Kassel scientist develops hydropower plants for China

The Chinese government is massively expanding electricity generation from hydropower, a renewable energy source: The goal is to build more than 1000 new plants within the next five years. This should at least partially cover the growing energy demand of the huge country in a sustainable way. The state is also drawing on help from the University of Kassel.

In a project funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research (BMBF), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Stephan Theobald, head of the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management at Kassel University, is working on optimizing the planned hydropower plants. On the one hand, he is improving the flow situation at the power plants by means of flow-optimized designs and thus adapting them to the respective topographical conditions. On the other hand, he is developing intelligent power plant controllers that optimize uses such as energy generation and flood protection. In addition, Theobald is already working on the selection of suitable and ecologically acceptable sites and the embedding of hydropower plants in ecosystems.

"Since hydropower plants cannot be built in reality without preparation or changed without further ado, we first measure certain parameters on laboratory models and then simulate power plant operation using computer programs," explains Theobald. To do this, the data from the water bodies and hydropower plants are fed into corresponding computer programs and the changes are calculated and evaluated. For these tasks, Theobald and his team use so-called hydrodynamic-numerical computer models and continue to develop them.

Theobald's field has a great deal of experience in this, and the Kassel professor is already active with similar projects in Germany (e.g., Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria) and internationally (e.g., Austria, China). "In the process, various uses such as hydropower, flood protection, navigation, tourism and, of course, nature conservation and environmental protection must practically always be taken into account," reports Theobald.

The work on expanding hydropower in China is embedded in a German-Chinese research project. The German part of the project is scheduled to run for three years. Other partners from Germany and China are also involved. More than half a million euros of the BMBF funding will go to the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at the University of Kassel.

Image (Photo: University of Kassel) at:
http://www.uni-kassel.de/uni/fileadmin/datas/uni/presse/anhaenge/2015/theobald_007.jpg

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Stephan Theobald
University of Kassel
Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management
Preferably by e-mail:s.theobald[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Phone: +49 561 804-2679