil, and nuclear; and (2) renewable energy sources such as hydro, biomass, wind, geothermal, solar, and marine power. Today, the main sources for electrical energy generation are: (1) thermal power—primarily using coal and secondarily using natural gas; (2) “large” hydroelectric power plants; and (3) nuclear power. The balance of the energy sources is from using oil, biomass, wind, geothermal and solar, and has visible impact just in a few countries. This chapter presents the current status of electricity generation in the world, various sources of industrial electricity generation, role of nuclear power with a comparison of nuclear energy systems to other energy systems.

In this chapter we cover the traditional water power conversion into electricity. We first discuss modern conventional hydroelectric power plants and their types, and then go into details of major technologies and approaches. Next, we outline their major components and structures.

This chapter discusses hydroelectric power plant project development, including the feasibility study and its challenges, economic drivers, design and construction process, lifecycle management and related issues, as well as costs. This allows presenting hydropower from a sustainability point of view: its contribution to the sustainable energy mix and positive and negative attributes.

[EN] In a previous paper the authors compared the AC-AC converters, useful for the frequency regulation in hydroelectric microplants varying the power dissipated in ballasts loads, with the new proposal consisting in a bridge three-phase rectifier using diodes with a serial switch with the load that is switched with symmetric angle. The paper showed that the aforementioned rectifier accomplishes to improve the power factor at the generator output, except for low power consumed by users, near to its minimal value. A way to solve this problem consists in to use three bridge single-phase rectifier using diodes with a serial switch with the load that is switched with symmetric angle. As a consequence, the objective of this article is to carry out a comparison between the aforementioned single-phase rectifier and the AC-AC converter, regarding the power factor at the output of the electric generator of hydroelectric micro-plants that regulate frequency by means of the ballast-load method., [ES] En un trabajo anterior se compararon los convertidores de corriente alterna/corriente alterna (AC-AC), típicamente utilizados para la regulación de frecuencia en microcentrales hidroeléctricas variando la potencia disipada en cargas lastres, con un rectificador trifásico a diodos tipo puente con un interruptor, en serie con la carga, conmutado con ángulo simétrico. En el mismo, se demostró que, con dicho rectificador, se logra mejorar el factor de potencia a la salida del generador eléctrico, excepto para potencias consumidas por los usuarios cercanas a su valor mínimo. Una vía para solucionar este problema consiste en emplear una terna de rectificadores monofásicos a diodos tipo puente con un interruptor, en serie con la carga, conmutado con ángulo simétrico. Así, el objetivo del presente artículo es comparar al rectificador monofásico mencionado y el convertidor de AC-AC, esquema empleado actualmente, respecto a parámetros de interés como es el factor de potencia a la salida del generador eléctrico de las microcentrales hidroeléctricas que regulan frecuencia por el método de carga lastre.

The Xingu River, located in northern Brazil, is already under the impacts of one of the most harmful projects in the history of the Amazon – the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam. A new megaproject called the ‘Volta Grande Project’, led by Canadian gold mining company Belo Sun will be situated adjacent to the same stretch of the Xingu that is dewatered by the Belo Monte complex. Various aspects of the project are controversial. There are reports that the mining company acquired public lands illegally, the affected area has high biodiversity and endemism of several taxonomic groups, and mining operations would be approximately 9.5 km from indigenous lands. Synergistic impacts of impoundment and mining operations are expected to dramatically alter the Xingu's biodiversity and ecosystem services that support indigenous people and riverine populations. Moreover, the mining activities will generate tons of toxic waste that will be stored in a high-risk tailings dam, which exposes the Xingu River to catastrophic consequences similar to those of the Doce River disaster.

[EN] In recent years, the Brazilian electricity sector has seen a considerable reduction in hydroelectric production and an increase in dependence on the complementation of thermoelectric power plants to meet the energy demand. This issue has led to an increase in greenhouse gas emissions, which has intensified climate change and modified rainfall regimes in several regions of the country, as well as increased the cost of energy. The use of floating PV plants in coordinated operation with hydroelectric plants can establish a mutual compensation between these sources and replace a large portion of the energy that comes from thermal sources, thereby reducing the dependence on thermoelectric energy for hydropower complementation. Thus, this paper presents a procedure for technically and economically sizing floating PV plants for coordinated operation with hydroelectric plants. A case study focused on the hydroelectric plants of the Sao Francisco River basin, where there has been intense droughts and increased dependence on thermoelectric energy for hydropower complementation. The results of the optimized design show that a PV panel tilt of approximately 3 degrees can generate energy at the lowest cost (from R $298.00/MWh to R$312.00/MWh, depending on the geographical location of the FLOATING PV platform on the reservoir). From an energy perspective, the average energy gain generated by the hydroelectric plant after adding the floating PV generation was 76%, whereas the capacity factor increased by 17.3% on average. In terms of equivalent inflow, the PV source has a seasonal profile that compliments the natural inflow of the river. Overall, the proposed coordinated operation could replace much of the thermoelectric generation in Brazil., The authors would like to thank the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq; in Portuguese) for granting a productivity in research scholarship to Prof. Regina Mambeli Barros (PQ2, Process number: 301986/2015-0) and Prof. Geraldo Lúcio Tiago Filho and to the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Capes; in Portuguese) for granting the Master of Science scholarship to Naidion Motta Silvério and the Doctorate scholarship to Ivan Felipe da Silva dos Santos.