Enhancing the resiliency of small hydropower projects: environmental function, modularity, and stakeholder elicitation as design priorities

Conference · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784480595.039· OSTI ID:1361318

Witt, Adam M ^[1]; Smith, Brennan T ^[1]

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1. ORNL

Small hydropower plants supply reliable renewable energy to the grid, though few new plants have been developed in the Unites States over the past few decades due to complex environmental challenges and poor project economics. This paper describes the current landscape of small hydropower development, and introduces a new approach to facility design that co-optimizes the extraction of hydroelectric power from a stream with other important environmental functions such as fish, sediment, and recreational passage. The approach considers hydropower facilities as an integrated system of standardized interlocking modules, designed to sustain stream functions, generate power, and interface with the streambed. It is hypothesized that this modular eco-design approach, when guided by input from the broader small hydropower stakeholder community, can lead to cost savings across the facility, reduced licensing and approval timelines, and ultimately, to enhanced resiliency through improved environmental performance over the lifetime of the project.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1361318
• Resource Relation: Conference: World Environmental and Water Resources Congress, Sacramento, CA, USA, 20170521, 20170521
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English