Small Hydroelectric Energy and Spatial Planning: A Methodology Introducing the Concept of Territorial Carrying Capacity

Efthymios Moutsiakis and Athena Yiannakou ()
Additional contact information
Efthymios Moutsiakis: Faculty of Engineering, School of Spatial Planning and Development, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Athena Yiannakou: Faculty of Engineering, School of Spatial Planning and Development, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: The promotion of renewable energy sources (RESs) is a key European and national policy aimed at strengthening clean energy production, decoupling from fossil fuels, and responding to climate change commitments. Spatial planning is crucial as it can spatially direct the demand for investments in RESs, taking into account the challenges related to more efficient coexistence of RESs and environmental assets, both natural and manmade. Specific objectives, such as the definition of the carrying capacity concept, take on considerable importance in ensuring the balance between the demand for RESs and a number of other priorities. Small hydroelectric power stations (SHPSs), being spatially dependent on the existence of the natural resource (water), incorporate specific impacts in the areas of installation; namely, the watercourses. Taking into consideration the concept of carrying capacity for the areas where SHPSs are proposed to be installed by the Greek Special Spatial Planning Framework for RESs, which is limited to a linear/watercourse approach, this paper proposes a new complementary approach, that of “territorial” carrying capacity. The former involves the negotiation of terms and conditions for siting an SHPS within the narrow range of a water body (watercourse), while the latter, as proposed in this paper, attempts to capture the problem at the level of the wider territory or the functional area of a catchment, an approach that places carrying capacity in a more strategic spatial planning context.

Keywords: small hydroelectric power stations; spatial planning; territorial carrying capacity; watercourse; catchment; Special Spatial Planning Framework; Greece (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5165/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5165/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5165-:d:1097297

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().