Investigation of hydroelectric energy potential of the Zab River Basin using geographic information systems and remote sensing methods

Abstract

Turkey's energy need is increasing day by day. The required energy is mostly imported from foreign countries since it cannot be met by the country's own resources. However, Turkey has rich renewable water resources to produce energy. To fulfill the aim of closing this energy gap and using the country's water resources more efficiently, the hydropower potential of the Zab River Basin is investigated in this paper. The overall objective of the study is to evaluate the hydropower potential of the Zab River Basin using Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing methods, and utilize this potential for the economical development of the region and the country. Within the study, appropriate locations were determined for 12 dams in the basin; estimated costs and annual electric energy generation were calculated with the Simahpp Software. According to these calculations, the total cost, installed power capacity and the annual electric energy generation of the dams were found, respectively, as 838.753 Â 10 6 US$, 580.928 MW and 1112.327 GWh. V C 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Investigation of Hydropower Generation From Irrigation Dams

“…Hydrological boundary of Seydisuyu basin and its total area were found using Geographic Information System (GIS). Total approximate area of the basin was estimated as 1816.25 km 2 . In total, there are two dams found, those were constructed for only irrigation and flood control purposes in the basin.…”

“…Also, at the downstream side, historical monthly average flow data of 17 year, released from the dam's reservoir by the bottom outlet to the downstream belonging to DSİ-1292 flow gauging station, were obtained from the same agency. The drainage area of Çatören dam is 712 km 2 . Areas shown by number (1) and ( 2) are the sub-basins of the drainage area of Çatören dam (Figure 2, 3).…”

“…However, water resource is not efficiently used in Turkey, the geographic region of Turkey is holding a major utility for extensive usage of hydropower energy sources. As Turkey has many streams applicable for energy generation, most of them are still unexploited [2]. On the other hand, existing growth rate is increasing the amount of energy need with each passing day.…”