Climate change & hydropower | All change
Hydropower is going to have to learn to live alongside climate change, which is why research efforts across the globe are trying to formulate a plan of action to ensure that the turbines can keep turning, as the weather changes
Right: Årlifoss power station in Gransherad, Norway. Norwegian research into the effects of climate change on hydropower is under way
CLIMATE CHANGE’S IMPACT ON rainfall patterns, runoff, snowmelt, and temperature is unavoidable, leaving a host of challenges and opportunities for the hydropower sector in its wake. Recent headlines show that this is already happening – the US Energy Information Administration reported in March 2024 that hydropower generation in the western US had fallen to its lowest levels for 22 years, while Indian hydropower output also plunged to a four-decade low. And this is why research projects such as ReAdapt play an important role, giving more of an insight into how hydropower production will fare in the face of climate change and extreme weather events, as well as understanding how systems can be adapted for future conditions. Led by SINTEF, one of Europe’s largest research
Below: Part of the Amu Darya river on the Tajikistan and Afghanistan border. Small hydropower plants could be the way forward for alleviating energy shortages in regions of Central Asia
institutes based in Norway, ReAdapt will run until 2027 and is being funded by the Norwegian Research Council, with collaboration from hydropower producers such as Statkraft, Eviny and Å Energi AS. The project is looking at how hydropower operations can adapt to floods, droughts, and high temperatures, while maintaining or increasing production and
preserving biodiversity. It will study three locations across Norway and consider multiple factors including how hydropower can continue to serve as both a source of energy and a means of flood control. There is also a special focus on salmon due to the species’ ability to adapt quickly to changes in its physical surroundings. Studies to be undertaken at one of the Norwegian
Institute for Nature Research’s experimental stations will examine how salmon react to different water flows and temperatures. Models developed from these findings will be used alongside models for climate, hydrology, and power generation, helping to estimate the impacts of climate change and identify mitigating measures to ensure both power production and salmon survival can continue to thrive in the climate of the future. Ten scenarios showing how climate change
and extreme weather events may evolve will be studied and, as Sintef researcher and ReAdapt Project Manager, Ana Adeva-Bustos adds, power system models will be used to predict future energy production, electricity prices, and the operations of reservoirs and power plants.
Small hydro New research published in the Journal of Hydrology
has shown how developing small hydropower plants can provide a new direction for alleviating energy shortages in regions of Central Asia which do have abundant hydropower potential. The Upper Amu Darya (UAD) is the longest river in Central Asia but since 1960 its discharge has been declining due to the expansion of agricultural land and the construction of large reservoirs, while conflicting water demands have been exacerbated by worsening political and economic conflicts that have hindered reservoir management.
70 | May 2024 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
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