Author(s): F. Popa; D. Florescu; B. Popa
Linked Author(s): Bogdan Popa
Keywords: No keywords
Abstract: In Romania, at the end of the communist era, the hydropower schemes were over dimensioned in terms of installed capacity, hence in hydraulic structures and equipment as well. Today, more than 100 small hydropower plants (hydropower plants with installed capacity less than or equal to 10 MW) must be refurbished until the end of 2016 in order to benefit from the E-RES support system. According to the existing regulations, the refurbished SHPPs receive 2 green certificates per MWh produced, which can be sold for more than 27 Euros each. This is the only chance for these plants to become profitable. The existing hydropower schemes must be analysed so as to determine whether they were adequately dimensioned and whether the river sector was fully developed. In order to use the existing assets as much as possible, to fully develop the partially developed river sectors and to correct the deliberate designing errors, new concepts must be applied for the refurbishment stage. The paper presents some of these concepts and case studies for illustration.
Year: 2016