Hydropower Case Study Collection: Innovative Low Head and Ecologically Improved Turbines, Hydropower in Existing Infrastructures, Hydropeaking Reduction, Digitalization and Governing Systems

Abstract

Hydropower remains a key renewable energy source in the pursuit of the decarbonization of the economy, although the relatively high potential impact of the hydro-morphological alterations it may cause poses significant concerns for aquatic ecosystems. In the last years, new technologies and practices have been increasingly adopted to minimize the impacts of hydropower plants, while improving efficiency and flexibility of energy generation. The overall effect of these innovations may be a more sustainable design and operation of hydropower, striking a better balance between the objectives of decarbonization and ecosystem protection. This contribution presents and discusses a few representative examples of hydropower installations from companies in Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium and the USA, where solutions have been adopted in this direction. The case studies cover (1) ecologically improved and low head hydropower converters (Vortex turbine, Hydrostatic Pressure Machine, VLH and Girard-optimized turbines, hydrokinetic turbines), hydropeaking reduction (2) new control systems, governors and digitalization, (3) hydropower as a strategy for local sustainable development and (4) energy recovery in existing hydraulic infrastructures and aqueducts. It was found that better-governing systems can extend the life span of runners, for example avoiding the runner uplift during a trip. Digitalization can improve efficiency by 1.2%. New sustainable practices and turbines with better ecological behavior can minimize environmental impacts, like the reduction of fish mortality, improvement of fish habitat availability, reduction of oil for lubrication purposes and generation of economic incomes for local development. The use of existing structures reduces the total installation cost: examples are the total saving of 277 €/kW by reusing irrigation pipes and reservoirs, or the reduction of the investment period from 9 years to 6 years by turbining the environmental flow. Innovative low head hydropower converters can exhibit good ecological behavior, with reduced costs (<5000 €/kW) especially when installed in existing weirs. Results are discussed, contextualized and generalized to provide engineering data and tools to support future realizations of similar case studies; normalized costs, efficiency improvement, best practices and new technologies are discussed.

A Computer Program to Support the Selection of Turbines to Recover Unused Energy at Hydraulic Networks

“…is the efficiency of the hydraulic machine (an average value of 85% is considered for Pelton, Francis, Kaplan, and Turgo turbines, 76% for the Banki turbine, and 70% for the pumps working as PAT turbines) [18][19][20][21][22], and…”

“…where Q is the flow rate that is transferred by the hydraulic machine, H is the net head, ŋ is the efficiency of the hydraulic machine (an average value of 85% is considered for Pelton, Francis, Kaplan, and Turgo turbines, 76% for the Banki turbine, and 70% for the pumps working as PAT turbines) [18][19][20][21][22], and ɣ is the specific weight of water (9810 N/m 3 ). In our case, we are going to consider 85% efficiency because in the selected location we can place turbines that have 85% efficiency (Figure 1).…”

“…As we can see in Figure 5, we obtained the same results as previously mentioned. The computer program says that we can use five types of turbines with the efficiency of each one of them, which are PATs (70%), Turgo (85%), Pelton (85%), Francis (85%), and Banki (76%) [18][19][20][21][22]. These have a power of 50 kW, with the exception of PATs, which, due to their low efficiency, would be 40 kW.…”

Harnessing Hydropower Potential in Desert Regions: The Case of Wadi Dayqah Dam, Quriyat, Oman

“…Some representative examples of hydropower installations in Italy, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and the USA were carried out by Quaranta et al (2020), where the case studies covered ecologically improved and low head hydropower converters (vortex turbine, hydrostatic pressure machine, turbines, and hydrokinetic turbines), hydropeaking reduction, new control systems, governors, and digitalization. The authors of this paper proposed hydropower as a strategy for local sustainable development and energy recovery in existing hydraulic infrastructures and aqueducts.…”

The Prediction Method on the Early Failure of Hydropower Units Based on Gaussian Process Regression Driven by Monitoring Data

“…Hydropower is the key renewable and clean energy in pursuit of economic decarbonization. The authors [1] reviewed a lot of innovative technologies in the field of hydropower, such as the digital implementation innovation technology that improves efficiency by 12%, and discuss the cost of standardization, best practices, and innovative technologies. The hydropower station is a key part of hydropower generation.…”