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oa Determination of the Ecological Hydropower Potential of Ukrainian Rivers
- Publisher: European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers
- Source: Conference Proceedings, 17th International Conference Monitoring of Geological Processes and Ecological Condition of the Environment, Nov 2023, Volume 2023, p.1 - 5
Abstract
The development of small hydropower, taking into account environmental norms and regulations, can be one of the most promising energy resources. In order to achieve the goals of sustainable development and environmental requirements for the preservation of rivers, it is important to establish and take into account the ecological hydropower potential (EHP). The EHP is a component of the general hydropower potential (GHP) and is determined taking into account the presence of environmental protection facilities and excluding the upper reaches of rivers from the calculation of this potential. The management of this type of potential is dictated primarily by the preservation of river water bodies and their compliance with the requirements of the EU Water Framework Directive. For the rivers of Ukraine, the EHP was assessed using the sectional method. The overall calculation involved 1824 rivers, where 4630 homogeneous sections were identified, and the GHP was calculated.It was found that the largest number of nature reserve areas is located within the Dnipro River basin - 1367, and the smallest - in the Danube basin - 31. The results of the assessment of the EHP of the river basins of Ukraine revealed that environmentally justified losses of hydropower resources range from 2730 to 238615 kW (22–92%), i.e., the GHP can be reduced by such percentages. In general, for the rivers of Ukraine, the total value of the reasonable EHP is 64.12% of their GHP.
