How Will Hydroelectric Power Generation Develop under Climate Change Scenarios?

Koch, Franziska; Prasch, Monika; Bach, Heike; Mauser, Wolfram; Appel, Florian und Weber, Markus (Oktober 2011): How Will Hydroelectric Power Generation Develop under Climate Change Scenarios? A Case Study in the Upper Danube Basin. In: Energies, Bd. 4, Nr. 10: S. 1508-1541

Abstract

Climate change has a large impact on water resources and thus on hydropower. Hydroelectric power generation is closely linked to the regional hydrological situation of a watershed and reacts sensitively to changes in water quantity and seasonality. The development of hydroelectric power generation in the Upper Danube basin was modelled for two future decades, namely 2021-2030 and 2051-2060, using a special hydropower module coupled with the physically-based hydrological model PROMET. To cover a possible range of uncertainties, 16 climate scenarios were taken as meteorological drivers which were defined from different ensemble outputs of a stochastic climate generator, based on the IPCC-SRES-A1B emission scenario and four regional climate trends. Depending on the trends, the results show a slight to severe decline in hydroelectric power generation. Whilst the mean summer values indicate a decrease, the mean winter values display an increase. To show past and future regional differences within the Upper Danube basin, three hydropower plants at individual locations were selected. Inter-annual differences originate predominately from unequal contributions of the runoff compartments rain, snow-and ice-melt.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Publikationsform: Publisher's Version
• Keywords: climate change; PROMET; hydroelectric power generation; runoff components; GLOWA-Danube; Upper Danube basin
• Fakultät: Geowissenschaften > Department für Geographie > Geographie und geographische Fernerkundung
• Themengebiete: 500 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik > 550 Geowissenschaften, Geologie
• ISSN: 1996-1073
• Ort: POSTFACH, CH-4005 BASEL, SWITZERLAND
• Sprache: Englisch