during the period from January 2003 to December 2017. The warming
of the Caspian Sea
corresponds to global warming. According to NOAA, the five warmest years on the Earth
(relatively the
1951-1980 mean
)
have all taken place since 2010. The decisive role of
evaporation in CSL increase and drop during the periods 1979-1995 and 1996-2015,
respectively, was demonstrated by Chen et al. (2017).
Acknowledgements
The research was supported by Russian Science Foundation Project N 14-50-00095.
References
Chen, J. L., T. Pekker, C. R., Wilson, B. D., Tapley, A. G., Kostianoy, J.-F., Cretaux, and E. S., Safarov,
(2017), Long-term Caspian Sea Level Change, Geophysical Research Letters, 44,
doi:10.1002/2017GL073958.
Kostianoy, A. G., A. I. Ginzburg, S. A. Lebedev, and N. A. Sheremet (2014). The Southern seas of Russia. In
Kattsov, V. M. & S. M. Semenov (eds), Second Assessment Report of Roshydromet on Climate
Change and its Consequences on territory of Russian Federation (in Russian), p. 644-683,
Institute of Global Climate and Ecology, Moscow.
Schwatke, C., Dettmering, D., Bosch, W., and Seitz, F. (2015). DAHITI - an innovative approach for
estimating water level time series over inland waters using multi-mission satellite altimetry:
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 4345-4364, doi:10.5194/hess-19-4345-2015.
73
THE HYDROPOWER POTENTIAL ASSESSMENT: EVALUATION OF RUNOFF RIVER RESOURCE
POTENTIAL OF AZERBAIJAN
Imanov
1
, F.A., Ismayilov
1
R.A. & Ahmedova
2
B.V.
1
"Azersu" Open Joint Stock Company, Water Channel Scientific-Research and Design Institute,
farda_imanov@mail.ru
rashail.ismayilov@gmail.com
2
Ministry of Education Republic of Azerbaijan,
’
Republican Center for Development Child and Youth.
b.v.axmedova@gmail.com
Keywords: hydropower potential, theoretical hydropower potential, technical hydropower potential,
economical hydropower
potential
Introduction
Hydropower is a key source for renewable electricity generation and has an important potential to be
marketed as green power. The energy of flowing water is harnessed by turbines, which are placed in the path of
the water flow. It can be converted in the form of electricity through hydroelectric power plants. Hydroelectric
plants are classified commonly by their hydraulic characteristics, that is, with
respect to the water flowing
through the turbines that run the generators (Landy, M., 2016 ).
The notion “hydropower potential” is utilized to evaluate the potential energy what a water stock
presents. There are in use several definitions for the hydropower potential:
The theoretical potential, with three levels:
The exploitable hydropower potential, with two levels:
• technical potential
• economical potential
Hydropower’s theoretical potential includes the total potential energy from all water resources within
specified spatial boundaries without any physical, technical and economic usage limitations. In practice, only a
small percentage of theoretical potential can be harvested (Modi, S. &
Lallement D., 2009).
Hydropower’s technical potential is defined as the total energy that can be generated under the
technical, infrastructural and ecological constraints. Usually, technical potential ranges from 20 to 35 percent of
theoretical potential. Hydropower’s economic potential is defined as the energy capacity that is economically
exploitable relative to alternative energy forms.
Materials and methods
The power potential of flowing water is a function of the discharge (Q), the specific weight of water and
the difference in head (H) between intake point and turbine. In Equation (1), the
two parameters, Q and H, need
to be calculated. If Q and H are known for a given segment of a stream, the hydropower potential can easily be
estimated for that segment (Bahadori A. et al. 2013).
The geometric or statistical pressure is equal to the difference between the upper ΔYB and the lower AB
level:
H
0
= ΔYB-AB (1)
74
The water discharge Q is used to generate electricity in the m
3
/sec. The power is measured in N - units
of work divided by time. The power measured in W(Watt).
P=ρgQH=γQH=9810QH (2)
Where, ρ-the density of water, g-acceleration
of gravity, m
2
/san
P = 9.81QH
Potential hydroenergy resources (theoretical reserves) are determined by the following formula:
∑
∈
=
n
i
i
i
H
Q
E
81
.
9
8760
Where, E is energy, in kWh; Q is average annual water consumption, m
3
/ s; H is the fall of the river in according
section, m.
Result
55 small hydroelectric power stations were built on the small rivers of Azerbaijan in the 30s-40s of the
last century. However, after the launch of the Mingachevir hydro power station in 1953, these small HPPs were
essentially lost and their operation was discontinued (Imanov F.A., 2007; Rustamov S.G. &
Kashkay R.M. 1989 ).
At present, it is planned to construct new small HPPs in several rivers to effectively use alternative energy
sources.
This assessment uses hydrological data from 68 observation stations on the 42 rivers of Greater
Caucasus
region of Azerbaijan, from 62 stations on the 34 rivers of the Lesser Caucasus region, 26 stations on
the 12 rivers of the Nakhchivan and data from 39 stations on 28 rivers of in the Lankaran province. In general,
hydrological observation data of 195 observation stations on 116 rivers of Azerbaijan were used. The results of
the calculations are shown in Table 1 for a few river examples.
Table 1. The hydropower potential of small rivers of Azerbaijan
№
River
Station
River
basin
area,
km
2
Rive’s
lengt,
km
Power
of the
river
kWt
Special
power,
mln kWt
hour/km
2
Energy
of the
river,
mln kWt
hour
Special
energy,
mln kWt
hour/km
2
Special
power,
kWt/km
1
Gusarchay
Guzun
250
34
85
340
745
2.98
2500
2
Gudyalchay
Kupchal
517
47
134.6
260
1179
2.28
2864
3
Balakenchay
Balaken
146
20
58.6
401
513
3.52
2930
4
Katexchay
Qebizdere
236
22
185.3
785
1623
6.88
8423
5
Qoshqarchay
Dashkesen
798
15
4.4
5.51
39
0.05
293
6
Gencechay
Zurnabad
314
36
62.6
199
548
1.75
1739
7
Kurekchay
Dozular
439
39
55.5
126
486
1.11
1423
8
Naxcıvanchay Bichenek
94
17
24.5
261
215
2.28
1441
9
Paragachay
Paragachay
16.3
7
4.4
270
39
2.36
629
10
Lenkaran
Lenkaran
1040
69
203.1
195
1779
1.71
2943
75