Estimation of the hydropower potential of irrigation networks

Over the last decade, the increase in the costs of non-renewable energy sources and a growing environmental awareness have led research institutions and companies to show more interest in renewable energy, and that derived from hydraulic sources has been undergoing a resurgence of interest, especially concerning Small Hydropower Plants. In this context, it could be interesting to consider the role of irrigation networks and set up methodologies to estimate the hydropower potential of canal systems as a preliminary analysis to guide feasibility analysis. This work reviews different methodologies for the computation of the hydropower potential and presents a method that can be used to analyze irrigation networks in order to establish their hydropower production potential. The proposed methodology is simple and it allows: i) an irrigation network to be characterized and networks with higher hydropower potential to be identified, ii) the actual combination between irrigation and hydroelectric usage to be quantified and iii) hydropower development scenarios to be drawn up. The presented methodology can be considered a preliminary analysis tool, although detailed site-specific studies are necessary for feasibility analysis. In order to show an application example, the methodology has here been applied to the Piedmont Region irrigation system, considering data obtained from computerized databases. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd.