Feasibility study of a hydropower project: Case study of Niksar HEPP, Turkey

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Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, Mühendislik Fakültesi, İnşaat Mühendisliği Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2010

Öğrenci: REYHAN MUTLU

Danışman: ELÇİN KENTEL ERDOĞAN

Özet:

Hydropower helps countries meet their energy needs in an economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable way while saving money and increasing energy security and self-reliance. Being one of the fastest developing countries, electricity demand of Turkey has been increasing and is expected to increase in the future. Untapped hydropower potential is among the prospective alternative resources to supply this demand. Developing a hydropower project requires a great deal of expertise in multiple disciplines. RETScreen software developed by CanmetENERGY helps the planners and decision makers to assess the feasibility of renewable energy projects at the pre-feasibility and feasibility stages. This study is an application of RETScreen to assess the feasibility of alternative formulations for Niksar HEPP, a small hydropower project which is under construction in Turkey. Three alternative formulations are generated and their economic performances are evaluated and compared. First, optimum design discharges are calculated and then economical analysis is conducted for various electricity export rates by RETScreen for all the alternatives. This study provides a detailed literature review on hydropower and its economical, social and environmental aspects, and shows how RETScreen can be used in assessing the economical feasibilities of the current formulation for Niksar HEPP and its alternative schemes.