IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v328y2025ics0360544225021681.html

Quantitative analysis and operation strategies for daily-regulation hydropower plants impacted by upstream plant

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Junhao
  • Wang, Yimin
  • Wang, Xuebin
  • Guo, Aijun
  • Chang, Jianxia
  • Niu, Chen
  • Li, Zhehao
  • Wang, Liyuan
  • Ren, Chengqing

Abstract

Hydropower has rapidly developed as a clean, efficient peaking power source, yet upstream hydropower operations significantly affect downstream inflows, especially for daily-regulated plants with limited reservoir capacity. This necessitates adjustments in their operational strategies. To address this, a research framework is proposed to quantify the impact of upstream operations on daily-regulated plants and develop suitable strategies. Firstly, a flow routing model has been established that is capable of simulating both dynamic wave and diffusion wave propagation in unsteady flow conditions along the river channel. Next, a two-stage short-term peak shaving model is developed that integrates the flow routing model with the peak-shaving operations of hydropower plants. The model incorporates an innovative dynamic control strategy for managing water levels at the start and end of the scheduling period. Finally, the Alpha shapes algorithm is employed to extract operational strategies for daily-regulated hydropower plants. The research conclusions are as follows: (1) New upstream plants can shorten flow routing times between existing cascades; (2) Coordinating peaking times reduces water level fluctuations and boosts downstream power generation; (3) Excessive discharge from upstream plants can limit downstream generation; (4) Tailored peak shaving strategies are essential to adapt downstream operations to upstream impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Junhao & Wang, Yimin & Wang, Xuebin & Guo, Aijun & Chang, Jianxia & Niu, Chen & Li, Zhehao & Wang, Liyuan & Ren, Chengqing, 2025. "Quantitative analysis and operation strategies for daily-regulation hydropower plants impacted by upstream plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 328(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:328:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225021681
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225021681
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.136526?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

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Li, Xudong & Yang, Weijia & Liao, Yiwen & Zhang, Shushu & Zheng, Yang & Zhao, Zhigao & Tang, Maojia & Cheng, Yongguang & Liu, Pan, 2024. "Short-term risk-management for hydro-wind-solar hybrid energy system considering hydropower part-load operating characteristics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    2. Zhao, Hongye & Liao, Shengli & Ma, Xiangyu & Fang, Zhou & Cheng, Chuntian & Zhang, Zheng, 2024. "Short-term peak-shaving scheduling of a hydropower-dominated hydro-wind-solar photovoltaic hybrid system considering a shared multienergy coupling transmission channel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    3. Jin, Xiaoyu & Liu, Benxi & Liao, Shengli & Cheng, Chuntian & Zhang, Yi & Jia, Zebin, 2024. "Assessing hydropower capability for accommodating variable renewable energy considering peak shaving of multiple power grids," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    4. Wu, Xinyu & Wu, Yiyang & Cheng, Xilong & Cheng, Chuntian & Li, Zehong & Wu, Yongqi, 2023. "A mixed-integer linear programming model for hydro unit commitment considering operation constraint priorities," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 507-520.
    5. Liao, Shengli & Liu, Zhanwei & Liu, Benxi & Cheng, Chuntian & Wu, Xinyu & Zhao, Zhipeng, 2021. "Daily peak shaving operation of cascade hydropower stations with sensitive hydraulic connections considering water delay time," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 970-981.
    6. Liu, Benxi & Liu, Tengyuan & Liao, Shengli & Wang, Haidong & Jin, Xiaoyu, 2023. "Short-term operation of cascade hydropower system sharing flexibility via high voltage direct current lines for multiple grids peak shaving," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 11-29.
    7. Luo, Xiaolin & Huang, Li & Sui, Xin, 2025. "Capacity optimization of existing reservoir hydropower expansion and its impact on power system flexibility," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PD).
    8. Simone Quaresma Brandão & Erik Eduardo Rego & Rafaela Veiga Pillar & Renata Nogueira Francisco de Carvalho, 2024. "Hydropower Enhancing the Future of Variable Renewable Energy Integration: A Regional Analysis of Capacity Availability in Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-13, July.
    9. Huang, Mengdi & Chang, Jianxia & Guo, Aijun & Zhao, Mingzhe & Ye, Xiangmin & Lei, Kaixuan & Peng, Zhiwen & Wang, Yimin, 2023. "Cascade hydropower stations optimal dispatch considering flexible margin in renewable energy power system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).
    10. Wang, Zhenni & Tan, Qiaofeng & Wen, Xin & Su, Huaying & Fang, Guohua & Wang, Hao, 2025. "Capacity optimization of retrofitting cascade hydropower plants with pumping stations for renewable energy integration: A case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PC).
    11. Wu, Xinyu & Yin, Shuai & Cheng, Chuntian & Wei, Xingchen, 2024. "Short term hydropower scheduling considering cumulative forecasting deviation of wind and photovoltaic power," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 376(PA).
    12. Wu, Yuqiang & Liao, Shengli & Liu, Benxi & Cheng, Chuntian & Zhao, Hongye & Fang, Zhou & Lu, Jia, 2024. "Short-term load distribution model for cascade giant hydropower stations with complex hydraulic and electrical connections," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    13. Chen, Zi & Guo, Wencheng, 2023. "Stability and dynamic response of two-stage hydropower stations cascaded by regulating reservoir," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 651-666.
    14. Yuan, Wenlin & Zhang, Shijie & Su, Chengguo & Wu, Yang & Yan, Denghua & Wu, Zening, 2022. "Optimal scheduling of cascade hydropower plants in a portfolio electricity market considering the dynamic water delay," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    15. Ju, Chang & Ding, Tao & Jia, Wenhao & Mu, Chenggang & Zhang, Hongji & Sun, Yuge, 2023. "Two-stage robust unit commitment with the cascade hydropower stations retrofitted with pump stations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    16. Li, He & Liu, Pan & Guo, Shenglian & Ming, Bo & Cheng, Lei & Yang, Zhikai, 2019. "Long-term complementary operation of a large-scale hydro-photovoltaic hybrid power plant using explicit stochastic optimization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 863-875.
    17. Ahmadianfar, Iman & Samadi-Koucheksaraee, Arvin & Razavi, Saman, 2023. "Design of optimal operating rule curves for hydropower multi-reservoir systems by an influential optimization method," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 508-521.
    18. Li, Yan & Ming, Bo & Huang, Qiang & Wang, Yimin & Liu, Pan & Guo, Pengcheng, 2022. "Identifying effective operating rules for large hydro–solar–wind hybrid systems based on an implicit stochastic optimization framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    19. Su, Chengguo & Wang, Peilin & Yuan, Wenlin & Wu, Yang & Jiang, Feng & Wu, Zening & Yan, Denghua, 2022. "Short-term optimal scheduling of cascade hydropower plants with reverse-regulating effects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 395-406.
    20. Lei, Kaixuan & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Xuebin & Guo, Aijun & Wang, Yimin & Ren, Chengqing, 2023. "Peak shaving and short-term economic operation of hydro-wind-PV hybrid system considering the uncertainty of wind and PV power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    21. Jiang, Zhiqiang & Ji, Changming & Qin, Hui & Feng, Zhongkai, 2018. "Multi-stage progressive optimality algorithm and its application in energy storage operation chart optimization of cascade reservoirs," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 309-323.
    22. Liao, Shengli & Liu, Huan & Liu, Zhanwei & Liu, Benxi & Li, Gang & Li, Shushan, 2021. "Medium-term peak shaving operation of cascade hydropower plants considering water delay time," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 406-417.
    23. Fang, Zhou & Liao, Shengli & Zhao, Hongye & Cheng, Chuntian & Liu, Benxi & Wang, Huan & Li, Shushan, 2024. "An MILP model based on a processing strategy of complex multisource constraints for the short-term peak shaving operation of large-scale cascaded hydropower plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    24. Zhang, Zhendong & Qin, Hui & Li, Jie & Liu, Yongqi & Yao, Liqiang & Wang, Yongqiang & Wang, Chao & Pei, Shaoqian & Li, Pusheng & Zhou, Jianzhong, 2021. "Operation rule extraction based on deep learning model with attention mechanism for wind-solar-hydro hybrid system under multiple uncertainties," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 92-106.
    25. Ming, Bo & Liu, Pan & Guo, Shenglian & Cheng, Lei & Zhang, Jingwen, 2019. "Hydropower reservoir reoperation to adapt to large-scale photovoltaic power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 268-279.
    26. Ding, Ziyu & Wen, Xin & Tan, Qiaofeng & Yang, Tiantian & Fang, Guohua & Lei, Xiaohui & Zhang, Yu & Wang, Hao, 2021. "A forecast-driven decision-making model for long-term operation of a hydro-wind-photovoltaic hybrid system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 291(C).
    27. Lei, Kaixuan & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Yimin & Guo, Aijun & Huang, Mengdi & Xu, Bo, 2022. "Cascade hydropower stations short-term operation for load distribution considering water level synchronous variation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 683-693.
    28. Jing, Zhiqiang & Wang, Yimin & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Xuebin & Zhou, Yong & Li, Liang & Tian, Yuyu, 2024. "Benefit compensation of hydropower-wind-photovoltaic complementary operation in the large clean energy base," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 354(PA).
    29. Liao, Shengli & Liu, Huan & Liu, Benxi & Liu, Tian & Li, Chonghao & Su, Huaying, 2023. "Solution framework for short-term cascade hydropower system optimization operations based on the load decomposition strategy," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    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. Zhang, Junhao & Wang, Yimin & Guo, Aijun & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Xuebin & Meng, Xuejiao & Niu, Chen & Li, Zhehao, 2026. "Comparative analysis of multi-mode operation for cascade hydropower plants and assessment of carbon reduction benefits," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PI).

    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. Wang, Jin & Zhao, Zhipeng & Zhou, Jinglin & Cheng, Chuntian & Su, Huaying, 2024. "Developing operating rules for a hydro–wind–solar hybrid system considering peak-shaving demands," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 360(C).
    2. Zhao, Hongye & Liao, Shengli & Liu, Benxi & Fang, Zhou & Wang, Huan & Cheng, Chuntian & Zhao, Jin, 2025. "Multiagent optimization for short-term generation scheduling in hydropower-dominated hydro-wind-solar supply systems with spatiotemporal coupling constraints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 382(C).
    3. Cheng, Qian & Liu, Pan & Feng, Maoyuan & Cheng, Lei & Ming, Bo & Xie, Kang & Yang, Zhikai & Zhang, Xiaojing & Zheng, Yalian & Ye, Hao, 2025. "Leveraging a deep learning model to improve mid- and long-term operations of hydro-wind-photovoltaic complementary systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 222(C).
    4. Jing, Zhiqiang & Wang, Yimin & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Xuebin & Guo, Aijun & Meng, Xuejiao, 2025. "Hydro-wind-PV-storage complementary operation based on a multivariate 3D power generation database considering comprehensive utilization tasks of cascade hydropower stations in the river basin," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    5. Cheng, Wenjie & Zhao, Zhipeng & Cheng, Chuntian & Yu, Zhihui & Gao, Ying, 2024. "Optimizing peak shaving operation in hydro-dominated hybrid power systems with limited distributional information on renewable energy uncertainty," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    6. Zhu, Feilin & Zhao, Lingqi & Liu, Weifeng & Zhu, Ou & Hou, Tiantian & Li, Jinshu & Guo, Xuning & Zhong, Ping-an, 2025. "A stochastic optimization framework for short-term peak shaving in hydro-wind-solar hybrid renewable energy systems under source-load dual uncertainties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 400(C).
    7. Zhang, Junhao & Guo, Aijun & Wang, Yimin & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Xuebin & Wang, Zhen & Tian, Yuyu & Jing, Zhiqiang & Peng, Zhiwen, 2024. "How to achieve optimal photovoltaic plant capacity in hydro-photovoltaic complementary systems: Fully coupling long-term and short-term operational modes of cascade hydropower plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    8. Lu, Yike & Guo, Aijun & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Yimin & Wang, Xuebin & Niu, Chen & Zhang, Shikai & Xie, Zhengyi & Wang, Jiayang, 2025. "Enhancing the economic benefits of cascade hydropower stations through integrated utilization of electricity and capacity benefits," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    9. Liu, Benxi & Hu, Zhenghe & Zhao, Zhipeng & Liao, Shengli & Cheng, Chuntian, 2026. "Peak shaving model for multiple receiving power grids with large-scale cascade diversion-type hydro plants via HVDC transmission lines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    10. Lu, Na & Wang, Guangyan & Su, Chengguo & Ren, Zaimin & Peng, Xiaoyue & Sui, Quan, 2024. "Medium- and long-term interval optimal scheduling of cascade hydropower-photovoltaic complementary systems considering multiple uncertainties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    11. Su, Chengguo & Li, Li & Zhang, Taiheng & Sui, Quan & Yang, Yunbo, 2025. "A real-time scheduling framework of cascade hydropower-photovoltaic power complementary systems based on model predictive control," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 392(C).
    12. Peng, Zhiwen & Guo, Aijun & Chang, Jianxia & Wang, Yimin & Wang, Xuebin & Zhang, Junhao, 2025. "Cluster-type open-loop pumped storage power stations with hydraulic connections exacerbate water level fluctuations of conventional hydropower stations and alter hydropower flexibility," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    13. Xiao, Yulong & Li, Chaoshun & Li, Shiqi & Zhu, Qiannan & Chang, Pengxia & Wu, Ting, 2025. "Bidding-clearing-scheduling coordinated optimization for cascade hydro-wind-photovoltaic alliances in electricity spot markets: A multi-stage framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    14. Cheng, Qian & Liu, Pan & Ming, Bo & Yang, Zhikai & Cheng, Lei & Liu, Zheyuan & Huang, Kangdi & Xu, Weifeng & Gong, Lanqiang, 2024. "Synchronizing short-, mid-, and long-term operations of hydro-wind-photovoltaic complementary systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    15. Zhang, Zhendong & Dai, Huichao & Wang, Yongqiang, 2025. "Long-medium-short term nested operation model of hydro-wind-solar hybrid power system considering flood control, power generation, ecology and navigation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    16. Zhao, Zhipeng & Deng, Zhihao & Jin, Xiaoyu & Jia, Zebin & Cao, Rui & Cheng, Chuntian, 2025. "Managing long-term operation of cascade hydropower plants under energy transition with physics-constrained long-short term memory networks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 393(C).
    17. Yang, Zhikai & Liu, Pan & Xia, Qian & Li, He & Cheng, Qian & Cheng, Lei, 2024. "Operating rules for hydro-photovoltaic systems: A variance-based sensitivity analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 372(C).
    18. Jiongwei, Cao & Xiang, Li & Jiahua, Wei & Huimin, Zuo & Dongqin, Yin & Juan, Bao & Jie, Gao, 2026. "Improving PV-wind power utilization by thermal, hydro and pumped storage considering local and cross-regional power demand," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    19. Li, He & Liu, Pan & Guo, Shenglian & Zuo, Qiting & Cheng, Lei & Tao, Jie & Huang, Kangdi & Yang, Zhikai & Han, Dongyang & Ming, Bo, 2022. "Integrating teleconnection factors into long-term complementary operating rules for hybrid power systems: A case study of Longyangxia hydro-photovoltaic plant in China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 517-534.
    20. Wang, Yanling & Wen, Xin & Su, Huaying & Qin, Jisen & Kong, Linghui, 2023. "Real-time dispatch of hydro-photovoltaic (PV) hybrid system based on dynamic load reserve capacity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 285(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:energy:v:328:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225021681. 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/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.