Decisions that make a hydropower project successful

Abstract

Hydropower design is an interdisciplinary task which needs both the understanding of natural mechanisms and technical expertise. The initial investment in a hydropower plant is reasonably high. Once the project is complete, the options of modification are relatively poor – consequently a set of decisions has to be managed very carefully and with high responsibility. It makes complete sense to invest some time and money in detailed analysis, particularly of the natural mechanism, which is always a unique task. Engineering has to act with nature and not against it. Unfortunately, hydrological data, including bed load transport, are in many projects the weak point. Significant efforts have to be made to close this gap and to design hydropower plants that can run smoothly for hundreds of years.