Conventional Hydroelectricity and Near-zero Emission Energy Systems
Abstract
The electricity system is changing rapidly, with growing contributions by renewable resources like wind and solar. One important implication is that traditional methods of matching electricity supply to demand—a central task for any electricity system—are expected to become more challenging for near-zero emission energy systems that rely on nondispatchable generation assets like wind and solar. Accordingly, there is an increasing need for highly flexible, dispatchable resources to complement intermittent generators. Reservoir-based hydroelectricity is widely viewed as a promising resource for this challenge. Hydroelectricity is flexible, with the ability to increase production at the requisite range of near-instantaneous (e.g., when cloud cover reduces solar output) to seasonal (e.g., when short winter days reduce solar output) time scales. Further, dams and reservoirs largely already exist and have cost structures reflecting asset amortization; hydroelectricity does not produce combustion emissions (unlike flexible gas turbines); and hydroelectricity does not require a net input of electricity (unlike flexible battery storage). Unlike most other power generation, however, conventional hydroelectricity is generally produced in settings where energy generation is not the top priority. Hydroelectricity production is heavily constrained by safety, water storage and provisioning, navigation, environmental flows, recreation, and other needs served by the multipurpose dam and reservoir system. This work addresses some of the most important constraints to hydroelectricity generation and describes how future grid and climate conditions might interface with hydroelectricity operations. Conventional hydroelectricity is likely an important part of a near-zero emission energy system, but energy systems analysts will need to account for other infrastructural priorities.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMGC23E..01G
- Keywords:
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- 1610 Atmosphere;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1631 Land/atmosphere interactions;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1635 Oceans;
- GLOBAL CHANGE;
- 1878 Water/energy interactions;
- HYDROLOGY