Konferensartikel

Within the EC-funded research project HYLOW - Hydropower converters for very low head differences a floating energy converter - a so called Free Stream Energy Converter (FSEC) - for the energetic utilisation of currents with slow flow velocities (< 2.0 m/s) has been developed and will be optimized until 2012. In order to estimate the hydropower potential in case of deployment of the FSEC; a potential analysis exemplarily for the northern part of the river Ems; at the border between Netherlands and Germany; was performed. Here; the environmentally compatible hydropower potential has a special importance. As expected; this potential is much lower than the theoretical hydropower potential. In addition to the efficiency of the energy converter; also the required water depth; existing protection areas and other uses are the main reason for the difference between the mentioned potentials in this investigation area.

Estuary River Ems; Environmentally compatible hydropower potential; Flow velocity

[1] Mueller G. and Senior J. (2007): The hydrostatic pressure machine with free surface – a novel energy converter for very low head differences. In: Zehntes Internationales Anwenderforum Kleinwasserkraftwerke 2007; Regensburg

[2] Landy; M. (2008): A methodology to quantify the environmentally compatible potentials of selected renewable energy technologies. ETC/ACC Technical Paper 2008/16; Harwell.

[3] BAW - Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (2004). Technical Report; Mathematical Model UnTRIM; Validation Document; Version June 2004 (1.0); http://www.baw.de/vip/abteilungen/wbk/Methoden/hnm/untrim/PDF/vd-untrim-2004.pdf.

[4] Hydrodynamic data for the river Ems: results of the “Mathematical Model UnTRIM”; Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute