Advancing the representation of reservoir hydropower in energy systems modelling: The case of Zambesi River Basin

In state-of-the-art energy systems modelling, reservoir hydropower is represented as any other thermal power plant: energy production is constrained by the plant’s installed capacity and a capacity factor calibrated on the energy produced in previous years. Natural water resource variability across...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one Vol. 16; no. 12; p. e0259876
Main Authors: Stevanato, Nicolò, Rocco, Matteo V., Giuliani, Matteo, Castelletti, Andrea, Colombo, Emanuela
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Public Library of Science 02.12.2021
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:
Africa, Southern
Bioengineering
Biology and Life Sciences
Capacity factor
Constraints
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Electric power generation
Electricity
Electricity generation
Energy
Energy industry
Engineering and Technology
Evaporation
Hydroelectric power
Hydroelectric power generation
Hydrology
Hydrology - methods
Linear programming
Management
Modelling
Models, Theoretical
People and Places
Physical Sciences
Piezometric head
Power dispatch
Power plants
Representations
Reservoirs
River basins
Rivers
South Africa
Sustainable development
Systems modelling
Thermal power
Thermal power plants
Water availability
Water Movements
Water purification
Water resources
Water shortages
Water storage
Water-power
Africa, Southern
South Africa
Italy
ISSN:1932-6203, 1932-6203
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In state-of-the-art energy systems modelling, reservoir hydropower is represented as any other thermal power plant: energy production is constrained by the plant’s installed capacity and a capacity factor calibrated on the energy produced in previous years. Natural water resource variability across different temporal scales and the subsequent filtering effect of water storage mass balances are not accounted for, leading to biased optimal power dispatch strategies. In this work, we aim at introducing a novelty in the field by advancing the representation of reservoir hydropower generation in energy systems modelling by explicitly including the most relevant hydrological constraints, such as time-dependent water availability, hydraulic head, evaporation losses, and cascade releases. This advanced characterization is implemented in an open-source energy modelling framework. The improved model is then demonstrated on the Zambezi River Basin in the South Africa Power Pool. The basin has an estimated hydropower potential of 20,000 megawatts (MW) of which about 5,000 MW has been already developed. Results show a better alignment of electricity production with observed data, with a reduction of estimated hydropower production up to 35% with respect to the baseline Calliope implementation. These improvements are useful to support hydropower management and planning capacity expansion in countries richly endowed with water resource or that are already strongly relying on hydropower for electricity production.
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Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0259876