Estimation of the Hydropower Potential of an Overland Pipeline with limited Data Availability in Developing Countries

Abstract

This report presents a proposal for an estimation of the hydropower potential of a planned drinking water pipeline in Azerbaijan at limited data availability. For this purpose only data/information from the design report of a transmission line in Ganja, Azerbaijan, will be taken in order to design a reference-scenario, which is the basis to investigate the steady pressure conditions by numerical simulation in the transmission line. Subsequently, a suitable turbine is chosen and a critical reflection of the available data is conducted. The use of the hydropower gives the opportunity to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions in addition to the generation of electricity. To calculate the avoided emissions at the power plant site Azerbaijan, the methodology of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is used. The result shows that the transmission line is suitable for an energy recovering measure, nevertheless for a funded turbine selection and design more information, such as a flow dimensioning hydrograph, flow duration graph, dimensioning head must be available. The amount of avoided emissions is heavily dependent on the energy source to be substituted. Due to the fact that the in Azerbaijan prevailing energy source is gas, which has a low emission factor, the CO2 savings potential is relatively low there comparatively to brown coal. An estimation of the hydropower potential at limited data situation is possible and the implementation of the installation of turbines instead of the planned pressure breaker devices is technically and economically viable. An implementation of the project provides on the one hand a contribution to sustainable power supply of Azerbaijan, on the other hand, it also illustrates the intentions of the country to face the challenges of climate change.