RETRACTED: Assessment power generation potential of small hydropower plants using GIS software

Yizhi Tian,Feng Zhang,Zhi Yuan,Zihang Che,Nicholas Zafetti

doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2020.05.023

Yizhi Tian, Feng Zhang + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2020.05.023

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Journal: Energy Reports	Publication Date: May 27, 2020
Citations: 34	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: Xinjiang University, Clemson University

Abstract

The hydropower stations are one of the most significant sources of renewable energy. In this research, the identification of suitable locations for hydroelectric power stations installation concerning electricity generation capacity has been investigated. Small-scale hydropower can potentially be quite important in the future of the renewable energy system that may have a limited regulatory capacity in energy storage and transmission capacity. The objective of this study, to develop methods that assess the power production potential associated with suitable location schemes for a system of small-scale hydropower stations. this manuscript that regards the use of Geographical Information Systems(GIS) to assess the power generation of alternative development plans for small-scale hydropower. In this study, four plans are proposed that examining each of the plans from the aspect of their electricity generation potential and cost. A plan is selected that gives better results in terms of cost and energy production. After selecting the best plan, locations that have the potential to installation hydroelectric power stations identified. the results are obtained from the GIS software and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) map showed that decreasing watershed elevation and going along the river and outlet of the watershed, the cumulative discharge increases, thus increasing hydroelectric power generation capacity.

Highlights

Hydroelectric power has been used in the world for many years and is one of the popular and largest sources of renewable energy (Ajanovic and Haas, 2019; Cao et al, 2019a,b; Fei et al, 2019)
Wegner et al (2020) studied the potential of hydropower to environmental variables and water availability in three Parana watersheds and the results showed that of the 3899 sites investigated, 3477 sites had sufficient potential for the construction of the river water power plants with a generation capacity of about 3 MW and 48 capacity sites for small hydroelectric power station with production potential between 3 MW and 30 MW
Using traditional methods to calculate river water potential is time-consuming and costly and error is probable in identifying potential locations

Summary

Introduction

Hydroelectric power has been used in the world for many years and is one of the popular and largest sources of renewable energy (Ajanovic and Haas, 2019; Cao et al, 2019a,b; Fei et al, 2019). The lakes created behind the dams often cause climate change and sometimes social impacts for the residents of the adjacent areas (Popa et al, 2020), but there is another method for using this energy, that is the use of small hydroelectric power stations, which is used for energy generation by river flow (Mayeda and Boyd, 2020; Hoes et al, 2017b). Small hydroelectric power stations are major global electricity generation potential with few environmental problems (Khodaei et al, 2018; Liu et al, 2017a; Manafi et al, 2013). These hydroelectric power stations are located in the river flow path that flowing from the mountainous heights to the outlet of the watershed, which generates electricity by restraining the flow of the rivers (Ghorbani et al, 2020).

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