Advances in the Definition of Needs and Specifications for a Climate Service Tool Aimed at Small Hydropower Plants’ Operation and Management

Abstract

The operation feasibility of small hydropower plants in mountainous sites is subjected to the run-of-river flow, which is also dependent on a high variability in precipitation and snow cover. Moreover, the management of this kind of system has to be performed with some particular operation conditions of the plant (e.g., turbine minimum and maximum discharge) but also some environmental flow requirements. In this context, a technological climate service is conceived in a tight connection with end users, perfectly answering the needs of the management of small hydropower systems in a pilot area, and providing a forecast of the river streamflow together with other operation data. This paper presents an overview of the service but also a set of lessons learnt related to the features, requirements, and considerations to bear in mind from the point of view of climate service developers. In addition, the outcomes give insight into how this kind of service could change the traditional management (normally based on past experience), providing a probability range of the future river flow based on future weather scenarios according to the range of future weather possibilities. This highlights the utility of the co-generation process to implement climate services for water and energy fields but also that seasonal climate forecasting could improve the business as usual of this kind of facility.Energies 2020, 13, 1827 2 of 15 that is subject to RoR flow, which in turn is highly variable depending on the duration of rainfall and snow cover. Since RoR plants usually have a small or non-existent storage facility that allows for very short-term water storage, the hydropower plant does not have enough water to continue operating when the inflow falls below the turbine's minimum discharge value. Another drawback of these systems is that when the inflows are extremely high and the turbine capacity is exceeded, the water will be wasted (spill) and will become a lost opportunity for generation [4].Europe is the market leader in small-scale hydropower technology, with Spain, Italy, France, Germany, and Sweden being the main producers [5]. However, the potential of RoR plants has not yet been fully explored and exploited, so there is interesting scope for the development of this technology and its optimization [5]. Management has to be done with some particular plant operating conditions but also with some environmental requirements. In this context, decision makers need to have information on the flow in the river in the short and medium term. If they could forecast the energy that will be produced in the following months, they could better adjust market prices and plan maintenance or other energy resources when the water availability falls below the minimum operating flow.Although some forecasting models already exist in the area of small-scale hydropower production [6-9], there is still a gap in linking forecasting with decision support systems. In most cases, water system managers usually make decisions based on historical statistica...

What Are the Key Drivers Controlling the Quality of Seasonal Streamflow Forecasts?

“…Seasonal forecasts hold the potential for being of great value for a wide range of stakeholders who are affected by the vagaries of the climate and who would benefit from understanding and better managing climate-related risks (Bruno Soares et al, 2017;Contreras et al, 2020;Doblas-Reyes et al, 2013). In Europe, there has been relatively little uptake and use of seasonal forecasts by users for decision-making, compared to other parts of the world, that is, Africa, the United States, and Australia (Bennett et al, 2017;Hansen et al, 2011;Mendoza et al, 2017), probably due to the relatively limited skill of seasonal meteorological forecasts in Europe (Arnal et al, 2018;Giuliani et al, 2020;Greuell et al, 2018;Harrigan et al, 2018;Wanders et al, 2019).…”

Seasonal Climate Forecast Skill Assessment for the Management of Water Resources in a Run of River Hydropower System in the Poqueira River (Southern Spain)

“…SHYMAT (small hydropower management and assessment tool), as we called the CS, was implemented in a run of river (RoR) pilot system in a Mediterranean high mountain area of southern Spain, where snow has a critical influence over the hydrology of the downstream areas. The technological tool is presented by Contreras et al [5], whom describe its structure, requirements, utilities, and the data and models used in detail. Contreras et al [5] give insight into how this kind of service could change traditional management (normally based on past experience), by providing a probability range of the future river flow and thus predicting the availability of water for energy production.…”

“…The technological tool is presented by Contreras et al [5], whom describe its structure, requirements, utilities, and the data and models used in detail. Contreras et al [5] give insight into how this kind of service could change traditional management (normally based on past experience), by providing a probability range of the future river flow and thus predicting the availability of water for energy production. The hydropower managers can also benefit from the CS through other valuable information related to environmental issues, operation and maintenance tasks in the hydropower system.…”

“…A more detailed description of SHYMAT outputs is presented in Contreras et al [5] and an overview of the tool is provided in the Appendix A ( Figure A1) of this paper, but the aforementioned gives an idea about how important it is for pilot users to have a reliable forecast of river inflows. An estimation of the energy production given the predicted discharge.…”

“…Location of the Poqueira River basin in southern Spain and the three run of river (RoR) plants system in the pilot area. The sub-basin where seasonal forecast data are produced and the sub-basins defining the three different points of water uptake for the hydropower production (SHYMAT (small hydropower management and assessment tool) sub-basins) are also presented (from Contreras et al [5]).…”