Optimal Reservoir Operation for Hydropower Generation using Non-linear Programming Model

Hydropower generation is one of the vital components of reservoir operation, especially for a large multi-purpose reservoir. Deriving optimal operational rules for such a large multi-purpose reservoir serving various purposes like irrigation, hydropower and flood control are complex, because of the large dimension of the problem and the complexity is more if the hydropower production is not an incidental. Thus optimizing the operations of a reservoir serving various purposes requires a systematic study. In the present study such a large multi-purpose reservoir, namely, Koyna reservoir operations are optimized for maximizing the hydropower production subject to the condition of satisfying the irrigation demands using a non-linear programming model. The hydropower production from the reservoir is analysed for three different dependable inflow conditions, representing wet, normal and dry years. For each dependable inflow conditions, various scenarios have been analyzed based on the constraints on the releases and the results are compared. The annual power production, combined monthly power production from all the powerhouses, end of month storage levels, evaporation losses and surplus are discussed. From different scenarios, it is observed that more hydropower can be generated for various dependable inflow conditions, if the restrictions on releases are slightly relaxed. The study shows that Koyna dam is having potential to generate more hydropower. © 2012, The Institution of Engineers (India).