Hydropower Plants Located at Grande River Basin in Brazil: Critical Analysis of Demands for Electric Energy versus Consumptive Uses of Water

The present paper presents a study case of improper dike rehabilitation and inefficient management of the water volume from two hydropower lakes, with dams built with local materials. In Romania, with its high hydrographic potential, this solution was adopted for construction of more than 600 hydropower plants, many of them now confronted with infiltration and erosion, and appeared into lateral sides of the dikes. The paper covers some theoretical and practical aspects referring to the functioning of hydropower lakes, establishing the cross-sections with problems in exploitation. Reduced water level produces less electric energy than initially estimated. The dam's construction was not correlated with the geomorphologic conditions and climatic parameters, being necessary supplementary measurements and data acquisition to calibrate the numerical model. There are mentioned some considerations referring at the mathematical model, based on new hypotheses of infiltration through sediments with different dimensions and characteristics. The flow through dikes is assumed non-permanent due to massive infiltration. Part of the numerical modeling, the obtained velocities of infiltration, and the streamlines are illustrated. The results of the tested solution prove its efficiency and allow illustrating and some other sections with possible risk in functioning. Some discussions, conclusions, and references are finally presented.

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Comparison of the water footprint of two hydropower plants in the Tocantins River Basin of Brazil

Journal of Cleaner Production ◽

10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.03.088 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 153 ◽

pp. 164-175 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Clívia Dias Coelho ◽

Demetrius David da Silva ◽

Gilberto Chohaku Sediyama ◽

Michel Castro Moreira ◽

Silvio Bueno Pereira ◽

...

Keyword(s):

River Basin ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Hydropower Plants ◽

Tocantins River

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The water footprint of electricity from hydropower

Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Discussions ◽

10.5194/hessd-8-8355-2011 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 8355-8372 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

M. M. Mekonnen ◽

A. Y. Hoekstra

Keyword(s):

Crop Production ◽

Water Footprint ◽

Environmental Flows ◽

Stream Water ◽

Electric Energy ◽

Blue Water ◽

Water Users ◽

Hydropower Plants ◽

Average Water ◽

Year 2000

Abstract. Hydropower accounts for about 16% of the world's electricity supply. It has been debated whether hydroelectric generation is merely an in-stream water user or whether it also consumes water. In this paper we provide scientific support for the argument that hydroelectric generation is in most cases a significant water consumer. The study assesses the blue water footprint of hydroelectricity – the water evaporated from manmade reservoirs to produce electric energy – for 35 selected sites. The aggregated blue water footprint of the selected hydropower plants is 90 Gm3 yr−1, which is equivalent to 10% of the blue water footprint of global crop production in the year 2000. The total blue water footprint of hydroelectric generation in the world must be considerably larger if one considers the fact that this study covers only 8% of the global installed hydroelectric capacity. Hydroelectric generation is thus a significant water consumer. The average water footprint of the selected hydropower plants is 68 m3 GJ−1. Great differences in water footprint among hydropower plants exist, due to differences in climate in the places where the plants are situated, but more importantly as a result of large differences in the area flooded per unit of installed hydroelectric capacity. We recommend that water footprint assessment is added as a component in evaluations of newly proposed hydropower plants as well as in the evaluation of existing hydroelectric dams, so that the consequences of the water footprint of hydroelectric generation on downstream environmental flows and other water users can be evaluated.

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Checklist of the fishes from Jamari River basin, in areas under influence of dams, Rondônia, Brazil

Biota Neotropica ◽

10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2019-0803 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Rianne Caroline de Oliveira ◽

Gabriel de Carvalho Deprá ◽

Cláudio Henrique Zawadzki ◽

João Carlos Barbosa da Silva ◽

Weferson Júnio da Graça

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

River Basin ◽

Hydroelectric Power Plant ◽

Hydroelectric Power ◽

Small Hydropower ◽

Hydropower Plants ◽

Madeira River ◽

Area Of Influence ◽

Taxonomic Groups ◽

Madeira River Basin

Abstract: The Madeira River is the most extensive tributary of the Amazon River and has the largest diversity of fishes in the world. On its right bank, the Madeira River receives the Jamari River, in which the first hydroelectric power plant (HPP) in State of Rondônia, Samuel HPP, was built. Besides this, other dams were built in the Jamari River and its tributaries, however, the available information in the scientific literature about the ichthyofaunistic diversity of this basin is rare. This work aims to provide an ichthyofaunistic inventory in a region of the Jamari river basin, in the State of Rondônia, where three small hydropower plants (SHPs) were implemented. The ichthyofauna was sampled in 16 expeditions between August 2015 and December 2018. Gill nets and seine nets were used with different meshes, as well as longlines and cast nets at different times of the day. Additionally, 81 INPA lots of species from the Samuel HPP area of influence were reanalyzed. Fish were identified according to the specialized literature, as well as in consultations with experts of various taxonomic groups. Voucher specimens of the species were cataloged and deposited in the ichthyological collection of the Núcleo de Pesquisas em Limnologia, Ictiologia e Aquicultura (Nupélia) of the Universidade Estadual de Maringá. A total of 230 species were recorded, of which 22 were putative new species, 117 were added to the Jamari River basin and 28 to the Madeira River basin. The continuation of the studies in this section of the Jamari river basin is fundamental for analysis of local impact due to the presence of dams. Moreover, the addition of putative new species to the Madeira River basin indicates gaps in the knowledge of Neotropical ichthyofauna.

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