Assessing the potential for gas supersaturation downstream of hydropower plants in Norway, Austria and Germany.

Autor: Pulg U; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway. Electronic address: ulpu@norceresearch.no., Lennox RJ; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway., Enqvist M; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway., Stranzl SF; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway., Espedal EO; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway., Schwarz M; Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, 76829 Landau, Germany., Lorke A; Institute for Environmental Sciences, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Fortstrasse 7, 76829 Landau, Germany., Flödl P; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sediment Research and Management, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, Department of Water-Atmosphere-Environment, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Am Brigittenauer Sporn 3, 1200 Vienna, Austria., Hauer C; Christian Doppler Laboratory for Sediment Research and Management, Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and River Research, Department of Water-Atmosphere-Environment, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Am Brigittenauer Sporn 3, 1200 Vienna, Austria., Schletterer M; TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG, Eduard-Wallnöfer-Platz 2, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria; Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU), Gregor-Mendel-Straße 33, 1180 Vienna, Austria., Halleraker JH; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), S.P. Andersens veg 5, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway., Velle G; Laboratory for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (LFI) at NORCE, Norwegian Research Centre, Nygårdsporten 112, 5008 Bergen, Norway; Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Postboks 7803, N-5020, Norway.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Oct 20; Vol. 948, pp. 174645. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 08.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174645
Abstrakt: Hydroelectric power facilities can generate episodic total dissolved gas supersaturation (TDGS), which is harmful to aquatic life. We developed a decision tree-based risk assessment to identify the potential for TDGS at hydropower plants and conducted validation measurements at selected facilities. Applying the risk model to Norway's hydropower plants (n = 1696) identified 473 (28 %) high-risk plants characterized by secondary intakes and Francis or Kaplan turbines, which are prone to generating TDGS when air is entrained. More than half of them discharge directly to rivers (283, 17 % of total). Measurements at 11 high-risk plants showed that 8 of them exhibited biologically relevant TDGS (120 % to 229 %). In Austria and Germany, the analysis of hydropower plants was limited due to significant data constraints. Out of 153 hydropower plants in Austria, 80 % were categorized at moderate risk for TDGS. Two Austrian plants were monitored, revealing instances of TDGS in both (up to 125 %). In Germany, out of 403 hydropower plants, 265 (66 %) fell into the moderate risk, with none in the high-risk category. At a dam in the Rhine River, TDGS up to 118 % were observed. Given the uncertainty due to limited data access and the prevalence of run-of-river plants in Austria and Germany, there remains an unclarified risk of TDGS generation in these countries, especially at spillways of dams and below aerated turbines. The results indicate a previously overlooked potential for the generation of biologically harmful TDGS at hydropower installations. It is recommended to systematically screen for TDGS at hydropower installations through risk assessment, monitoring, and, where needed, the implementation of mitigation measures. This is increasingly critical considering the expanding global initiatives in hydropower and efforts to maintain the ecological status of freshwater ecosystems.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Martin Schletterer reports a relationship with TIWAG Tyrolean Hydropower that includes: employment. If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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