Towards climate-adaptive development of small hydropower projects in Himalaya: A multi-model assessment in upper Beas basin

Shirsat, TS and Kulkarni, AV and Momblanch, A and Randhawa, SS and Holman, IP (2021) Towards climate-adaptive development of small hydropower projects in Himalaya: A multi-model assessment in upper Beas basin. In: Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 34 .

Preview	PDF jou_hyd_reg_stu_34_2021.pdf - Published Version Download (5MB) | Preview
	Archive (ZIP) ScienceDirect_files_30Mar2021_07-28-58.418.zip - Published Supplemental Material Download (594kB)

Abstract

Study Region: Allain catchment, a sub-basin of Beas basin, Western Himalaya. Study Focus: This study aims to assess future glacio-hydrological changes in a small basin and their impacts on the operation of two Small Hydropower Projects (SHP) with contrasting hydrological requirements. The Water Evaluation and Planning (WEAP) model is used to integrate cryosphere, hydrology and hydropower production modelling in the 21st century using climate changes projected by the ensembles of five global climate models under RCP 4.5 and 8.5. New Hydrological Insights for the Region: The total streamflow in the future is projected to have widespread uncertainty in the magnitude but shows noticeable changes in the seasonality. Of the two SHPs, the one utilizing high flows with low hydraulic head shows a power generation behaviour similar to streamflow projections. Its annual hydropower production is projected to change by 2 to 21 (RCP4.5) and -5 to 40 (RCP8.5) by the end of the century. The other plant that uses lesser flows but high head maintains its designed power production consistently throughout the century. The study indicates that the design of hydropower plants strongly influences their sensitivity to future climate and thus provides important insights into the climate-adaptive designs and planning of future hydropower projects in Himalaya. © 2021 The Authors

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies
Publisher:	Elsevier B.V.
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to the authors.
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change
Date Deposited:	30 Mar 2021 11:59
Last Modified:	31 Mar 2021 07:31
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/68505

Actions (login required)

View Item