The benefits of potential electric power transfers between the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and California (CA) are evaluated using a linked set of hydrologic, reservoir, and power demand simulation models for the Columbia River and the Sacramento–San Joaquin reservoir systems. The models provide a framework for evaluating climate-related variations and long-range predictability of regional electric...

River tributaries have a key role in the biophysical functioning of the Mekong Basin. Of particular interest are the Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong (3S) rivers, which contribute nearly a quarter of the total Mekong discharge. Forty two dams are proposed in the 3S, and once completed they will exceed the active storage of China’s large dam cascade in the Upper Mekong. Given their proximity to the Low...

In this paper a day-ahead planning algorithm for a multi-reservoir hydropower system coordinated with wind power is developed. Coordination applies to real situations, where wind power and hydropower are owned by different utilities, sharing the same transmission lines, though hydropower has priority for transmission capacity. Coordination is thus necessary to minimize wind energy curtailments ...

This paper reviews a variety of derived single-purpose operating policies for reservoirs in series and in parallel for water supply, flood control, hydropower, water quality, and recreation. Such rules are useful for real-time operations, conducting reservoir simulation studies for real-time, seasonal, and longterm operations, and for understanding the workings of multi-reservoir systems. For r...

In this paper we discuss how three different public policy measures affect water storage controlled by hydropower producing firms. In particular we discuss measures to promote competition, increase transmission capacity and rationing. The analysis is conducted within the framework of an oligopoly model where 2 hydro producing firms engage in dynamic Bertrand competition. We extend this model to...

The aim of this work is to study the primary control system of a hydropower plant in isolated mode. The power plant is modeled by differential equations and results are compared to field data from an actual hydropower plant, presenting deviations lower than 1.0%. The study of primary control system is conducted in order to define useful sets of parameters for controllers. Four controllers are s...

This paper analyzes ownership trends of nonfederal hydropower generating assets from 1980–2003. Previous research has shown that the overall electricity industry is unique in that, because of the extreme inelasticity of demand for power, even small sectors of the industry have the potential to exhibit substantial price setting behavior. Hydropower assets especially, with their unique ability to...

Information hidden in the characteristics and relationship data of a cascade hydropower stations can be extracted by data-mining approaches to be operation rules and optimization support information. In this paper, with Three-gorge and Gezhouba cascade hydropower stations as an example, two operation rules are proposed due to different operation efficiency of water turbines and tight water volu...

Southwest China’s Yunnan province is evolving into one of the world’s largest hydro-power-producing regions. It already rivals the world’s largest hydro-producing nations. However, five of Yunnan’s six basins are international and therefore its hydropower development is of great academic and geopolitical interest. While the implementation of large projects on Yunnan’s three large rivers (Jinsha...

Introduction According to the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050, which takes into account the phase out of the existing nuclear power plants, the mean annual hydropower production must be increased by 1.5 TWh/a under present framework conditions, eventually reaching 3.2 TWh/a if conditions are optimized (SFOE, 2016). In view of environmental and socio-economic constraints, this foreseen increase is ex...