Operation of hydroelectric plants without storage volume due to optimization of the turbine flow

Abstract

Hydroelectric power plants in diversion scheme systems utilize the water flowing through the river, since they present the necessary facilities and infrastructures to channel and harness the water, without having in their initial conception any storage systems. This type of power stations are designed and automated to operate between certain limits of water head, working with “constant head”, using the heads available at any moment. The operating limits are determined by the “nominal flow” for which the power plant has been designed and the “minimal technical flow” which corresponds to the minimum value of the flow with which the plant can work, which depends on each type of turbine.  By means of the presented optimization algorithms we can take advantage of those periods of time with low levels of flow (low water levels) to utilize the channels in the power station as storage elements of flow under the technical minimum, making the power plant undergo sequential cycles of emptying/filling of channels, allowing for the energetic exploitation, that will be denoted as “optimal flow”.In this article, we intend to determine how we can adapt each type of turbine to the new optimization algorithms proposed, establishing the increments in production obtained for each type of turbine and the possibility of applying the “optimal flow" algorithms.