despite the numerous advantages of large dams, there is still a deep suspicion about the real,long-term benefits and costs of their construction. land use change on a vast scale, displacement of a largepopulation of indigenous people, loss of biodiversity and production of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as environmental, socioeconomic and cultural consequences resulting therefrom, indicate c...

This paper proposes a coexistence model for two independent companies both operating hydropower plants in the same river flow, based on a case study of the Cetina river basin in Croatia. Companies are participants of the day-ahead electricity market. The incumbent company owns the existing hydropower plants and holds concessions for the water. The new company decides to build a pump storage hyd...

The non-sustainable use of water creates major environmental problems on a world wide scale. It is even an issue in regions with a relative abundance of this resources, like the Alps. Here, major problems are associated with the construction of dams and the operation of hydropower plants. The environmental impact of hydropower has been subjected to a fierce political debate in the eighties, esp...

Riverine ecosystems have been altered in many large catchments by dam development to provide water, power, flood control and navigational benefits to humans. Conservation actions in these river ecosystems are commonly focused on minimum releases of water to downstream ecosystems. Increasingly minimum release approaches are being replaced with ‘experimental’ flows that mimic natural conditions i...

Many Alpine rivers are affected by hydro-peaking, strong sub-daily fluctuations of discharge caused by intermittent power production from hydropower plants. Adding a retention volume at the outlet of a hydropower plant aims at attenuating hydro-peaking to a level where adverse effects on fish and invertebrates are minimal. The performance of such a retention volume needs to be assessed when ext...