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The hydropower sector is currently experiencing several technological developments. New technologies and sustainable practices are emerging to make hydropower more flexible and eco-friendly. Novel materials have also been recently developed to increase performance, durability, and reliability; however, no systematic discussions can be found in the literature. Therefore, in this paper, novel materials for hydropower applications are presented, and their performance, advantages, and limitations are discussed. For example, composites can reduce the weight of steel equipment by 50% to 80%, polymers and superhydrophobic materials can reduce head losses by 4% to 20%, and novel bearing materials can reduce bearing wear by 6%. These improvements determine higher efficiencies, longer life span, waste reduction, and maintenance needs, although the initial cost of some materials is not yet competitive with respect to the costs of traditional materials. The novel materials are described here based on the following categories: novel materials for turbines, dams and waterways, bearings, seals, and ocean hydropower.

From the perspective of the water–energy–food (WEF) security nexus, sustainable water-related infrastructure may hinge on multi-dimensional decision-making, which is subject to some level of uncertainties imposed by internal or external sources such as climate change. It is important to note that the impact of this phenomenon is not solely limited to the changing behavior patterns of hydro-climatic variables since it can also affect the other pillars of the WEF nexus both directly and indirectly. Failing to address these issues can be costly, especially for those projects with long-lasting economic lifetimes such as hydropower systems. Ideally, a robust plan can tolerate these projected changes in climatic behavior and their associated impacts on other sectors, while maintaining an acceptable performance concerning environmental, socio-economic, and technical factors. This study, thus, aims to develop a robust multiple-objective decision-support framework to address these concerns. In principle, while this framework is sensitive to the uncertainties associated with the climate change projections, it can account for the intricacies that are commonly associated with the WEF security network. To demonstrate the applicability of this new framework, the Karkheh River basin in Iran was selected as a case study due to its critical role in ensuring water, energy, and food security of the region. In addition to the status quo, a series of climate change projections (i.e., RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, and RCP 8.5) were integrated into the proposed decision support framework as well. Resultantly, the mega decision matrix for this problem was composed of 56 evaluation criteria and 27 feasible alternatives. A TOPSIS/Entropy method was used to select the most robust renovation plan for a hydropower system in the basin by creating a robust and objective weighting mechanism to quantify the role of each sector in the decision-making process. Accordingly, in this case, the energy, food, and environment sectors are objectively more involved in the decision-making process. The results revealed that the role of the social aspect is practically negligible. The results also unveiled that while increasing the power plant capacity or the plant factor would be, seemingly, in favor of the energy sector, if all relevant factors are to be considered, the overall performance of the system might resultantly become sub-optimal, jeopardizing the security of other aspects of the water–energy–food nexus.

The objective of this paper was to discuss the future potential of Hydropower Generation (HG) in Malaysia based on available publications published between 1970 and 2021 in the Scopus database (12 papers) and non-Scopus (3 papers). Out of the 15 papers reviewed, it was found that 73% of papers studied and discussed the economic aspect of the HG in Malaysia, while 27-47% studied and discussed the social and environmental aspects although some could merge with the economic factor. This paper indicated the economic aspect as primary importance in the hydropower studies and construction in their planning processes until full implementation of this Renewable Energy (RE) in Malaysia. This analysis shows that Large (> 10 MW) Hydropower System (HPS) papers only covered 31% of the 12 papers (discarding the 2 unspecified papers) reviewed in this study, while the rest (69%) covered mostly Micro (< 100 kW) HPS (46%), followed by Mini (< 1 MW), Small (< 10 MW), and Pico (< 5 kW) HPSs. It is almost certain, the Micro HPS or lower capacities of HPS hold the bright future in the reduced costs of energy consumption in Malaysia with special reference to economic factors that would boost the social development the betterment of well-being of the nation.

On December 21, 2020, The State Council Information Office issued a white paper titled “China’s Energy Development in the New Era,” in which the installed capacity of hydropower, wind power, photovoltaic power and biomass power generation in China ranked first in the world [1]. Solar photovoltaic power generation is the most important development direction of clean energy in the world. It is an important energy strategy to combine it with the field of construction in China. This paper mainly introduces the characteristics and problems of the key technologies of solar photovoltaic building integration, and explores its future development direction and ways, in order to constantly promote the industrialization of new energy technology in China.

The article considers modern problems and problems that currently exist in hydraulic engineering and hydropower, problems of land and water resources. And also problems of training of experts. able to solve these problems Recently, the problems caused by existing large hydraulic structures are increasingly mentioned. The main problem is that the nodes of hydraulic structures often form artificial reservoirs of a large plane. It often happens that the depths of reservoirs are insignificant. This situation is very unsatisfactory because the land is used irrationally. which is a valuable resource and has a high cost and can be used effectively for agriculture. Creation of hydraulic structures, complexes of hydraulic structures significantly change the hydrological, biological. salt and thermal regimes of the river on which they are built, the regime of groundwater movement, cause climate change in the surrounding areas. Cascades of hydraulic structures have a special influence. As an example, we can cite the Dnieper cascade of hydroelectric power plants and compare the area of its reservoirs and the amount of electricity generated by its power plants with the world's largest hydroelectric power plants. In addition, shallow water bodies cause a significant deterioration in water quality. And since reservoirs are often a source of water supply for settlements and industrial enterprises, this situation is controversial. Intensive construction of hydraulic structures and their complexes took place during the twentieth century, many of them exhausted their resources and needed either reconstruction or decommissioning. The reasons for this state of affairs are the development of technology, the emergence and development of other alternative energy sources for thermal and nuclear power plants, other than hydraulic. Also, since the construction of many buildings, approaches to determining their profitability and efficiency have changed. Aspects of training specialists in hydraulic engineering and water engineering, able to solve these problems of the industry today, and those that will face them in the near future are considered. The ability of a competent professional to anticipate the consequences of any action must be an integral part of it. Attention is drawn to the need to apply conceptually new approaches to solving problems of construction of new hydraulic and hydropower facilities, operation and reconstruction of existing facilities.

Maritime transportation functions as the backbone of world trade. The U.S. inland waterway transportation system is comprised of 12,000 miles of navigable waterways that connect and move freight between the global supply chain and thirty eight States. When investing in inland waterway infrastructure, we should aim to maximize all benefits associated with the investment including flood protection, water supply, hydropower generation, recreation, and environmental impact benefits. We formulate an initial qualitative value model for the inland waterway infrastructure investment decision based on a value-focused thinking approach which allows us to holistically evaluate project investment alternatives. Given limited resources, a portfolio optimization model is formulated to maximize the total value associated with the project investments while considering budget and minimally acceptable benefit constraints. To demonstrate application of our developed approach, we present a case study based on the McClellan Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System.

Hydropower is the second largest conventional energy resource in China. It is a renewable energy with mature technology, flexible operation, cleanliness and low carbon. A hydropower project has flood control, a water supply, navigation, irrigation and other comprehensive utilization functions. The new era in China is guided by the new energy-security strategy of ‘four revolutions and one cooperation’ and the new development concept of ‘innovation, coordination, green development, openness and sharing’. According to the dual nature of water and electricity, this paper deepens the basic understanding of hydropower from the experience of the world, the difficult problems of hydropower in China and the long-term development of hydropower enterprises. The future direction of hydropower development is explored from the following aspects: high-quality development of follow-up hydropower projects, innovative utilization of existing hydropower value, creative pursuit of hydropower-benefit growth and high-level promotion of hydropower international cooperation.

The disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the flooding and a material breach of the ecology of the region, therefore the use of such hydroelectric power station is reasonable when no alternative method of providing the required power. In this regard, in most cases, it is advisable to use free-flow microelectric power plants. Free-threaded micro hydropower plants constitute a power unit mounted in the flow of the river. The main difference between free-flow microelectric power plants and dams is the use of kinetic energy of the flow, rather than potential. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for earthworks and the construction of additional hydraulic structures. Free-threaded micro hydropower plants can be grouped, forming a cascade of micro hydro. In order to increase the reliability of free-flow microelectric power plants, the design tends to use low-speed generators with rotation speeds from 140 to 650 rpm, which can significantly simplify or completely eliminate the transmission mechanism

Since the construction of the first small hydroelectric power plants (SHPP), the experience of engineering surveys in the domestic hydropower industry with its further development begins. Conducting engineering surveys during the design of Krasnogorsk SHPP-1 and SHPP-2 supplemented the accumulated experience with new methods of conducting survey work.

The construction, rehabilitation and re-licensing of hydropower stations must nowadays fulfill strict demands for fish protection, particularly those related to enhanced turbine passage survival ra...

In 1895, the Niagara Falls Power Company installed an early largescale polyphase generating station at Niagara Falls, New York. Later named Adams Plant No. 1, power was first produced in 1895. Ten years later, a total of six ac-generating stations were in operation on both sides of the U.S.?Canadian border. The rapid development of power generation at Niagara Falls was in no small part a result of the burgeoning electrochemical industry.

In the development of the design documentation for the Verkhnyaya Balkariya small-scale hydropower plant, the layout of the main hydraulic engineering structures has been completed, and design concepts have been adopted in consideration of the results of engineering surveys and those of the design justification of structures, as well as the calculations of the economic efficiency of the project.

In view of the difficulties in promoting intelligent management in the field of engineering construction, based on the concept of intelligent enterprise and the actual situation of hydropower project-construction management, this paper puts forward the basic concept, main features and general idea of intelligent engineering. Based on a review of the exploration, pilot construction and comprehensive practice of intelligent engineering in the hydropower construction of Dadu River, the practical results of the intelligent engineering of Dagangshan, Houziyan, Shaping-II and Shuangjiangkou hydropower stations are summarized. The technical system and management model of engineering an early-warning decision centre, intelligent dam project, intelligent underground project, intelligent electromechanical project, intelligent security control, intelligent service guarantee, intelligent environmental and water protection, and intelligent resource control in Shuangjiangkou hydropower station are introduced. It is proposed that intelligent engineering is a high integration of information technology, industrial technology and management technology. And it is pointed out that intelligent engineering will lead in the new development of water conservancy and the hydropower industry, and even the engineering-construction field, throughout the world.

This article discusses the design, organization of construction, installation and commissioning processes of the Los Caracoles and Punta Negra Hydro Power Plants (HPPs), as well as a plan for the development of the existing cascade of HPPs on the San Juan River in Argentina through the construction of the Tambolar HPP.

When: 26 May–1 June 2020 Where: Virtual (organized by the University of Washington) While the primary mission of NASA’s Earth Science Division (ESD) is to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system and how it is responding to human and natural drivers of change, an implicit need is also to understand how best to promote the use of NASA satellite mission products and information for application activities that directly benefit society and our environment [ ]the 2018 National Academies on Science, Engineering, and Medicine Decadal Survey for NASA, “Thriving on Our Changing Planet: A Decadal Strategy for Earth Observations from Space,” clearly underscores the tremendous value of satellite mission data, which “enabled societal applications that provide tremendous value to individuals, businesses, the nation, and the world By virtue of its stated scientific goals, SWOT satellite data are expected to have tremendous societal impact in various sectors that involve water, such as disaster management, reservoir operations, water management, ecosystem services planning, hydropower and navigation, fisheries (freshwater and marine), and marine shipping [ ]in this proposed virtual hackathon architecture, the last 2 days involve intense one-on-one help sessions via a web-conferencing tool such as Zoom to “look under the hood” by highly qualified trainers (known hereafter as “helper hackers”) into the EA’s local device to examine tools/data/models used for the SWOT EA project

Francis type hydraulic turbines that have a wide range of operating range for head and flow rates are commonly used in hydropower generation. Every power plant needs its custom designed turbine because the available head and flow rates, which are the main parameters to start the design process, are different for each plant. Guide vanes are the only movable parts of Francis turbines. They control the flow rate through the turbine. In this study, a generalized Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) aided design methodology is developed and applied to the design of the turbines of two different power plants. The effects of several parameters, including the shape of the guide vane profile, eccentricity, blade angles, overlapping percentage of the blades, number of guide vanes, and rotor-stator distance are examined. Results are investigated for each parameter in terms of flow physics and important outcomes are determined for turbine designers.

Africa is embracing new opportunities featured with industrialization, urbanization and regionalization. Based on co-development of ‘Electricity, Mining, Metallurgy, Industry and Trade’ and grids interconnection proposed by Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), the high-quality hydropower resource of the Congo River can be exploited in large scale under the wide-range interconnected framework of African Energy Interconnection (AEI), forging a new engine for Africa economy. The transmission distance of the Congo River hydropower reaches 6,000 km at its farthest end in North Africa, which brings forth challenges to economics of proposed projects. Under this novel continental energy interconnection scheme in Africa, economics of those projects have not yet been in detail studied. This paper has implemented China’s mature engineering experiences and analytical tools of UHVDC project planning into the AEI structure, through exploring the economic behavior of ultra-long distance UHVDC projects in the scope of conductor selection in the Congo River hydropower transmission for the first time, and has provided concerned parties with a technical and analytical results of their economics comparison. This paper has chosen the D.R. Congo - Guinea ±800 kV UHVDC project as a typical example. Its preliminary system planning is introduced and three types of conductor are selected for scheme comparison. Later in this paper, the transmission loss, total investment and equivalent annual cost of the project have been calculated and analyzed. In the final part, sensitivity analysis results of the annual cost to utilization hours, transmission loss, loss tariff and construction cost has been provided

This paper focuses on small hydropower development in North-Central and electrification, which are given high priority in the government's efforts to increase the standard of living in rural areas, reduce rural-urban migration trends, and realize other development objectives. However, the three key challenges for rural electrification are: how to provide sustainable energy (electricity) services to the poorest of the poor, who have no purchasing power to pay for the services? How to offer the most cost-effective, clean and reliable electricity to those who are currently spending a significant share of their income on energy? How to set up commercial infrastructure to provide these services? In North-Central zone where rivers, waterfalls and streams with high potentials for small hydropower (SHP) development is abundant, where harnessing these hydro resources leads to decentralized use and local implementation and management, thereby making sustainable rural development possible through self-reliance and the use of local natural resources. This can be the most affordable and accessible option to provide off-grid electricity services. Based on zone's level of hydropower development, small hydropower station is defined as follows: Small = installed capacity between 2 MW and 10 MW; Mini ≤ 2 MW; and Micro ≤100 kW. In recent studies carried out in other zones and four (4) river basins, over 78 unexploited SHP sites with the total potential of 734.3 MW were identified. However, SHP potential sites exist in virtually all parts of the zone with an estimated capacity of 3,500 MW. Copyright © 2014 Penerbit Akademia Baru - All rights reserved.

The task of evaluating the integrated management strategy is solved for hydropower facilities in conditions of changing integrated management of the operation process. Despite the fact that the strategy is integrated, covers all business processes of operation, it is proposed to evaluate it for each of the indicators separately. The proposed method allows to visualize the results of the organization of operation processes and highlight the «bottlenecks».

As a typical representative of hydropower development in China, the Dadu River is characterized by abundant water resources, poor geological conditions, many resettlements and limited environmental capacity. Therefore, the technical problems faced by Dadu River hydropower development are numerous and complex. We analysed these technical problems, such as the hydropower-development mode, normal water level, dam-site selection, damming technology, migration resettlement and environmental protection. The concept and characteristics of harmonious hydropower development are identified. The harmonious hydropower-development concept has been applied to all aspects of the Dadu River hydropower-development feasibility study to solve the key technical problems of hydropower development on the Dadu River and to promote the development of China’s hydropower.

Relevance of the research is due to the fact that over the past 10 years severe accidents at large hydropower plants and dams occurred in Russia (SayanoShushenskaya HPP, 2009), USA (Oroville dam, 2018), Brazil (Brumadinho dike, 2019), Colombia (HPP Ituango, 2018) and other countries, the need has arisen to improve the safety programs of the HS and dams. The main method of this important work is to use methods of analysis and assessment of risk accidents of HS and dams. Methods of this important work are to develop modern methodology for analyzing and assessing the risk of accidents of HS and dams. The introduction of the method of analysis and risk assessment in the safety programs of hydraulic structures (dams) in countries that are advanced in the construction of HS (China, Brazil, Canada, USA, Russia, Colombia, Norway, Spain, etc.) shows that in applying risk assessment analysis accidents of HS and dams still a number of difficulties, but this approach is of great benefit in monitoring the safety of HS and dams. The aim of this article is to familiarize and train specialists and hydraulic engineers with modern methods for assessing the safety of HS and dams.

The article describes the main sets of regulations and standards for the design of dams and pressure dams made of ground materials. The main document of the complex of regulations on the design of hydraulic structures of various types today is DBN.2.4-3:2010 «Hydrotechnical constructions. Main principles». In its development there is a system of regulations, which includes DBN.2.4-20:2014 «Earth dams. Main principles». These state building standards define the principles (General provisions) and requirements for the design, construction, operation and reconstruction of dams and pressure dams made of ground materials in the new construction, reconstruction and overhaul of hydraulic structures for hydropower facilities, water management, protection of areas from flooding, storage of liquid waste of industrial enterprises and structures of all types and classes of consequences (responsibility), including taking into account seismic effects. These building standards establish the basic provisions and requirements for the design of dams (earthen bulk and alluvial, stone-earth, stone-cap and explosion-cap) in the new construction, reconstruction and overhaul of hydraulic structures for hydropower facilities, water transport, land reclamation, water supply and sanitation, fish farming, protection of areas from flooding, storage of liquid waste industrial enterprises. The use of the complex in relation to dams and pressure dams made of ground materials of state construction standards allows for their design, construction, operation and reconstruction in complex engineering and geological conditions, taking into account seismic effects, monitoring of facilities and environmental protection. In the design documentation of dams of significant consequences (СС3) it is necessary to provide installation of control and measuring equipment and devices for carrying out field observations of movements and a basis of control of technical condition of dams and development of dangerous processes. The results of monitoring are used for timely detection of defects, purpose of repair and other measures, prevention of failures and accidents, improvement of their operation and assessment of the level of safety and risk of accidents, expected losses.

Currently, it is believed that the share of renewable energy in the overall balance of electricity production should increase in view of the climate change mitigation needs. Analysis of the current capacity of renewable energy shows that the hydropower constitutes the largest part. In this article, the authors undertook the assessment of the impact of hydropower plants on the hydromorphological conditions of the rivers on which they are located. Research sections located upstream and downstream of the facilities and on reference sections were investigated and compared for selected rivers in Poland (Oder, Bystrzyca, Śleza Rivers) and Belgium (Meuse River). Impacts of the hydropower plants were studied based on 42 indicators, including physical conditions, coastal habitats, morphology, and hydrological regime. It was also determined which hydromorphological indicators influenced the hydromorphological conditions. Results show that in the sections upstream of the hydropower plants, the average hydromorphological state is moderate, whereas it is poor downstream of the plants and very good in the reference stations. From the 42 analyzed indicators, 26 show a deterioration in the hydromorphological state, and 14 show an improvement. The hydromorphological conditions are mostly influenced by anthropogenic pressures, the presence of transverse and longitudinal obstacles in the riverbed, river regulation, and changes in the hydrological regime and flow conditions. The presented methods used in individual EU countries (HIR, HEM, QBR, and MC) complement each other well and their results show a high convergence of the findings for the general hydromorphological state, with an average level of agreement of 82.14%.

The current theme is the impact that the awareness of the non-stationarity of hydrological phenomena, and of river hydrology in particular, has on hydraulic engineering and hydropower [...]

In this chapter, some innovative case studies in the hydropower sector are discussed, highlighting how novel technologies and operational practices can make it more efficient, sustainable and cost-effective. Some practices to reduce hydropeaking effects, improving fish habitat, and turbines with higher survival rate, allowing to bring fish survival >98%, are discussed. The retrofitting of non-powered barriers can help to minimize the environmental impacts, reducing costs by more than 20%. New turbines are described focusing on their advantages with respect to standard ones, in particular, water wheels in irrigation canals to promote the valorization of watermills and old weirs, the very low head (VLH) turbine in navigation locks (reducing overall cost by more than 20%), the vortex turbine, and the Deriaz turbine with adjustable runner blades to improve the efficiency curve, especially at part load. Digitalization can help in preventing damages and failures increasing the overall efficiency and energy generation by more than 1%.

The need for cheaper electricity generation rises as the price of fossil fuels is increasingly nowadays. Hydropower plant is one of the most efficient and environmentally friendly alternative power plant sources. In this research works, a prototype of small-scale hydro power plant known as micro hydro power plant (MHPP) was developed for educational and research purpose. The motivation of this work is based on there is no field laboratory could be used for students to study the concept and actively involved in electricity generation at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Johor Bahru campus, Malaysia. This work hopefully become the catalyst for further research regarding renewable energy source, particularly in MHPP research. The research flow for this work begins with feasibility activities to determine some potential sites for development of MHPP at UTM Johor Campus. There are 7 (seven) potential sites based on site visits and data analysis. From the data analysis, the most suitable site chosen for MPPP prototype development. The prototype was built based on the improved design. The results show that the constructed prototype is capable for generating electricity. This prototype can be used as a field laboratory and for educational and research purpose.

Many pumped storage hydropower plants have long large diameter steep steel pipes (penstocks) between reservoirs. The coating inside such pipes protects the surface from corrosion. Lifetime of the coating is limited and it has to be renewed several times during expected lifetime of the hydropower plant. The coating renovation was a manual process until now. A modification of the process is proposed. The modification of the process includes changes in the technological steps as well robotization of these steps. The new process provides more stability in the quality of coating and eliminates unnecessary presence of people in confined spaces. Using a robot also makes the renewal of the coating much faster. Therefore, it can bring a lot of profit to the owner by shortening the production downtime and re-starting production significantly earlier in comparison to the existing renovation process. The new process was verified in a pilot project at a selected pumped storage hydropower plant and the results were evaluated in cooperation with the hydropower plant owner. Laboratory tests of samples have shown that the coating has two times higher adhesion to the substrate in comparison to the manual coating application. The results also showed that the owner can save around 600 days of downtime on each of both penstocks when using this new process. This is a clear economical advantage which each owner of the infrastructure can understand easily.

Hydropower is an important source of renewable energy. Due to ageing infrastructure, more and more existing hydropower plants have to be refurbished and modernised. This includes a complete review of the design parameters as well as the change of specific parts. Investments should be targeted to improve the overall performance of hydropower plants and ensure a long lasting life extension. This paper presents the concept of the submerged wall as a local high point in the headrace tunnel, which can—in combination with the intake gates—replace existing penstock shutoff valves. Such a replacement was conducted for the hydropower plant Schneiderau in Austria, which also allowed us to prove the concept based on measurements including a simulated break of the penstock. The presented solution can help to reduce investment costs and also minimise maintenance efforts and therefore is an attractive option for classic penstock shutoff valves for comparable projects.

German engineer Hermann Honnef published his plans in multiple books and articles and provided a roadmap for the development of large wind turbines in Germany. He envisioned the development of a series of wind turbines 300m tall with rated capacities of 20MW each. While the Germans discussed the merits of wind power—1,000miles to the east—the Soviet Union was actively pursuing its own wind power research program that would lead to the construction of a 100‐kW wind turbine. The Soviet Union's research on wind integration in the 1930s was just as forward‐looking as Honnef's wind turbine designs. They discovered that the key to integrating wind power into the grid was to ensure that existing hydropower stations and steam generators were flexible enough to dispatch around the wind generation to ensure that the demand for electricity would be met.

For the first time in Pakistan, Steel Fibre-Reinforced Shotcrete (SFRS) is used as the final lining for the Diversion Tunnels of Gulpur Hydropower Project. The project’s diversion tunnels were open...

After the implementation of the Reform and Opening-up Policy for a period of 40 years, the exploitation of China’s hydropower resources developed significantly. Through vast amounts of scientific and technological research and construction practices, China has accumulated abundant engineering experience with respect to the construction technologies required for 300-meter-high concrete arch dams, 200-meter-high roller-compacted concrete gravity dams, 200-meter-high concrete face rockfill dams, and 250-meter-high earth core rockfill dams, large-flow discharge and energy dissipation, huge underground cavern group constructions, complicated foundation treatments for high earth and rockfill dams and high and steep slope reinforcements. These series of technologies have now reached an international leading level. In the near future, these technical improvements will likely have broader application prospects and make greater contributions toward hydropower development both in China and across the world. Keywords: GEI, Global Energy Interconnection, UHVDC, Grid construction