Hydropower plant adaptation strategies for climate change impacts on hydrological regime

This study addresses the problem of the adaptation of hydropower plants to the future climate. A water resources optimization method was used to determine the optimum operating policy for the Manicouagan water system, Quebec, Canada, for the future hydrological regime and to establish hydropower adaptation strategies. The adaptation of the operating policy showed an increase in hydropower generation, an increase in unproductive spills, and a decrease in hydropower plant efficiency as consequences of the inflow increase, especially in winter and spring. Structural adaptation strategies, which consisted of either hydropower plant expansion or refurbishment, were analyzed. The plant expansion strategy was completely unsuccessful because the increase in inflow year-round in the future climate was too low to economically justify the installation of additional turbine-generator units. The refurbishment strategy was found to be a feasible structural adaptation measure for the Manicouagan system, under certain favorable economic and hydropower plant conditions.