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...

Celý popis

Uloženo v:

Podrobná bibliografie
Vydáno v:	PloS one Ročník 16; číslo 12; s. e0259876
Hlavní autoři:	Stevanato, Nicolò, Rocco, Matteo V., Giuliani, Matteo, Castelletti, Andrea, Colombo, Emanuela
Médium:	Journal Article
Jazyk:	angličtina
Vydáno:	United States Public Library of Science 02.12.2021 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Témata:	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
On-line přístup:	Získat plný text
Tagy:	Přidat tag Žádné tagy, Buďte první, kdo vytvoří štítek k tomuto záznamu!

Popis
Shrnutí:	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.
Bibliografie:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 14 content type line 23 Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0259876