Abstract
As water is required for producing hydropower, and subsequently the water balance is changed for downstream areas, the linking of hydrological and energy models is needed to properly address the interactions among them. In this study, volume–depth-based water storage estimation models were proposed for individual lakes and reservoirs in the Iberian Peninsula using the 30-year Global Water Surface dataset and reservoir morphometry methodology which enables to evaluate reservoirs where data were not available before. The models were subsequently implemented within the new hydropower model called LISENGY that provides the first comprehensive assessment of the temporal and spatial dynamics of water storage, water depth and hydropower production in the Iberian Peninsula. The LISENGY model was coupled with the distributed LISFLOOD hydrological model. The seasonal and interannual changes in energy production were assessed for 168 studied reservoirs with diverse morphometries, which is unique. Conical, concave and convex regression reservoir relationships were distinguished, and optimized turbine discharge and power production were computed. A 10-year water–energy linked system for the 2007–2016 period has been established for the Iberian Peninsula which was not available before. The results showed that it is possible to connect those two models and that the timing and magnitude of simulated storage were well reproduced. The study represents the first step towards integrated pan-European water–energy modeling. Future climate scenarios and energy demands are to be fed into the linked model system to evaluate expected future hydropower generation and possible water scarcity issues.
Highlights
Accurate and timely information about reservoir area, water storage and water depth are essential for various purposes such as irrigation and livestock watering, flood protection, recreation, groundwater recharge, fisheries and power production [1,2]
This is important for the Iberian Peninsula where drought mitigation, agricultural irrigation and hydropower production are becoming more vulnerable with changing climate
We propose a hydropower model, LISENGY, that uses the discharge from the hydrological model LISFLOOD
Summary
Accurate and timely information about reservoir area, water storage and water depth are essential for various purposes such as irrigation and livestock watering, flood protection, recreation, groundwater recharge, fisheries and power production [1,2]. This is important for the Iberian Peninsula where drought mitigation, agricultural irrigation and hydropower production are becoming more vulnerable with changing climate. Variations in any of these fields would alter the storage capacity of a reservoir and energy production potential [3,4]. Many hydrological models have simplistic reservoir routines, but these routines usually are driven by hydrological processes and not by energy production [5]
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