In-stream turbines for rethinking hydropower development in the Amazon basin

Suyog Chaudhari, Erik Brown, Raul Quispe-Abad, Emilio Moran, Norbert Müller and Yadu Pokhrel ()
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Suyog Chaudhari: Michigan State University
Erik Brown: Michigan State University
Raul Quispe-Abad: Michigan State University
Emilio Moran: Michigan State University
Norbert Müller: Michigan State University
Yadu Pokhrel: Michigan State University

Nature Sustainability, 2021, vol. 4, issue 8, 680-687

Abstract: Abstract Given growing energy demands and continued interest in hydropower development, it is important that we rethink hydropower to avoid detrimental socioenvironmental consequences of large dams planned in regions such as the Amazon River basin. Here, we show that ~63% of total energy planned to be generated from conventional hydropower in the Brazilian Amazon could be harnessed using in-stream turbines that use kinetic energy of water without requiring storage. At five of the nine selected planned dam sites, the entirety of energy from planned hydropower could be generated using in-stream turbines by using only a fraction of the river stretch that large dams would affect. We find the cost (US$ kWh−1) for in-stream turbines to be ~50% of the conventional hydropower cost. Our results have important implications for sustainable hydropower development in the Amazon and worldwide through transition to power generation methods that meet energy needs while minimizing the negative socioenvironment impacts.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00712-8

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