A Methodology Proposal for Selecting the Optimal Location for Small Hydropower Plants

Abstract

The hydropower potential in the Republic of Serbia, as the most important renewable energy source, has been estimated at around 17000 GW•h per year, where approximately 2000 GW•h could be obtained from small hydropower plants (SHP). Small hydropower plants in Serbia currently produce 150 GW•h. Accordingly, the share of the electricity production from small hydropower plants in the total electricity production in Serbia is too small. The paper presents a model for the selection of optimal locations for small hydropower plants, which includes an ecological criterion, along with technical and economic criteria. The ecological criterion is eliminatory, i.e. those parts of the watercourse that border on or pass through protected natural assets are not taken into account when considering potential optimal locations for SHPs. All technical and economic criteria are included in the calculation of the weighted arithmetic mean with the aim of determining the optimal position for the construction of small hydropower plants. The model is implemented in the SHPOP software and its application is demonstrated on five watercourses in Southeastern Serbia.

Assessing Validity of Employing Surveying Methods to Capture Data on Topography to Determine Hydrological and Topographic Parameters Essential for Selecting Locations for the Construction of Small Hydropower Plants

“…GIS analyses are very helpful in choosing the location, which significantly accelerates the work, as stated in Odiji et al [19], Othman et al [20], Al-Juboori and Guven [21], and Bezabih [22]. These analyses have already been used to search for potential locations for hydropower plants around the world, e.g., in Thailand [23], Korea [24], South Africa [25], Iran [26], Italy [27,28], Turkey [29], Ireland [30], India [31,32], Brazil [11] and in the United States [33,34].…”

“…When choosing sites for small hydropower plants, multiple factors should be taken into account, including environmental (ecological) [28,41,42], economic [18,28,43], social [23,41], topographic [5,[43][44][45][46][47], geological [13,48], technical [41,49], hydrological [5,[45][46][47] and legal (administrative) ones [50,51]. The literature review carried out for the purposes of this study revealed that, in different parts of the world, different criteria are used to select a location for a hydropower plant.…”