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Energy crisis in Brazil: Impact of hydropower reservoir level on the river flow

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  • Hunt, Julian David
  • Nascimento, Andreas
  • Caten, Carla Schwengber ten
  • Tomé, Fernanda Munari Caputo
  • Schneider, Paulo Smith
  • Thomazoni, André Luis Ribeiro
  • Castro, Nivalde José de
  • Brandão, Roberto
  • Freitas, Marcos Aurélio Vasconcelos de
  • Martini, José Sidnei Colombo
  • Ramos, Dorel Soares
  • Senne, Rodrigo

Abstract

Water management strategies can have considerable impacts on the regional climate and hydrology. It is usually the case that the construction and operation of hydropower reduce the river flow downstream due to the increase in evaporation. However, this paper shows that in humid regions, such as in Brazil, the hydropower storage reservoirs contribute to increase the flow of the river. This observation has been tested with historical reservoir levels and river flow data from several dams in Brazil. It was found that the operation of reservoirs in Brazil has a considerable impact on its river flows. The higher the storage level at the beginning of the humid period, the higher the river flow during the wet period. The paper proposes strategies to allow the reservoirs to fill up and to maintain the reservoirs filled in the future, with the intention of increasing hydropower generation and reducing the intermittency of other renewable energy sources.

Suggested Citation

  • Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Caten, Carla Schwengber ten & Tomé, Fernanda Munari Caputo & Schneider, Paulo Smith & Thomazoni, André Luis Ribeiro & Castro, Nivalde José de & Brandão, Robe, 2022. "Energy crisis in Brazil: Impact of hydropower reservoir level on the river flow," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:239:y:2022:i:pa:s0360544221021757
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121927
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    Cited by:

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    3. Hunt, Julian David & Nascimento, Andreas & Zakeri, Behnam & Barbosa, Paulo Sérgio Franco & Costalonga, Leandro, 2022. "Seawater air-conditioning and ammonia district cooling: A solution for warm coastal regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
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    5. Fouz, D.M. & Carballo, R. & López, I. & Iglesias, G., 2022. "A holistic methodology for hydrokinetic energy site selection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    6. Santos, Igor Renan Braga dos & Tiago Filho, Geraldo Lúcio & Vasconcellos, Bruna Tayla Cabral de & Souza Júnior, Oswaldo Honorato & Santos, Ivan Felipe Silva dos, 2022. "Energy and economic study of the increased energy production of cascaded hydroelectric plants due to the heightening of the upstream reservoir: A case study in Cipó-Rio das Antas dam," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 228-245.
    7. Vasiliki Vrana & Dimitrios Kydros & Iordanis Kotzaivazoglou & Ioanna Pechlivanaki, 2023. "EU Citizens’ Twitter Discussions of the 2022–23 Energy Crisis: A Content and Sentiment Analysis on the Verge of a Daunting Winter," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Hunt, Julian David & Jurasz, Jakub & Zakeri, Behnam & Nascimento, Andreas & Cross, Samuel & Caten, Carla Schwengber ten & de Jesus Pacheco, Diego Augusto & Pongpairoj, Pharima & Filho, Walter Leal & T, 2022. "Electric Truck Hydropower, a flexible solution to hydropower in mountainous regions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 248(C).

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