Estimated capital costs of fish exclusion technologies for hydropower facilities

Matson, Paul G.; Stewart, Kevin M.; Oladosu, Gbadebo A.; Marzan, Emrat Nur; DeNeale, Scott T.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119800

Title: Estimated capital costs of fish exclusion technologies for hydropower facilities

Journal Article · Sun Dec 10 00:00:00 EST 2023 · Journal of Environmental Management

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.119800· OSTI ID:2283880

^[1];

^[1]; Marzan, Emrat Nur ^[2];

^[1]

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Natel Energy, Inc., Almeda, CA (United States)

Hydropower is a reliable source of renewable energy, and its future expansion is likely to be in the form of either smaller new stream development (NSD) projects or powering existing non-powered dams. Thresholds for entrainment risk to fish and the requirements for fish exclusion at hydropower facilities often differ depending on the species involved, the characteristics of the facility, and the goals of stakeholders, but little quantitative information is present within the literature regarding the specific costs of fish exclusion measures. Cost data associated with protection, mitigation, and enhancement (PM&E) measures related to positive barrier screening were identified using keyword searches of an existing environmental mitigation cost data set and manual extraction from regulatory licensing documents available in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) eLibrary. This approach yielded a total of 50 p.m.&E mitigation measures with estimated capital construction costs pertaining to positive barrier screens and represented <10% of the 171 total FERC project dockets available in the data set. These data were highly skewed toward conventional relicensing projects, as <7% were associated with NSD projects. Results indicate highly variable costs are associated with fish screening, with flow-normalized costs one to two orders of magnitude higher for screening with the highest exclusion capability (≤0.09 in. spacing) compared with coarser screening (1–2 in.). These data provide an initial baseline for estimating exclusion costs for hydropower development and may help developers consider options for more fish-friendly generation technologies, though gaps remain relating to a lack of data, particularly for NSD projects.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Renewable Power Office. Water Power Technologies Office

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; FOA-0001836

OSTI ID:: 2283880

Journal Information:: Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 351; ISSN 0301-4797

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (31)

A fish-eye view of riverine hydropower systems: the current understanding of the biological response to turbine passage Pracheil, Brenda M.; DeRolph, C. R.; Schramm, M. P. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, Vol. 26, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-015-9416-8	journal	January 2016
Evaluating Cost Trade-Offs between Hydropower and Fish Passage Mitigation Venus, Terese E.; Smialek, Nicole; Pander, Joachim Sustainability, Vol. 12, Issue 20 https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208520	journal	October 2020
Juvenile Alewife Passage through a Compact Hydropower Turbine Designed for Fish Safety Watson, Sterling M.; Schneider, Abraham D.; Gardner, Lynette C. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, Vol. 43, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/nafm.10866	journal	March 2023
Welcome to the Tidyverse Wickham, Hadley; Averick, Mara; Bryan, Jennifer Journal of Open Source Software, Vol. 4, Issue 43 https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.01686	journal	November 2019
The Status of Environmentally Enhanced Hydropower Turbines Hogan, Timothy W.; Cada, Glenn F.; Amaral, Stephen V. Fisheries, Vol. 39, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2014.897195	journal	April 2014
Factors influencing public perceptions of hydropower projects: A systematic literature review Mayeda, A. M.; Boyd, A. D. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 121 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.109713	journal	April 2020
Evaluation of external fish injury caused by hydropower plants based on a novel field-based protocol Mueller, M.; Pander, J.; Geist, J. Fisheries Management and Ecology, Vol. 24, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1111/fme.12229	journal	May 2017
Improving survival: injury and mortality of fish struck by blades with slanted, blunt leading edges Amaral, Stephen V.; Watson, Sterling M.; Schneider, Abraham D. Journal of Ecohydraulics, Vol. 5, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1080/24705357.2020.1768166	journal	June 2020
Hydropower development potential at non-powered dams: Data needs and research gaps Hansen, Carly; Musa, Mirko; Sasthav, Colin Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 145 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111058	journal	July 2021
Downstream fish passage at small-scale hydropower plants: Turbine or bypass? Knott, Josef; Mueller, Melanie; Pander, Joachim Frontiers in Environmental Science, Vol. 11 https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1168473	journal	March 2023
Can behavioral fish-guidance devices protect juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) from entrainment into unscreened water-diversion pipes? Mussen, Timothy D.; Patton, Oliver; Cocherell, Dennis Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Vol. 71, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2013-0601	journal	August 2014
Costs of mitigating the environmental impacts of hydropower projects in the United States Oladosu, Gbadebo A.; Werble, Joseph; Tingen, William Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 135 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110121	journal	January 2021
Evaluating a light-louver system for behavioural guidance of age-0 white sturgeon Ford, M. I.; Elvidge, C. K.; Baker, D. River Research and Applications, Vol. 33, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.3186	journal	July 2017
Experimental evaluation of louver guidance efficiency for green sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris) Steel, Anna E.; Nguyen, Trinh; Cocherell, Dennis E. River Research and Applications, Vol. 38, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.4032	journal	July 2022
Experimental comparison of fish mortality and injuries at innovative and conventional small hydropower plants Mueller, Melanie; Knott, Josef; Pander, Joachim Journal of Applied Ecology, Vol. 59, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.14236	journal	June 2022
Non-physical barriers to deter fish movements Noatch, Matthew R.; Suski, Cory D. Environmental Reviews, Vol. 20, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1139/a2012-001	journal	March 2012
Assessing demographic effects of dams on diadromous fish: a case study for Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River, Maine Nieland, Julie L.; Sheehan, Timothy F.; Saunders, Rory ICES Journal of Marine Science, Vol. 72, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv083	journal	May 2015
Predicting environmental mitigation requirements for hydropower projects through the integration of biophysical and socio-political geographies DeRolph, Christopher R.; Schramm, Michael P.; Bevelhimer, Mark S. Science of The Total Environment, Vol. 566-567 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.099	journal	October 2016
The impact of an Archimedes screw hydropower turbine on fish migration in a lowland river Piper, Adam T.; Rosewarne, Paula J.; Wright, Rosalind M. Ecological Engineering, Vol. 118 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.04.009	journal	August 2018
Movement through Dams Facilitates Population Connectivity in a Large River: FISH MOVEMENT THROUGH DAMS Pracheil, B. M.; Mestl, G. E.; Pegg, M. A. River Research and Applications, Vol. 31, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/rra.2751	journal	April 2014
A synthesis of environmental and recreational mitigation requirements at hydropower projects in the United States Schramm, Michael P.; Bevelhimer, Mark S.; DeRolph, Chris R. Environmental Science & Policy, Vol. 61 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2016.03.019	journal	July 2016
Response of seaward-migrating European eel (Anguilla anguilla) to an infrasound deterrent Piper, Adam T.; White, Paul R.; Wright, Rosalind M. Ecological Engineering, Vol. 127 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2018.12.001	journal	February 2019
Environmentally Enhanced Turbines for Hydropower Plants: Current Technology and Future Perspective Quaranta, Emanuele; Pérez-Díaz, Juan I.; Romero–Gomez, Pedro Frontiers in Energy Research, Vol. 9 https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2021.703106	journal	October 2021
Balancing fish-energy-cost tradeoffs through strategic basin-wide dam management Song, Cuihong; O'Malley, Andrew; Zydlewski, Joseph Resources, Conservation and Recycling, Vol. 161 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104990	journal	October 2020
Environmental design of low-head run-of-river hydropower in the United States: A review of facility design models Sasthav, Colin; Oladosu, Gbadebo Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 160 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112312	journal	May 2022
What are the relative risks of mortality and injury for fish during downstream passage at hydroelectric dams in temperate regions? A systematic review Algera, Dirk A.; Rytwinski, Trina; Taylor, Jessica J. Environmental Evidence, Vol. 9, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1186/s13750-020-0184-0	journal	January 2020
U.S. Hydropower Market Report Uria-Martinez, Rocio; Johnson, Megan M.; Shan, Rui https://doi.org/10.2172/1764637	report	January 2021
Bigger than expected: Species- and size-specific passage of fish through hydropower screens Knott, Josef; Mueller, Melanie; Pander, Joachim Ecological Engineering, Vol. 188 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoleng.2022.106883	journal	March 2023
Influence of project characteristics, regulatory pathways, and environmental complexity on hydropower licensing timelines in the US Pracheil, Brenda M.; Levine, Aaron L.; Curtis, Taylor L. Energy Policy, Vol. 162 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112801	journal	March 2022
Editorial: Green or red: Challenges for fish and freshwater biodiversity conservation related to hydropower Geist, Juergen Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, Vol. 31, Issue 7 https://doi.org/10.1002/aqc.3597	journal	June 2021
Safe passage of American Eels through a novel hydropower turbine Watson, Sterling; Schneider, Abraham; Santen, Leon Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, Vol. 151, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/tafs.10385	journal	November 2022

Similar Records

Cost of Fish Exclusion and Passage Technologies for Hydropower

Technical Report · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · OSTI ID:2283880

Matson, Paul G.; Stewart, Kevin M.; Oladosu, Gbadebo A.; +2 more

An Assessment of Hydropower Environmental Mitigation Costs

Technical Report · Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · OSTI ID:2283880

Oladosu, Gbadebo A.; Werble, Joseph M.; Tingen, William J.; +3 more

Cost of Fish Exclusion Technologies for Hydropower

Dataset · Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2023 · OSTI ID:2283880

Matson, Paul; Stewart, Kevin; Oladosu, Gbadebo; +2 more

Related Subjects

13 HYDRO ENERGY
Hydropower
Fish
Exclusion
Screen
Mitigation
Cost

Title: Estimated capital costs of fish exclusion technologies for hydropower facilities

Citation Formats

References (31)

Similar Records

Related Subjects