Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom

Kelly, Sarah; Silber-Coats, Noah; Crootof, Arica; Tecklin, David; Bauer, Carl J.

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2016.11.035

Cited by 152 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 122 publications

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“…Hydropower for electricity generation was introduced in the 19th century. Now, hydropower technology is used by more than 160 countries globally . Top countries producing electricity from hydropower are shown in Figure .…”

Section: Renewable Energy In the Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations, challenges, and solution approaches in grid‐connected renewable energy systems

et al. 2020

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Summary In the modern world, only conventional energy resources cannot fulfil the growing energy demand. Electricity is a fundamental building block of a technological revolution. Today, most of the electricity demand is met by the burning of fossil fuels but at the cost of adverse environmental impact. In order to bridge the gap between electricity demand and supply, nonconventional and eco‐friendly means of energy generation are considered. Renewable energy systems (RESs) offer an adequate solution to mitigate the challenges originated due to greenhouse gasses (GHG). However, they have an unpredictable power generation with specific site requirements. Grid integration of RESs may lead to new challenges related to power quality, reliability, power system stability, harmonics, subsynchronous oscillations (SSOs), power quality, and reactive power compensation. The integration with energy storage systems (ESSs) can reduce these complexities that arise due to the intermittent nature of RESs. In this paper, a comprehensive review of renewable energy sources has been presented. Application of ESSs in RESs and their development phase has been discussed. Role of ESSs in increasing lifetime, efficiency, and energy density of power system having RESs has been reviewed. Moreover, different techniques to solve the critical issues like low efficiency, harmonics, and inertia reduction in photovoltaic (PV) systems have been presented. Unlike most of the available review papers, this article also investigates the impact of FACTS technology in RESs‐based power system using multitype flexible AC transmission system (FACTS) controllers. Three simulation models have been developed in MATLAB/Simulink. The results show that FACTS devices help to maintain the stability of RESs integrated power system. This review paper is believed to be of potential benefit for researchers from both the industry and academia to develop better understanding of challenges and solution techniques for REs‐based power systems and future research dimensions in this area.

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Section: Renewable Energy In the Worldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limitations, challenges, and solution approaches in grid‐connected renewable energy systems

et al. 2020

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“…; Kelly‐Richards et al . ), and so we have chosen to include reach‐scale effects to assist in gaining a better understanding of the resulting basin‐scale impacts of multiple hydropower plants. The impacts of small hydropower dams on evolutionary processes have rarely been examined in previous reviews, but inclusion of such processes is critical for understanding the effects of these facilities on biodiversity.…”

Section: The Three Most Common Types Of Small Run‐of‐river Hydropowermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The objectives of this article are to (1) review the current state of knowledge about the impacts of small hydropower plants on biodiversity and ecosystem function at multiple spatial scales, (2) assess the availability of spatial planning tools, and (3) identify existing knowledge gaps. It has been suggested that the cumulative effects of multiple small hydropower plants and their interactions with other anthropogenic stressors are two major knowledge gaps for basin-scale hydropower planning (Anderson et al 2015;Winemiller et al 2016;Kelly-Richards et al 2017), and so we have chosen to include reachscale effects to assist in gaining a better understanding of the resulting basin-scale impacts of multiple hydropower plants. The impacts of small hydropower dams on evolutionary processes have rarely been examined in previous reviews, but inclusion of such processes is critical for understanding the effects of these facilities on biodiversity.…”

Section: Front Ecol Environmentioning

confidence: 99%

Basin‐scale effects of small hydropower on biodiversity dynamics

Lange

Meier

Trautwein

et al. 2018

Frontiers in Ecol & Environ

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Construction of small hydropower plants (<10 megawatts) is booming worldwide, exacerbating ongoing habitat fragmentation and degradation, and further fueling biodiversity loss. A systematic approach for selecting hydropower sites within river networks may help to minimize the detrimental effects of small hydropower on biodiversity. In addition, a better understanding of reach‐ and basin‐scale impacts is key for designing planning tools. We synthesize the available information about (1) reach‐scale and (2) basin‐scale impacts of small hydropower plants on biodiversity and ecosystem function, and (3) interactions with other anthropogenic stressors. We then discuss state‐of‐the‐art, spatially explicit planning tools and suggest how improved knowledge of the ecological and evolutionary impacts of hydropower can be incorporated into project development. Such tools can be used to balance the benefits of hydropower production with the maintenance of ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Adequate planning tools that consider basin‐scale effects and interactions with other stressors, such as climate change, can maximize long‐term conservation.

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“…Nonetheless, these impacts have contributed to opposition to new construction, hindered licensing and relicensing by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of existing facilities, and motivated several large dam removals (Kosnik 2005, 2008, 2010a, Abbasi and Abbasi 2011, US Army Corps of Engineers 2018, US National Park Service 2018. For these and other reasons, since 2000 hydropower capacity in the United States has grown less than 2% (Johnson and Hadjerioua 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, alternate hydropower technologies exist that may not face such trade-offs. In particular, this paper focuses on small-scale hydropower, which is often defined as ranging in capacity from 1-10 MW (Paish 2002, Kosnik 2010b, International Renewable Energy Agency 2012, Kelly-Richards et al 2017. Small-scale hydropower has a total installed capacity in the United States of only 6 GW (US Energy Information Administration 2017), but substantial resources exist for additional deployment (Johnson and Hadjerioua 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Net revenue and downstream flow impact trade-offs for a network of small-scale hydropower facilities in California

Craig

Zhao

Schneider

et al. 2019

Environ. Res. Commun.

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Deployment of small-scale hydropower, which generally ranges in capacity from 1-10 MW, may partly depend on its ability to mitigate environmental concerns while generating sufficient revenues. In this paper, we quantify net revenue and downstream flow impact trade-offs of a cascading series of 36 small-scale hydropower facilities under consideration for development in Northeast California. To do so, we develop a net-revenue-maximizing optimization model that determines hydropower operations while capturing key technical and river network constraints. We find that significantly constraining maximum discharges from each facility largely eliminates downstream flow impacts but negligibly changes the 36 facilities' combined operations and net revenues. Thus, we find a negligible trade-off between net revenues and downstream impacts in our study system, suggesting small-scale hydropower can contribute to decarbonization efforts while limiting local environmental impacts on downstream flows at little economic cost.

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Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom

Cited by 152 publications

References 122 publications

Limitations, challenges, and solution approaches in grid‐connected renewable energy systems

Limitations, challenges, and solution approaches in grid‐connected renewable energy systems

Basin‐scale effects of small hydropower on biodiversity dynamics

Net revenue and downstream flow impact trade-offs for a network of small-scale hydropower facilities in California

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