Increased hydropower production, more sustainable flood control, effective management of multiple reservoirs – these are some of the significant benefits which the hydropower industry are now achieving by integrating DHI technology in operations.
DHI has focussed development of a number of our software products in order to offer valuable tools for the hydropower industry. Significant economic benefits have been reported by e.g. using the tailored DHI technology for real-time optimisation and control of hydropower reservoir operations. In specific projects (see below) in Peru, China and Vietnam, accurate hydrological and hydraulic forecast models are combined with efficient optimisation tools within a real-time decision support system to improve hydropower operations.
DHI Technologies
DHI has established operational flow forecasting systems in numerous sites around the globe over the last 25 years. Right from the start the aim has been to provide accurate and reliable forecasts based on advanced numerical hydrological and hydraulic simulation models.
The combination of accurate reservoir inflow forecasting and efficient optimisation has the potential to significantly improve the economy of hydropower production. Reliable forecasts of the reservoir inflow combined with optimisation can be used to reduce the reservoir flood control storage, minimising spill and loss of water for hydropower production. Optimisation can also be used to reallocate water for power production during periods with higher prices, thereby optimising the economic value of the water in the reservoir.
DHI’s technology has been applied to operation and control of both single reservoirs and multiple reservoir systems. The technology can be used for both planning purposes for deriving optimal operation rule curves and for real-time operation, including short-term (up to a few days) and long-term (up to several years) optimisation. The optimisation and control system is established within a decision support system for real-time operation and on-line data management.
DHI’s portfolio of products dedicated to hydropower optimisation include tools that integrate water modelling with powerful optimisation methods
- MIKE BASIN simulation and forecasting model with built-in optimisation tools
- MIKE 11 Structures Operation module combined with a generic optimisation tool
and a decision support framework for their application in real-time
- MIKE FLOOD WATCH for real-time operation and management
In contrast to most optimisation tools, DHI’s technologies are highly flexible and allow the user to freely define the control variables and objectives to be optimised. Robust and efficient state-of-the-art numerical optimisation routines are included, which can be used for both single objective and multiple objectives (Pareto) optimisation. The optimisation tools make use of distributed computing facilities based on grid technology allowing the computational burden to be distributed across a network of PCs and facilitating the optimisation of large, complex systems in real-time.
Solutions
DHI provides tailored hydropower solutions for:
- Optimising hydroelectric generation while maintaining flood control
- Maximising hydropower production under operational, environmental and legislative constraints
- Deriving optimal reservoir operation rule curves
- Effective operation of multiple reservoirs
- Optimising both short-term and long-term operations
Benefits
DHI’s technology solutions can:
- Minimise the spill and loss of water for hydropower production
- Maximise the economic value of the water
- Provide a set of optimal solutions for hydropower operators that trade-offs short-term and long-term benefits
Benefit-based pricing
DHI’s implementations of reservoir optimisation and control have all demonstrated a substantial economic benefit with significant additional revenue to the hydropower producer. However, the benefit may vary, depending on the actual system and the associated regulatory constraints for optimisation of the hydropower revenue.
DHI offers a favourable benefit-based pricing through the use of a no-cure-no-pay principle.
Application examples
ElectroPeru 
With the aim of optimising reservoir operations on both the short-term and long-term a Decision Support System using hydrological modelling and flow forecasting has been established for the Mantaro basin in the Peruvian High Andes. MIKE FLOOD WATCH is linked to the new SCADA system for real-time data acquisition. MIKE BASIN is used for simulation and forecasting in the river basin and optimisation of reservoir operations on short and long-term basis for hydropower optimisation. The project is carried out in collaboration with Telvent and Lahmeyer Agua y Energia
Hoa Binh , Vietnam
More recently, MIKE 11 has been applied to optimisation of the operation of the Hoa Binh reservoir in Vietnam. Optimisation tools were applied to derive optimal rule curves that could provide a significant increase in hydropower production without sacrificing downstream flood protection. A real-time optimisation and control system taking advantage of reservoir inflow forecasts was subsequently tested and found to further increase the hydropower potential.
Three Gorges Dam, China
The Three Gorges Dam in China is operated for both flood control and hydroelectric power. When fully operational it will be the largest dam in the world. An inflow forecasting and control system for the Three Gorges Dam was established by DHI in 2005. The system provides decision support for operation of the almost 100 different structures in or near the dam. The MIKE 11 model provides input to the operation of the turbines and controls the spillways in accordance with the selected mode of operation.
