Model to Optimize Large Hydrothermal System Operation Considering Water and Environment Sustainability

One of the biggest environmental challenges facing humanity today is electrical energy production. In many nations energy production is based on environmentally problematic sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear power. In some water resources rich countries the power generation matrix largely is based on water, a clean and renewable source of energy. However, opposition to the construction of new hydropower plants is increasing due to its negative environmental impacts. This kind of position needs to be reevaluated due to new technologies that can be used to plan and operate hydrothermal systems and meet environment constraints. This paper presents an optimization model for planning operation of large hydrothermal systems. The main objective is to maximize hydropower production and consequently minimize thermo generation using fossil fuels and unclear power. Moreover, the model considers environmental constraints and multiple uses of water in reservoirs located in the critical basins where conflicts exist among competing users. Another important characteristic is the possibility to consider the stochasticity of flow (energy) affluence. We apply the model to the Brazilian integrated hydrothermal system, one of the largest such systems in the world. The system is dominated by hydropower production. Preliminary results show that the proposed methodology is efficient in treating the technical challenges involved in the operation of hydrothermal systems considering water and environment sustainability.