Impacts of LULC and climate changes on hydropower generation and development: A systematic review

There is a growing concern on a global scale that the world should transition towards the utilisation of energy-efficient technologies. Hydropower plays a very significant part in the fight against climate change, and as a result, it lessens the impact that climate changewill have on our ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both the effectiveness of hydropower generation and the amount of streamflow are impacted by climate change as well as land use and land cover (LULC). Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to conduct a literature review on the topic of the past and future effects of climate, land use, and land cover changes on hydropower generation. This review will be based on the entries found in a number of reliable databases. A systematic literature review was carried out to analyse how LULC and climate change will affect hydropower generation and development. The research was based on 158 pieces of relevant literature that had been reviewed by experts and indexed in Scopus, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect. The review was carried out to determine three goals in mind: the impact of climate change on hydropower generation and development; the impact of climate change on streamflow; and the combined impact of changes in climate and changes in LULC on hydropower. The findings bring to light the primary factors contributing to climate change as well as shifts in LULC which are essential to the generation of hydropower on all scales. The study identifies factors such as precipitation, temperature, floods, and droughts as examples of climate change. Deforestation, afforestation, and urbanisation are identified as the primary causes of changes in LULC over the past several decades. These changes have a negative impact on the generation and development of hydropower.

Impact of variation in climatic parameters on hydropower generation: A case of hydropower project in Nepal

Nepal has substantial potential to generate electricity through hydropower projects. Most of the hydropower projects in Nepal are Run-off-River (ROR) types. Significant seasonal variation can be pronounced on its river basins resulting in higher streamflow & higher hydropower generation during the wet/summer season and just reverse scenario in case of the dry/winter season. Thus, ROR-type hydropower in Nepal is more susceptible to Climate Change. This study assesses the impact of variation in climatic parameters on the hydropower generation by implementing WEAP model using the meteorological and hydrological data from 1976 to 2004 under Reference & Climatic Scenarios. The results reveal that the streamflow of Dordi River of Nepal is in increasing trends and can be more pronounced during April, May, June & July of the season under climatic scenarios. The generation of hydropower plant is likely to increase up to 15%, 1%-32% & 1%-51% over the study period under climatic scenario-1, 2 & 3, respectively, as compared to baseline scenario and the increments are observed to be more prominent during April & May of the season which is very crucial finding in current context of Nepal as there is power deficit during the dry season. Therefore, detailed technical and policy level planning can enhance the power generating capability of the future hydropower projects that will be developed in this corridor. This will significantly impacts the national energy planning and implementation.

A fixed-mix stochastic fractional programming method for optimizing agricultural irrigation and hydropower generation in Central Asia

In this study, a fixed-mix stochastic fractional programming (FSFP) method is developed for balancing the water-allocation conflict between upstream hydropower generation and downstream agricultural irrigation. FSFP has advantages in dealing with ratio-objective problem under uncertainty, reflecting the dynamic and stochastic characteristics over a long-term planning context, as well as analyzing interrelationships between system efficiency and violation risk of water-allocation target. Then, FSFP is firstly applied to Tuyamuyun reservoir in the lower reach of Amu Darya River basin (Central Asia), where multiple scenarios based on different hydropower-generation targets and inflow levels are examined for identifying the complex relationship between hydropower generation and crop irrigation. Major findings and managerial insights can be summarized as: (i) with the reduction of reservoir inflow, water allocation for downstream agricultural irrigation would decrease by 30.4% once the minimum demand is satisfied, and hydropower generation should be higher priority for pursuing higher marginal benefit; (ii) with the shrinking water supply and rising hydropower-generation target, cotton planting should be firstly restrained due to its high water demand and grape planting is encouraged; (iii) under extreme water scarcity (i.e., low and very-low inflow levels), low-level hydropower generation target (i.e., α = 0.45) is desired for meeting the food requirement in the study basin; (iv) for alleviating the water shortage during dry seasons, it is recommended that water storage should be conducted in autumn and winter, and water release for crop irrigation should be implemented during spring and summer. These findings can help managers identify sustainable water-allocation schemes for agricultural irrigation and hydropower generation against water shortage, environmental destruction and energy insecurity in arid regions.

Assessment of the sustainability of Gymnocypris eckloni habitat under river damming in the source region of the Yellow River

The growth of indigenous fish resources in the source region of a river is dependent upon the protection and sustainable development of suitable habitats, and the dual effects of climate change and hydropower generation have a major impact on hydrodynamic conditions and living conditions in these habitats. Against a background of climate warming, an agent-based model was established using MIKE3 software and was applied to the source region of the Yellow River. Within the study area, water depth, flow velocity, water temperature, and fish distribution in fish habitats before and after implementation of an ecological scheduling scheme in the hydropower stations were compared. In this paper, the Weighted Usable Area (WUA) method was used to evaluate the habitat suitability before and after construction of the dam in order to study the impact of changes in the hydrology and water environment in the source area of the Yellow River on the survival of the indigenous fish Gymnocypris eckloni Herzensten, 1891 and its eggs, and appropriate solutions were proposed. The results showed that the spawning period of G. eckloni (Gymnocypris eckloni Herzensten) will be delayed and egg hatching will face higher risks due to the negative -effects of low water temperature caused by hydropower generation. Water warming induced by global warming is expected to eliminate this negative influence, and the inhabitable area for fish is expected to increase. This study can provide a reference for evaluating sustainable development of the whole river ecosystem under conditions of climatic change and hydropower engineering operations.

Revealing long- and short-run empirical interactions among foreign direct investment, renewable power generation, and CO2 emissions in China

This work systematically examines the empirical interactions among foreign direct investment (FDI), renewable power generation (RPG), hydropower generation (HPG), non-hydropower generation (NHPG), and CO₂ emissions in the long run and short run. To test the existence of long-run equilibrium association among those variables, Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration and autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model have been employed on time series of China for the period 1991-2017. The vector error correction model-based short-run impacts among the variables of interest are also estimated. Besides, Toda-Yamamoto causality and Granger causality are employed to confirm the direction of causal links. The existence of a long-run equilibrium relationship is revealed in case of all types of specification. The expansion of both FDI and CO₂ emissions boosted RPG, HPG, and NHPG in the short run and long run, with greater intensity of impacts in the long run. To reflect comparisons, it is found that the renewables generation driving the impact of CO₂ emissions and FDI on NHPG is greater than RPG, which further exceeds HPG. In turn, the RPG, HPG, and NHPG mitigated CO₂ emissions both in the long run and short run, with stronger impacts in the long run. Moreover, the CO₂ emissions inhibition impact of HPG dominated NHPG, which further exceeded that of RPG. The FDI boosted CO₂ emissions in a way that the long-run pollution haven impact is revealed to be powerful than that of the short run. A unidirectional causality has been observed running from FDI to CO₂ emissions, RPG, HPG, and NHPG. A bidirectional causality is found operative between CO₂ emissions and RPG/HPG/NHPG. Interestingly, the long-run and short-run impacts remained homogeneous in terms of directionality. Nevertheless, strict heterogeneity is observed in terms of the degree of impacts. Based on empirics, both long-term and short-term policies on FDI, renewables generation, and CO₂ emissions are vital for decision-makers in China. Graphical abstract.

Managing dams for energy and fish tradeoffs: What does a win-win solution take?

Management activities to restore endangered fish species, such as dam removals, fishway installations, and periodic turbine shutdowns, usually decrease hydropower generation capacities at dams. Quantitative analysis of the tradeoffs between energy production and fish population recovery related to dam decision-making is still lacking. In this study, an integrated hydropower generation and age-structured fish population model was developed using a system dynamics modeling method to assess basin-scale energy-fish tradeoffs under eight dam management scenarios. This model ran across 150 years on a daily time step, applied to five hydroelectric dams located in the main stem of the Penobscot River, Maine. We used alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) to be representative of the local diadromous fish populations to link projected hydropower production with theoretical influences on migratory fish populations on the model river system. Our results show that while the five dams can produce around 427 GWh/year of energy, without fishway installations they would contribute to a 90% reduction in the alewife spawner abundance. The effectiveness of fishway installations is largely influenced by the size of reopened habitat areas and the actual passage rate of the fishways. Homing to natal habitat has an insignificant effect on the growth of the simulated spawner abundance. Operating turbine shutdowns during alewives' peak downstream migration periods, in addition to other dam management strategies, can effectively increase the spawner abundance by 480-550% while also preserving 65% of the hydropower generation capacity. These data demonstrate that in a river system where active hydropower dams operate, a combination of dam management strategies at the basin scale can best balance the tradeoff between energy production and the potential for migratory fish population recovery.

The water-energy nexus at water supply and its implications on the integrated water and energy management

Water and energy are highly interdependent in the modern world, and hence, it is important to understand their constantly changing and nonlinear interconnections to inform the integrated management of water and energy. In this study, a hydrologic model, a water systems model, and an energy model were developed and integrated into a system dynamics modeling framework. This framework was then applied to a water supply system in the northeast US to capture its water-energy interactions under a set of future population, climate, and system operation scenarios. A hydrologic model was first used to simulate the system's hydrologic inflows and outflows under temperature and precipitation changes on a weekly-basis. A water systems model that combines the hydrologic model and management rules (e.g., water release and transfer) was then developed to dynamically simulate the system's water storage and water head. Outputs from the water systems model were used in the energy model to estimate hydropower generation. It was found that critical water-energy synergies and tradeoffs exist, and there is a possibility for integrated water and energy management to achieve better outcomes. This analysis also shows the importance of a holistic understanding of the systems as a whole, which would allow utility managers to make proactive long-term management decisions. The modeling framework is generalizable to other water supply systems with hydropower generation capacities to inform the integrated management of water and energy resources.

Enhanced genetic algorithm optimization model for a single reservoir operation based on hydropower generation: case study of Mosul reservoir, northern Iraq

Achievement of the optimal hydropower generation from operation of water reservoirs, is a complex problems. The purpose of this study was to formulate and improve an approach of a genetic algorithm optimization model (GAOM) in order to increase the maximization of annual hydropower generation for a single reservoir. For this purpose, two simulation algorithms were drafted and applied independently in that GAOM during 20 scenarios (years) for operation of Mosul reservoir, northern Iraq. The first algorithm was based on the traditional simulation of reservoir operation, whilst the second algorithm (Salg) enhanced the GAOM by changing the population values of GA through a new simulation process of reservoir operation. The performances of these two algorithms were evaluated through the comparison of their optimal values of annual hydropower generation during the 20 scenarios of operating. The GAOM achieved an increase in hydropower generation in 17 scenarios using these two algorithms, with the Salg being superior in all scenarios. All of these were done prior adding the evaporation (Ev) and precipitation (Pr) to the water balance equation. Next, the GAOM using the Salg was applied by taking into consideration the volumes of these two parameters. In this case, the optimal values obtained from the GAOM were compared, firstly with their counterpart that found using the same algorithm without taking into consideration of Ev and Pr, secondly with the observed values. The first comparison showed that the optimal values obtained in this case decreased in all scenarios, whilst maintaining the good results compared with the observed in the second comparison. The results proved the effectiveness of the Salg in increasing the hydropower generation through the enhanced approach of the GAOM. In addition, the results indicated to the importance of taking into account the Ev and Pr in the modelling of reservoirs operation.