Storage Hydroelectric Power Plants Research Articles

Research of the optimal design of a jet pump for regulating a Pelton hydro turbine

Hydroelectric power plants (HPP) contribute a significant share to electricity generation in Russia. Considering the prospects for the development of this sector and using the hydropower potential, it is necessary to explore methods for the modernization of hydroelectric power plants. This article explores a new method of regulating active turbines (Pelton) based on altering the nozzle flow rate by using a jet pump that operates with used fluid from the runner. The relevance of this solution lies in the potential to increase the operational lifespan of high-head pumped storage hydroelectric power plants (PSHPP) and enhance reliability by eliminating or reducing the intensity of the regulatory needle's operation in the guide vane mechanism. Based on the hydraulic scheme incorporating the jet pump into the hydroelectric power plants penstock upstream of the guide apparatus, several geometric configurations of the jet pump were evaluated using CFD modeling to assess the energy losses associated with the proposed regulation method.

Optimal scheduling of Egyptian grid with pumped storage hydroelectric power plant

Egypt's national development plan aims at diversifying energy resources and expanding on renewable energy generation technologies. However, the Egyptian national grid needs energy-storage components to stabilize its power supply when coupled with renewable energy due to the intermittent and random nature of them. The optimal power expansion plan has been reached using a production and costing software package electric generation expansion analysis system (EGEAS). Although pumped storage hydroelectric power plants (PSHPPs) have potential to be constructed in Attaqa Mountain, Egypt, it has not been considered in Egypt's optimal power expansion plan. This study proposes an optimal scheduling of Egypt's grid, adding PSHPP as a committed power plant. First, a mathematic formulation of Attaqa PSHPP is presented. Then, to reach the goal of economic dispatch, an optimal scheduling model of national grid is established with the consideration of both respective operation constraints and load requirements. The results of EGEAS simulation module showed that PSHPP operation for 20 years achieves a net fuel cost saving of 795 M$ as calculated from with and without PSHPP conditions at domestic subsidized fuel prices. More than double of this saving, 7778 M$, could be achieved if the net fuel cost savings are calculated at international fuel prices.

Role of pumped-storage hydroelectric power plants and large penetration of electric vehicles in increasing power system flexibility with large share of renewable sources

The European Union's (EU) goals of reducing energy dependence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) are to be achieved primarily by increasing production from renewable energy sources (RES). However, due to the features of renewable sources such as unpredictability and lack of availability, it is necessary to increase the flexibility of the systems themselves. In other words, large penetration of RES into the power system requires a substantial increase in the capacity of various energy storage technologies. Pumped storage hydroelectric power plants (HPPs) represent 99% of global installed capacity of energy storage and are widely spread, providing energy storage capacity and transmission grid ancillary benefits in the US and Europe since 1920s, as well as in the rest of the world. Besides, new technologies are considered worldwide, and as one of the most prominent options considered today is the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs) into the power systems. The use of EVs reduces air pollution while connecting them to the smart grids creates the possibility of increasing the flexibility of the power system since vehicle batteries could be used as storage but also as sources of electricity. Using the PLEXOS energy market simulation software, the power system of the Republic of Croatia was modelled in this paper and based on the results of different scenarios, the role of pumped-storage power plants and large penetration of electric vehicles in increasing the power system flexibility with a large share of renewable sources was observed.

Investigation of Unit Commitment Problem in Presence of Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plants: The Case of Kahramanmaras

Investigation of Unit Commitment Problem in Presence of Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plants: The Case of Kahramanmaras

Evaluación de control y filtros fraccionales en la reducción de la interacción del acoplamiento cruzado en el modelo no lineal de una estación hidroeléctrica

En este artículo, un modelo matemático multivariable no lineal de una central hidroeléctrica reversible, desarrollado en Matlab-Simulink, es empleado para evaluar el desempeño de un controlador Proporcional Integral Derivativo (pseudo derivativo) con anti-windup, donde las acciones integral y derivativa son de orden fraccional. Este control se muestra robusto, manteniendo su rendimiento tanto en el caso de respuesta directa como en la respuesta de acoplamiento cruzado. De igual forma, se muestra la ventaja de usar un filtro para reducir la interacción de acoplamiento cruzado de este sistema. El efecto de este filtro, de orden fraccional, en el desempeño del sistema, se muestra mediante la reducción de la integral del error cuadrático.

Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant Design

Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant Design

A study on transformation of multi-purpose dams into pumped storage hydroelectric power plants by using GIS model

ABSTRACT Nowadays, the continuity of all activities related to industrial production is essential for the sustainability of modern life. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to ensure the continuity of energy demand. For an energy supply to be considered as reliable, a fast and reliable response should always be provided to changing demand. Pumped storage systems can meet these needs due to their ability to store energy at times of high demand. Therefore, in recent years, many countries have increased their investments to transform existing hydroelectric power plants into pumping storage hydroelectric power plants (PHS). In this study, a GIS-based model for the transformation of an existing dam into a PHS system has been developed. The aim of this model is to determine the most suitable second reservoir location for the PHS transformation and to calculate the theoretical hydroelectric energy potential. According to the results of the study, the second reservoir location with a volume of 6,5x106 m3 was determined by transforming the Porsuk dam, which was examined as a pilot area, into a PHS. It is calculated that this reservoir can store 0.664 GWh of energy. This study will make an important contribution to the literature by presenting a holistic model approach by determining the most suitable second reservoir location and by calculating the energy potential on the transformation of existing dams into a PHS.

Assessment of investment technologies for use of hydro-accumulating stations on intermediate channels of irrigation systems and water reservoirs

The article presents data on the cost of construction and economic efficiency of similar objects of pumped storage hydroelectric power plants (PSHPP) in world practice and in Uzbekistan. Development of measures to reduce head losses in intermediate channels of hydraulic systems and increase their efficiency is urgent issues. The authors assess the importance of the data obtained on the example of new design schemes for small hydroelectric power plants and pumped storage power plants of the Tuyamuyun hydroelectric complex, selected as an object of research.

Design and evaluation of PV-wind hybrid system with hydroelectric pumped storage on the National Power System of Egypt

National and international policies encourage increased penetration of solar and wind energy into electrical networks in order to reduce greenhouse gas emission. Solar radiation and wind speed variations complicate the integration of wind and solar generation into power systems and delay the transition of these sources from centralized to distributed energy sources. The increased penetration of nontraditional energy sources into the electric grid stimulates the demand for large capacities in the field of energy storage. A mathematical model, which describes the operation of a proposed hybrid system, including solar PV, wind energy, and a pumped storage hydroelectric power plant is developed in this paper. This hydropower plant utilizes seawater as a lower reservoir, and only a tank has to be built in order to reduce the installation cost of the storing system. The pumped storage power plant used for compensation of the variation of the output energy from the PV and wind power plants by discharging water from the upper reservoir, which is previously pumped in the case of surplus energy from PV and wind turbine power plants. The impact of the proposed system on the grid utility is investigated in accordance with the values of energy exchange (deficits and surpluses of energy) between the considered hybrid system and the grid. The optimum design is determined by the pump and turbine capacities, upper reservoir volume, and the volume of water left in the tank for emergencies. Different scenarios of the optimum operations are presented for analysis. The results obtained from the examined scenarios indicate the ability of such a hybrid energy system to reduce the exchange of energy with the grid. This paper indicates the technical feasibility of seawater pumped-storage hydropower plant for increasing the Egyptian national grid’s ability to accept high integration of renewable energy sources.

Use of Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plants in Uzbekistan

This paper studies the features of construction of pumped storage hydroelectric power plants (PSHPPs) in Uzbekistan with consideration for the possibility of using them to cover the drops and peaks of loading, as well as the features of using the water resources in Uzbekistan—the priority provision of agricultural needs. The efficiency of creating pumped storage power plants at local waterways in a complex with solar and wind power plants is shown.

Conditions for economic competitiveness of pumped storage hydroelectric power plants in Egypt

Pumped storage hydroelectric power plants are one of the most applicable energy storage technologies on large-scale capacity generation due to many technical considerations such as their maturity, frequency control and higher ramp rates, thus maintaining following loads in case of high penetration of renewables in the electrical grid. Economic viability of PSHPPs is still questionable when compared with other electricity generation technologies. In this manuscript, the key factors that affect the viability of constructing PSHPP in Attaqa Mountain, Egypt, are defined. An economic comparison between PSHPPs and simple cycle gas turbine power plants has been carried out to identify the conditions at which PSHPPs will have competitiveness as an on-peak solution, over traditional SCGT power plants. This assessment is based on calculating levelized cost of electricity taking into account different scenarios for PSHPP pumping cost and capital cost, and different scenarios for SCGT fuel prices. The results showed the key factors of the best case at which PSHPPs have the highest economic competitiveness over SCGT power plants when fuel prices are non-subsidized. This is only valid provided that the PSHPP’s capital cost should not exceed 4180 $/kW at zero pumping cost.

Optimization of the operating conditions of gas-turbine power stations considering the effect of equipment deterioration

In recent years in most power systems all over the world, a trend towards the growing nonuniformity of energy consumption and generation schedules has been observed. The increase in the portion of renewable energy sources is one of the important challenges for many countries. The ill-predictable character of such energy sources necessitates a search for practical solutions. Presently, the most efficient method for compensating for nonuniform generation of the electric power by the renewable energy sources—predominantly by the wind and solar energy—is generation of power at conventional fossil-fuel-fired power stations. In Russia, this problem is caused by the increasing portion in the generating capacity structure of the nuclear power stations, which are most efficient when operating under basic conditions. Introduction of hydropower and pumped storage hydroelectric power plants and other energy-storage technologies does not cover the demand for load-following power capacities. Owing to a simple design, low construction costs, and a sufficiently high economic efficiency, gas turbine plants (GTPs) prove to be the most suitable for covering the nonuniform electric-demand schedules. However, when the gas turbines are operated under varying duty conditions, the lifetime of the primary thermostressed components is considerably reduced and, consequently, the repair costs increase. A method is proposed for determination of the total operating costs considering the deterioration of the gas turbine equipment under varying duty and start–stop conditions. A methodology for optimization of the loading modes for the gas turbine equipment is developed. The consideration of the lifetime component allows varying the optimal operating conditions and, in some cases, rejecting short-time stops of the gas turbine plants. The calculations performed in a wide range of varying fuel prices and capital investments per gas turbine equipment unit show that the economic effectiveness can be increased by 5–15% by varying the operating conditions and switching to the optimal operating modes. Consequently, irrespective of the fuel price, the application of the proposed method results in selection of the most beneficial operating conditions. Consideration of the lifetime expenditure included in the optimization criterion enables enhancement of the operating efficiency.

Assessment of GPU computational enhancement to a 2D flood model

This paper presents a study of the computational enhancement of a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) enabled 2D flood model. The objectives are to demonstrate the significant speedup of a new GPU-enabled full dynamic wave flood model and to present the effect of model spatial resolution on its speedup. A 2D dynamic flood model based on the shallow water equations is parallelized using the GPU approach developed in NVIDIA’s Compute Unified Development Architecture (CUDA). The model is validated using observations of the Taum Sauk pump storage hydroelectric power plant dam break flood event. For the Taum Sauk flood simulation, the GPU model speedup compared to an identical CPU model implementation is 80×–88× for computational domains ranging from 65.5 k to 1.05 M cells. Thirty minutes of event time were simulated by the GPU model in 2 min, 15 times faster than real time. An important finding of the analysis of model domain size is the GPU model is not constrained by model domain extent as is the CPU model. Finally, the GPU implementation is shown to be scalable compared with the CPU version, an important characteristic for large domain flood modeling studies.

A model for optimal sizing of photovoltaic irrigation water pumping systems

The previous methods for optimal sizing of photovoltaic (PV) irrigation water pumping systems separately considered the demand for hydraulic energy and possibilities of its production from available solar energy with the PV pumping system. Unlike such methods, this work approaches the subject problem systematically, meaning that all relevant system elements and their characteristics have been analyzed: PV water pumping system, local climate, boreholes, soil, crops and method of irrigation; therefore, the objective function has been defined in an entirely new manner. The result of such approach is the new mathematical hybrid simulation optimization model for optimal sizing of PV irrigation water pumping systems, that uses dynamic programming for optimizing, while the constraints were defined by the simulation model. The model was tested on two areas in Croatia, and it has been established that this model successfully takes into consideration all characteristic values and their relations in the integrated system. The optimal nominal electric power of PV generator, obtained in the manner presented, are relatively smaller than when the usual method of sizing is used. The presented method for solving the problem has paved the way towards the general model for optimal sizing of all stand-alone PV systems that have some type of energy storage, as well as optimal sizing of PV power plant that functions together with the storage hydroelectric power plant.