Sustainable option to reduce by-side impact of agricultural growth on hydropower plants efficiency

Excessive use of fertilizers in agriculture to sustain the food needs for rapid demographic growth has been reflected in serious negative consequences on the aquatic environment, through eutrophication which has become a global problem. Besides creating a hypoxic environment for fish and other aquatic species, as well as navigation difficulties, clogging electromechanical equipment at hydropower plants (HPPs) is another major problem caused by aquatic biomass bloom in fresh-water streams and coastal sea water as a result of the agricultural nutrient-rich runoff. This paper aims to present some issues related to reducing the operating efficiency of the electromechanical equipment, especially turbines, hydro-generators and hydraulic steel structures which are vulnerable to clogging by algal biomass and aquatic weeds grown along the rivers or in sea waters. An efficient and sustainable method of harnessing the energy potential of the aquatic biomass collected from the water storage lakes at the dams of hydropower plants but also from the coastal areas is presented as well. Apart from the direct benefits that harnessing aquatic biomass may bring to produce renewable biogas, this sustainable practice can avoid inefficiency or malfunctions of the hydropower plants caused by clogging hydro-equipment and components.