Abstract
In order to reduce the energy deficit recorded in Cameroon, management of watersheds where storage dams are situated plays a vital role. The Bamendjin dam situated upstream of the river Sanaga in Cameroon plays a significant role in regulating the flow of the river Sanaga which is used to generate hydroelectric energy for the South Interconnected Network (SIN) of AES SONEL (the main producer and distributor of electricity in Cameroon) at the power plants of Edea and Songloulou downstream of the Sanaga in Cameroon. This paper proposes a model of the watershed that gives an accurate estimation of the quantity of water that will enter the dam given an estimated future rainfall. The model captures the relationships between rainfall and streamflow and to reliably estimate initial watershed states. While future runoff are mainly dependent on initial watershed states and future rainfall, use of the rainfall-runoff models together with estimated future rainfall can produce skillful forecasts of future runoff which is the basis of this prediction system. The result we obtained is a simulated discharge or hydrograph at the outlet (entrance of the dam). To validate it, a comparison of the simulated flowrate and the observed flowrate is carryout using historic data with the Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency Criterion and we obtained an efficiency of 0.833, meaning that the simulation was good.
Highlights
Due to rapid computer technology development, mathematical representation of rainfall-runoff has become an important instrument for the hydrologist and water managers, whether for hydrology forecast or for hydroelectric energy generation
While future runoff are mainly dependent on initial watershed states and future rainfall, use of the rainfall-runoff models together with estimated future rainfall can produce skillful forecasts of future runoff which is the basis of this prediction system
The results obtained are based on the objectives we earlier set to realize the model: The simulation run is composed of one meteorologic model, one basin model, and one control specifications
Summary
Due to rapid computer technology development, mathematical representation of rainfall-runoff has become an important instrument for the hydrologist and water managers, whether for hydrology forecast or for hydroelectric energy generation. The objective is to gain a better understanding of hydrologic behaviors of the watershed and of how changes in the watershed may affect these behaviors the generation of synthetic hydrologic data for facility design like water resources planning, and for forecasting. The use of such models in general is preferred due to the limitations of the techniques used in measuring and observing the various components of hydrological systems (Baxter, E.V., 2005). Q is directly proportional to power and since the ideal is to maximize (P) power, this relation between power and flowrate shows the importance of flowrate in hydroelectricity generation
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