IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v36y2011i11p2940-2950.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Methodology for the large-scale assessment of small hydroelectric potential: Application to the Province of New Brunswick (Canada)

Author

Listed:
  • Cyr, Jean-François
  • Landry, Mathieu
  • Gagnon, Yves

Abstract

The mapping of the small hydropower (SHP) resource over a given territory is indispensable to identify suitable sites for the development of SHP renewable energy projects. In this study, a straightforward method to map the SHP potential over a large territory is presented. The methodology uses a synthetic hydro network (SHN) created from digital elevation models (DEM) to ensure precise hydro head estimations. From the SHN, hydro heads are calculated by subtracting the minimum from the maximum elevation of synthetic stream segments. Subsequently, stream segments with low hydro heads over a specified maximum distance are removed. Finally, the method uses regional regression models to estimate the annual baseflow for all drainage areas in the study area. The technical SHP potential can then be estimated as a function of the hydro head and maximum penstock length. An application of the method is made to the province of New Brunswick, Canada, where SHP maps have been developed to promote the development of the SHP energy sector in the province. In terms of the SHP opportunity, it is shown that the province of New Brunswick (71,450km2) has a good SHP resource. Using a representative hydro head (10m) and penstock length (3000m) for the region, 696 potential sites have been identified over the territory. Results show that the technical SHP potential for New Brunswick is 368MW for the conventional hydroelectric reservoir SHP configuration, while for the run-of-river SHP configuration, the technical SHP potential is 58MW.

Suggested Citation

  • Cyr, Jean-François & Landry, Mathieu & Gagnon, Yves, 2011. "Methodology for the large-scale assessment of small hydroelectric potential: Application to the Province of New Brunswick (Canada)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2940-2950.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:11:p:2940-2950
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2011.04.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148111001753
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2011.04.003?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. S. Mishra & Vijay Singh & J. Sansalone & V. Aravamuthan, 2003. "A Modified SCS-CN Method: Characterization and Testing," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 17(1), pages 37-68, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Marianna Rotilio & Chiara Marchionni & Pierluigi De Berardinis, 2017. "The Small-Scale Hydropower Plants in Sites of Environmental Value: An Italian Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Bracken, L.J. & Bulkeley, H.A. & Maynard, C.M., 2014. "Micro-hydro power in the UK: The role of communities in an emerging energy resource," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 92-101.
    3. Alexandros Korkovelos & Dimitrios Mentis & Shahid Hussain Siyal & Christopher Arderne & Holger Rogner & Morgan Bazilian & Mark Howells & Hylke Beck & Ad De Roo, 2018. "A Geospatial Assessment of Small-Scale Hydropower Potential in Sub-Saharan Africa," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-21, November.
    4. Anita Kwartnik-Pruc & Aneta Mączyńska, 2022. "Assessing Validity of Employing Surveying Methods to Capture Data on Topography to Determine Hydrological and Topographic Parameters Essential for Selecting Locations for the Construction of Small Hyd," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-41, February.
    5. Palomino Cuya, Daly Grace & Brandimarte, Luigia & Popescu, Ioana & Alterach, Julio & Peviani, Maximo, 2013. "A GIS-based assessment of maximum potential hydropower production in La Plata basin under global changes," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 103-114.
    6. Vincenzo Sammartano & Lorena Liuzzo & Gabriele Freni, 2019. "Identification of Potential Locations for Run-of-River Hydropower Plants Using a GIS-Based Procedure," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-20, September.
    7. Li, Mingxu & He, Nianpeng, 2022. "Carbon intensity of global existing and future hydropower reservoirs," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    8. Ioannidou, Christina & O’Hanley, Jesse R., 2018. "Eco-friendly location of small hydropower," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 264(3), pages 907-918.
    9. de Souza, Zulcy & Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lúcio & Barros, Regina Mambeli & Silva dos Santos, Ivan Felipe & da Silva, Fernando das Graças Braga & Prado Leite, Marcelo Daige & Prudente, Érica Patricia, 2017. "The limit of sequential exploitation of a river’s hydraulic potential," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 272-285.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nayara P. V. Andrade & Marcelo R. Viola & Samuel Beskow & Tamara L. Caldeira & Li Guo & Carlos R. Mello, 2020. "Assessment of Spatial and Temporal Soil Water Storage Using a Distributed Hydrological Model," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 34(15), pages 5031-5046, December.
    2. Zandra A. Cunha & Carlos R. Mello & Samuel Beskow & Marcelle M. Vargas & Jorge A. Guzman & Maíra M. Moura, 2023. "A Modeling Approach for Analyzing the Hydrological Impacts of the Agribusiness Land-Use Scenarios in an Amazon Basin," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-20, July.
    3. J. Patil & A. Sarangi & O. Singh & A. Singh & T. Ahmad, 2008. "Development of a GIS Interface for Estimation of Runoff from Watersheds," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 22(9), pages 1221-1239, September.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:36:y:2011:i:11:p:2940-2950. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.