Water development for hydroelectric in southeastern Anatolia project (GAP) in Turkey

Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region in Turkey is rich in water for irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Euphrates and Tigris rivers represent over 28% of the nation’s water supply by rivers, and the economically irrigable areas in the region make up 20% of those for the entry country. On the other hand, 85% of the total hydro capacity in operation has been developed by DSI, corresponding to 9931 MW (49 hydro plants) and 35,795 GWh/year respectively. The largest and most comprehensive regional development project ever implemented by DSI in Turkey is “The Southeast Anatolian (GAP) Project”, which is located in the region of Southeast Anatolia on the Euprates and Tigris rivers and their tributaries, which originate in Turkey. The energy potential of the Tigris and Euphrates is estimated as 12,000 GWh and 35,000 GWh, respectively. These two rivers constitute 10% and 30% of the total hydroelectric energy potential. The GAP region will be an important electric power producer with 1000 MW installed capacity from the Karakaya dam, 2400 MW installed capacity from the Atatürk dam and 1360 MW installed capacity from the Keban dam. The GAP region has a 22% share of the country’s total hydroelectric potential, with plans for 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric power plants. Once completed, 27 billion kWh of electricity will be generated annually.     

A renewable perspective for sustainable energy development in Turkey: The case of small hydropower plants

Renewable energy resources provide a large share of the total energy consumption of many developing countries. Turkey's renewable sources are the second largest source for energy production after coal. About two-thirds of the renewable energy produced is obtained from biomass, while the rest is mainly from hydroelectric energy. Hydropower is today the most important kind of renewable and sustainable energy. In Turkey, most of the important water power plants have been developed; hence, only a modest increase in the hydroelectric generating capability can be anticipated in the next two decades. Turkey has a gross annual hydro potential of 433,000 GWh, which is almost 1% of world total potential. Its share is about 16% of the total hydropower capacity in Europe. The total gross electricity production of Turkey has reached about 140,283 GWh in 2003, 75% of this is produced from thermal sources and the reminder 25% from hydropower. The main objective in doing the present study is to investigate the sustainable development of Turkey's small hydropower (SHP) plants. Development of SHP began in 1902 in Turkey. Total installed projects capacity of SHP plant is 2.45% and the total energy potential is about 2.96%, which have installed capacity less than 10 MW.     

Municipal water supply dams as a source of small hydropower in Turkey

In Turkey the laws published in recent years succeeded in promoting the utilization of renewable energy for electricity generation. After the publication of Renewable Energy Law on 18 May 2005 in Turkey there occurred a boost in renewable energy projects along with hydropower development. Thus, the economically feasible hydropower potential of Turkey increased 15% and the construction of hydropower plants also increased by a factor of four in 2007 as compared to 2006. From this perspective, this paper was aimed to evaluate the small hydropower potential of municipal water supply dams of Turkey and discussed the current situation of SHP plants in terms of the government policy. It is estimated that the installing small hydropower plants to exiting 45 municipal water supply dams in Turkey will generate 173 GWh/year electric energy without effecting the natural environment. For a case study, Zonguldak Ulutan Dam and its water treatment plant has been investigated in detail.     

Pre-feasibility study of wind power generation in holyrood, newfoundland

The largest commercial thermal generating plant in Newfoundland is in Holyrood, Conception Bay. It has a generating capacity of 500 MW of electricity. During peak generation (winter months), the plant runs at near capacity with generation reaching as high as 500 MW. In addition to thermal generation about 900 MW is supplied to the grid by a number of hydro plants. This paper presents a pre-feasibility study of 25% of thermal power generation using wind turbines in the Holyrood area. Purpose of supplementing power generation from the thermal plant is to reduce emissions and fuel costs. Simulation results indicate that 16 Enercon's E-66, 2 MW wind turbines if installed near the site will provide a 25% renewable fraction. Supplementing 25% of the generation at Holyrood with wind power will reduce the cost of energy by CA$0.013/kWh. It will also reduce carbon emissions by almost 200,000 tons/year. This study indicates that a wind farm project at the Holyrood thermal generation station site is feasible.     

Security of supply,energy spillage control and peaking options within a 100% renewable electricity system for New Zealand

In this paper, issues of security of supply, energy spillage control, and peaking options, within a fully renewable electricity system, are addressed. We show that a generation mix comprising 49% hydro, 23% wind, 13% geothermal, 14% pumped hydro energy storage peaking plant, and 1% biomass-fuelled generation on an installed capacity basis, was capable of ensuring security of supply over an historic 6-year period, which included the driest hydrological year on record in New Zealand since 1931. Hydro spillage was minimised, or eliminated, by curtailing a proportion of geothermal generation. Wind spillage was substantially reduced by utilising surplus generation for peaking purposes, resulting in up to 99.8% utilisation of wind energy. Peaking requirements were satisfied using 1550 MW of pumped hydro energy storage generation, with a capacity factor of 0.76% and an upper reservoir storage equivalent to 8% of existing hydro storage capacity. It is proposed that alternative peaking options, including biomass-fuelled gas turbines and demand-side measures, should be considered. As a transitional policy, the use of fossil-gas–fuelled gas turbines for peaking would result in a 99.8% renewable system on an energy basis. Further research into whether a market-based system is capable of delivering such a renewable electricity system is suggested.     

Contribution of renewable energy sources to electricity production in the La Rioja Autonomous Community,Spain. A review

The implementation of the emissions market should imbue renewable energies with a greater degree of competitiveness regarding conventional generation. In order to comply with the Kyoto protocol, utilities are going to begin to factor in the cost of CO₂ (environmental costs) in their overall generating costs, whereby there will be an increase in the marginal prices of the electricity pool.This article reviews the progress made in the La Rioja Autonomous Community (LRAC) in terms of the introduction of renewable energy technologies since 1996, where renewable energy represents approximately only 10% of the final energy consumption of the LRAC. Nonetheless, the expected exploitation of renewable energies and the recent implementation of a combined cycle facility mean that the electricity scenario in La Rioja will undergo spectacular change over the coming years: we examine the possibility of meeting a target of practical electrical self-sufficiency by 2010.In 2004, power consumption amounted to 1494 GWh, with an installed power of 1029.0 MW of electricity. By 2010, the Arrúbal combined cycle facility will produce around 9600 GWh/year, thereby providing a power generation output in La Rioja of close to 2044.7 MW, which will involve almost doubling the present output, and multiplying by 8.9 that recorded in this Autonomous Community in 2001.     

Assessment of the renewable energies potential for intensive electricity production in the province of Jaén,southern Spain

The foreseen depletion of the traditional fossil fuels for the forthcoming decades is forcing us to seek for new sustainable and non-pollutant energy sources. Renewable energies rely on a decentralized scheme strongly dependent on the local resources availability. In this work, we tackle the study of the renewable energies potential for an intensive electricity production in the province of Jaén (southern Spain) which has a pronounced unbalance between its inner electricity production and consumption. The potential of biomass from olive pruning residues, solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power has been analyzed using Geographical Information System tools, and a proposal for a massive implementation of renewable energies has been arisen. In particular, we propose the installation of 5 biomass facilities, totaling 98 MW of power capacity, with an estimated annual production of 763 GWh, 12 PV facilities, totaling 420 MW of power capacity, with an estimated annual production of 656 GWh and 506 MW of wind power capacity in a number of wind farms, with an estimated annual production of 825 GWh. Overall, this production frame would meet roughly a 75% of the electricity demands in the province and thus would mitigate the current unbalance.     

Optimizing biogas plants with excess power unit and storage capacity in electricity and control reserve markets

Increasing shares of intermittent power sources such as solar and wind will require biomass fueled generation more variable to respond to the increasing volatility of supply and demand. Furthermore, renewable energy sources will need to provide ancillary services. Biogas plants with excess generator capacity and gas storages can adapt the unit commitment to the demand and the market prices, respectively. This work presents a method of day-ahead unit commitment of biogas plants with excess generator capacity and gas storage participating in short-term electricity and control reserve markets. A biogas plant with 0.6 MW annual average electric output is examined in a case study under German market conditions. For this biogas plant different sizes of the power units and the gas storage are compared in consideration of costs and benefits of installing excess capacity. For optimal decisions depending on prices, a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) approach is presented.The results show that earnings of biogas plants in electricity markets are increased by additional supplying control reserve. Furthermore, increasing the installed capacity from 0.6 MW to 1 MW (factor 1.7) leads to the best cost–benefit-ratio in consideration of additional costs of excess capacity and additional market revenues. However, the result of the cost–benefit-analysis of installing excess capacity is still negative. Considering the EEG flexibility premium, introduced in 2012 in the German renewable energy sources act, the result of the cost–benefit-analysis is positive. The highest profit is achieved with an increase of the installed capacity from 0.6 MW to 2 MW (factor 3.3).     

Integration of optimal combinations of renewable energy sources into the energy supply of Wang-An Island

This is a case study of Wang-An Island's energy demands and potential renewable energy sources (RESs). Optimal integration of RESs was simulated using the EnergyPLAN model. The RES evaluation indicated an annual production potential of 458.1 GWh, which substantially surpassed local energy requirements of 22.3 GWh. The potential of yearly electricity generation from RESs of 299.7 GWh apparently outnumbers local electricity demand of 6.4 GWh as well, indicating that 100% renewable electricity would be achievable if surplus electricity can be stored and then reused during an electricity deficit. Electricity production from fully exploited RESs is able to supply only 5.8 GWh of electricity mainly caused by mismatches in times of electricity demand and production. The integrated optimization can supply 3.7 GWh of electricity. A deficit of 2.68 GWh can be compensated for through electricity storage or biomass energy. Although the total amount of generated renewable electricity during the whole year cannot yet satisfy the total amount of yearly demand, electricity storage can help to satisfy most of the electricity needs for the year.     

Prospects and challenges of using hydropower for electricity generation in Lebanon

In a region characterized by low water resources, Lebanon stands as an exceptional country in the Middle East. Several waterways present ample opportunity for utilization of hydropower. Before the civil war, several projects were undertaken to generate electricity through hydropower. A total installed capacity of 283 MW has aided Lebanon in supplementing its need of electricity from local renewable sources, thus reducing the overall bill of imported energy. The available hydropower generation constitutes currently 4–7% of the electricity generation depending on rainfall, with future plans expected to install another 205 MW of capacity. This use is in competition with water diversion for irrigation. Four different scenarios were analyzed to indicate the share of hydropower in the total production of electricity, with and without future irrigation and power projects, indicating that, by 2020, hydropower's share of electricity generation will vary between a maximum of 6.9% and a minimum of 1.2% depending on government plans regarding water use. Current value of potential energy available when water from the Litani river is used for hydropower is estimated to be around 20 cents per m³. Water uses planned should take this value into account.     

Optimizing 100%‐renewable grids through shifting residential water‐heater load

A low‐carbon electricity supply for Australia was simulated, and the installed capacity of the electrical grid was optimized by shifting the electricity demand of residential electric water heaters (EWHs). The load‐shifting potential of Australia was estimated for each hour of the simulation period using a nationwide aggregate EWH load model on a 90 × 110 raster grid. The electricity demand of water heaters was shifted from periods of low renewable resource and high demand to periods of high renewable resource and low demand, enabling us to effectively reduce the installed capacity requirements of a 100%‐renewable electricity grid. It was found that by shifting the EWH load by just 1 hour, the electricity demand of Australia could be met using purely renewable electricity at an installed capacity of 145 GW with a capacity factor of 30%, an electricity spillage of 20%, and a generation cost of 15.2 ¢/kWh. A breakdown of the primary energy sources used in our scenario is as follows: 43% wind, 29% concentrated solar thermal power, and 20% utility photovoltaic. Sensitivity analysis suggested that further reduction in installed capacity is possible by increasing the load‐shifting duration as well as the volume and insulation level of the EWH tank.     

Solar electricity in a changing environment: The case of Spain

In Spain, solar electricity (photovoltaic and thermoelectric) has reached a stable annual capacity factor above 20% since 2009; while wind achieved 23% since more than 10 years ago. This is the demonstration of an ongoing transition towards a more sustainable energy mix, further corroborated by the reduction of the capacity factor of gas-fired technology, which has seen a decline to values lower than 10% after an initial promising rise; this is a very low value for a fossil-fuel technology. Additionally, hydro installed capacity, which has been stable for the past 20 years, have demonstrated that can be used as a back-up power source in combination with solar and wind electricity, and it is capable of producing energy peaks that may increase from a stable base of 2000 GWh/month up to 6000 GWh/month and therefore meet demand at some particular times when solar and wind are generating less electricity without the need of installing new additional capacity at national level.     

Renewable energy sources in the Egyptian electricity market: A review

This review paper presents an appraisal of renewable energy RE options in Egypt. An appraisal review of different REs is presented. The study shows that electric energy produced from REs in Egypt are very poor compared with other energy sources. The utilization of the renewable energies can also be a good opportunity to fight the desertification and dryness in Egypt which is about 60% of Egypt territory. The rapid growth of energy production and consumption is strongly affecting and being affected by the Egyptian economy in many aspects. It is evident that energy will continue to play an important role in the development of Egypt's economy in coming years. The total installed electricity generating capacity had reached around 22025 MW with a generating capacity reached 22605 MW at the end of 2007. Hydropower and coal has no significant potential increase. During the period 1981/82-2004/05 electricity generation has increased by 500% from nearly 22 TWh for the year 1981/1982 to 108.4 TWh in the year 2004/2005 at an average annual growth rate of 6.9%. Consequently, oil and gas consumed by the electricity sector has jumped during the same period from around 3.7 MTOE to nearly 21 MTOE. The planned installed capacity for the year 2011/2012 is 28813 MW and the required fuel (oil and gas) for the electricity sector is estimated to reach about 29 MTOE by the same year. The renewable energy strategy targets to supply 3% of the electricity production from renewable resources by the year 2010. Electrical Coverage Electrical energy has been provided for around 99.3% of Egypt's population, representing a positive sign for the welfare of the Egyptian citizen due to electricity relation to all development components in all walks of life. The article discusses perspectives of wind energy in Egypt with projections to generate ∼ 3.5 GWe by 2022, representing ∼9% of the total installed power at that time (40.2 GW). Total renewables (hydro + wind + solar) are expected to provide ∼7.4 GWe by 2022 representing ∼ 19% of the total installed power. Such a share would reduce dependence on depleting oil and gas resources, and hence improve country's sustainable development.     

Review of small hydropower in the new Member States and Candidate Countries in the context of the enlarged European Union

This article gives a general picture of the small hydropower (SHP) sector in the European Union's new Member States (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia—EU-10) and those wishing to join (Candidate Countries—CC)—Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey). The differences and similarities of the SHP sectors mainly related to the technical aspects, on one hand—the former EU-15, on the other hand—EU-10 and CC are revealed in particular (except legal, regulatory, environmental and other issues).SHP technical aspects expressed by quantitative estimates are briefly discussed here, namely: SHP potential; plants in operation and contribution to the gross and renewable electricity generation mix; manufacturing industry and support mechanism; SHP development environmental issues; forecast of SHP installed capacity and electricity generation. SHP legal, regulatory framework, economic and main barriers to the SHP promotion, which are crucial for sector development are also briefly considered in this article.The approach of this study was mainly focused on a questionnaire distributed to key SHP experts in each country. It addresses SHP, i.e. hydropower plants of installed capacity less than 10 MW. In most investigated countries this SHP capacity limit is officially approved. The indicated capacity is lower in Hungary and Poland—5 MW, in Latvia—2 MW and Estonia—1 MW.For more than 100 years SHP has been harnessed in most of the surveyed countries, with the exceptions of Malta and Cyprus. The leading countries are the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Slovakia. The biggest share of SHP economically feasible potential has been exploited in the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia and Bulgaria (between 40% and 60%). A very small part of this potential has been harnessed in Turkey (only 3%). The remaining economically feasible potential amounts to some 26 TWh/year in the surveyed countries.There are approximately 3200 plants installed in these countries, corresponding to a capacity of about 1430 MW of SHP. Conversely, a much larger number of SHP plants are installed in the EU-15 (some 14 000 with the total capacity of 10 000 MW). The average size of a SHP plant is about 0.44 MW (0.70 MW in EU-15). In almost all analyzed countries hydropower is a dominant source of energy in renewable electricity production. SHP is the second largest (after large hydro) contributor. The Czech Republic and Slovenia are the main countries with highest levels of turbine manufacturing industry. In some surveyed countries some opposition to SHP, mainly related to fish protection, visual impacts, enlargement of protected areas, has been identified.The current technical state of the SHP sector in the surveyed countries in terms of generating capacities and contribution to total electricity generation is relatively low by comparing with that of the former EU-15. Despite the fact that in the EU-10 and CC so far has been exploited just about 30% and 6% of economically feasible potential, they will never achieve the strength in terms of generating capacities of the SHP sector of the former EU-15 (more than 82% developed so far). The CC may slightly bridge this gap by harnessing their untapped SHP potential (especially in Turkey).A brief profile of SHP sector of the surveyed countries is provided at the end of the paper.     

Forecast study of the supply curve of solar and wind technologies in Argentina,Brazil, Chile and Mexico

This paper forecasts the supply curve of non-conventional renewable technologies such as wind and solar generating stations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico using technological and economic parameters. It also estimates the additional investment costs in solar and wind generation for reaching the renewable energy target in each of these countries. To assess the power supply profile from 1 axis tracking PV and horizontal axis wind turbine (three blade) stations, two different scenarios are developed for 2014 and 2025. Scenario 1 estimates the PV and wind annual electricity yield by using polycrystalline silicon (cSi poly) as semiconductor material for PV cells and a Vestas 90–3.0 MW turbine for the wind for 2014.Scenario 2 assumes a more efficient technology, such as CPV. In fact, the model employs 45% efficiency triple junction cells using ∼3500 m2 for each 1 MW installed capacity in 2025. Moreover, this scenario also assumes a more powerful type of turbine, i.e. Vestas 112–3.075 MW. The biggest potential for wind power is found to be in Argentina, followed by Brazil, Mexico and Chile. In addition, a 550 MW installed capacity CPV power station, using triple junction cells could generate up to 4 TWh in Chile in 2025.     

Hydropower Systems and Hydropower Potential in the European Union Countries

Hydropower is today the most important kind of renewable and sustainable energy. Resources of hydropower are widely spread around the world. Hydro energy is the most reliable and cost effective renewable energy source. It is obvious that among all the renewable energies, hydropower occupies the place in the world, and it will keep this place for many years to come. Hydroelectric energy is responsible worldwide for some 2600 TWh of electricity output per year, which means about 20% of the world's entire electricity demand, making it one of the most reliable and cost effective renewable energy sources. In 2001, the largest hydropower generating countries were Canada (333.0 TWh), the United States (201.2 TWh) and Norway (120.4 TWh). Hydroelectric power consumption in the EU grew by nearly 27% between 1991 and 2001. In 2001, hydro accounted for approximately 5% of total EU power consumption. France is the EU's largest producer of hydroelectricity. In 2001, generation capacity of hydropower was about 25,000 MW in France.     

A 100% renewable electricity generation system for New Zealand utilising hydro,wind, geothermal and biomass resources

The New Zealand electricity generation system is dominated by hydro generation at approximately 60% of installed capacity between 2005 and 2007, augmented with approximately 32% fossil-fuelled generation, plus minor contributions from geothermal, wind and biomass resources. In order to explore the potential for a 100% renewable electricity generation system with substantially increased levels of wind penetration, fossil-fuelled electricity production was removed from an historic 3-year data set, and replaced by modelled electricity production from wind, geothermal and additional peaking options. Generation mixes comprising 53–60% hydro, 22–25% wind, 12–14% geothermal, 1% biomass and 0–12% additional peaking generation were found to be feasible on an energy and power basis, whilst maintaining net hydro storage. Wind capacity credits ranged from 47% to 105% depending upon the incorporation of demand management, and the manner of operation of the hydro system. Wind spillage was minimised, however, a degree of residual spillage was considered to be an inevitable part of incorporating non-dispatchable generation into a stand-alone grid system. Load shifting was shown to have considerable advantages over installation of new peaking plant. Application of the approach applied in this research to countries with different energy resource mixes is discussed, and options for further research are outlined.     

Electricty generation from woody biomass fuels compared with other renewable energy options

The future New Zealand biomass resource from exotic plantation forest arisings could supply 970 GWh/year by the year 2002. Associated wood processing residues could supply 280 GWh/year. Purpose grown fuelwood plantations could supply 2060 GWh/year with potential to rise to 10,000 GWh/year by 2012.Currently the annual electricity demand is around 30,000 GWh 70% of which is generated by hydro power. Natural gas, a resource with estimated reserves of only approximately 14 years currently supplies 25% of generating capacity. This paper describes how part replacement of gas by biomass could be a feasible proposition for the future.Life cycle cost analyses showed electricity could be generated from arisings for (US)4.8–6 c/kWh; from residues for (US)2.4–4.8 c/kWh; and from plantations for (US)4.8–7.2 c/kWh. For comparison the current retail electricity price is around (US)4–5.5 c/kWh and estimates for wind power generation range from (US)5–10 c/kWh. Future hydropower schemes will generate power between (US)4–9 c/kWh depending on site suitability.     

Hydropower–water and renewable energy in Turkey: Sources and policy

Turkey's energy consumption has been growing much faster than its production. It forces Turkey to make a rapid action to supply energy demand. From the viewpoint of primary energy sources (petroleum and natural gas), Turkey is not a rich country, but it has an abundant hydropower potential to be used for generation of electricity. Hydropower is the most important kind of renewable, sustainable energy and a proven technology for electricity generation. The aim of this paper is to discuss sources and policy of hydropower, water and renewable energy in Turkey and compares the hydropower application with Europe.     

Wind energy development policy and prospects in Lithuania

According to the EU Directive 2001/77/EC 7% of all electricity production is to be generated from renewable energy sources (RES) in Lithuania in 2010. Electricity production from RES is determined by hydro, biomass and wind energy resources in Lithuania. Further development of hydro power plants is limited by environmental restrictions, therefore priority is given to wind energy development. The aim of this paper is to show estimation of the maximum wind power penetration in the Lithuanian electricity system using such criteria as wind potential, possibilities of the existing electricity network, possible environmental impact, and social and economical aspects. Generalization of data from the meteorological stations and special measurements shows that the highest average wind speed in Lithuanian territory is in the coastal region and at 50 m above ground level reaches 6.4 m/s. In regard to wind resource distribution in this region, arrangement of electricity grid and environment protection requirements, six zones have been determined for wind power plant construction. Calculations have shown that the largest total installed capacity of wind farms, which could cause no significant increase in power transmission expenses, is 170 MW. The threshold, which cannot be passed without capital reconstruction of electricity network, is 500 MW of total capacity of wind farms.