Retention basin with Golesti SHPP downstream dam for mitigating hydropeaking and producing green electricity

Abstract

Hydropeaking is due to the intermittent operation of peak hydropower plants and leads to various and complex problems downstream. A solution to solve part of them is to provide the development scheme with a retention basin downstream the hydropower plant (HPP). The water used intermittently during the day / week to produce electricity at peak load, which leads to sudden variation of flows into the riverbed will be regulated in this reservoir. Irrespective of the program that the HPP has during the day, the retention basin gathers the water and evacuates it downstream as much as possible constantly during the day or, at least, attenuates the sudden variation, increase or decrease, of levels downstream. Thus, the maximum flows evacuated by the HPP can be dramatically reduced as well as the flow fluctuations and the river levels accordingly. If the flow downstream the retention basin is almost constant during the day and it is released through a small hydropower plant, the positive effect of this reservoir on hydropeaking is combined with the production of green electricity. The subject of this paper is to roughly analyse the possibility to build a retention basin downstream Golesti HPP by means of weir and contour dams, if the case may be, and to release the water constantly or with smooth fluctuations, via one or two turbines, a small hydropower plant, producing green electricity without further harming the riverbed and the ecosystem downstream the weir.