How Standard Modular Hydropower Can Enhance the Environmental, Economic, and Social Benefits of New Small Hydropower Development (PPT)

摘要

The recent Hydropower Vision Report identified development of next generation hydropower technologies as a critical action area for the hydropower industry. These technologies must not only enhance the performance capabilities of existing equipment, they must minimize environmental disturbance across a diverse spectrum of river ecosystems while maintaining low installed costs that are competitive with other generation resources. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is leading a multi-year R&D effort for the Department of Energy (DOE) to determine how standardization, modularity, and preservation of stream functionality can become essential and fully realized features of next generation hydropower technologies and project designs. This research effort, termed Standard Modular Hydropower (SMH), is focused on advanced facility designs with scalable and standardized families of modular turbines and modular civil structures that pass water, fish, sediment, and small recreational craft. This paper describes the current status of SHP development in the U.S., and offers a vision for Standard Modular hydropower based on three focus areas of SMH research: 1. A framework for classifying potential SMH sites; 2. Establishing exemplary design criteria for SMH facilities ; 3. Leveraging small hydropower stakeholder perspectives to guide and improve SMH research. Concluding thoughts outline how SMH can enhance the environmental, economic, and social benefits of new small hydropower development.