Assessment of hydrokinetic energy resources downstream of hydropower plants

Development of hydrokinetic energy technology: A review

“…Lalander et al carried out an analysis to discuss the variation in the water level due to the installation of hydrokinetic devices in the channel of an existing hydropower plant located at 60° latitude east of Sweden and found that the plant has to bear a head loss of 2 cm, which led to the conclusion of not installing the turbine since the loss in power generation to the power plant is greater than the generated power by hydrokinetic turbines. Similarly, Holanda et al assessed the hydrokinetic energy downstream of UHE‐Tucurui hydropower plant and found that about 2.04 GWh/y of electricity can be generated by installing the 10 turbines at different locations and also addressed an issue that the installation of these turbines may affect the plant operating head. In both studies, the locations considered for the turbine installation were based on maximum velocity rather than the wake‐recovery distance.…”

Flow-velocity model for hydrokinetic energy availability assessment in the Amazon

“…The flow data of these stations are available at http://www.snirh.gov.br/hidroweb/publico/apresentacao.jsf and were used to calibrate the model and simulate the logarithmic velocity profiles. In rivers where there are hydroelectric power plants (HPPs), preference was given to the flow data of the stations downstream of the dams, such as in the work of Holanda et al (2017), which analysed the hydrokinetic potential of the downstream reservoir of Tucuruí HPP in the Tocantins / Araguaia basin. However, in cases where the historical series of the streamflow gauge stations located at these points were not available, upstream stream gauge stations were used.…”

“…Thus, the use of energy from marine and fluvial currents has been preeminent in this context (Lopes, Vaz, Mesquita, Mesquita, & Blanco, 2015). The use of hydrokinetic energy in all its applications is considered as a process of energy conversion with low environmental impact, which could increase the energy potential of countries, especially those in development that need energy to overcome the challenges of growth (Holanda et al, 2017). Within this scenario, each country is assessing its resources and many have recognized hydrokinetic energy as a significant contributor to their renewable energy portfolio (Laws & Epps, 2016).…”

“…Currently, studies have verified the use of the remaining energy from hydroelectric plants. In this sense, Holanda et al (2017) presented in their work a shallow water model to verify the hydrokinetic energy use downstream of the Tucuruí hydroelectric power plant in the State of Pará, Brazilian Amazonia, since it has the largest installed capacity in the national territory; and during its implantation caused a great environmental impact. According to these authors, the implantation of a hydrokinetic energy park, in the evaluated section, could generate 2.04 GWh / year, which is a considerable value for an unused energy resource.…”

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“…Turbines may be positioned directly downstream from the conventional hydroelectric, where residual energy is still extant. Holanda et al (2017) employed the Saint-Venant model to simulate velocities and depths in the downstream reservoir of the Tucuruí dam. The authors observed the greatest velocities and depths and ten sites in the main channel of the Tocantins River were pinpointed as potential installation sites for hydrokinetic turbines to exploit surplus energy downstream from the Tucuruí hydroelectric plant.…”