Hydropower Economics

HYDROPOWER ECONOMICS examines sustainable alternate energy sources beginning with modeling hydropower and extending the model to include thermal power and wind power. The book will use various econometric measures, equilibrium metrics, OR methods, and DEA/productivity analyses to analyze and model the optimal use of these alternate energy sources. Because these problems are dynamic in nature, dynamic methods are used to model the problems. The book derives results on the allocation of the amounts of alternate sources of energy (water, thermal, and wind) required to produce electricity at acceptable levels over time. Graphic illustrations of the analytical and mathematical modeling used to reach research conclusions are used throughout the book.§In addition to the analyses, various market scenarios are discussed and how effective market systems may be in delivering electric power at acceptable and sustainable levels of supply, cost, and price. Productivity frontiers (benchmarks) are outlined in the book. These productivity frontiers or benchmarks are established from data derived from the Scandinavian experience. Optimal solutions for sustainable alternate energy systems at acceptable costs are outlined in the monograph.There are few more urgent topics in today s world, so full of ecological uncertainty. Hydropower Economics uses various econometric measures to examine sustainable alternative energy sources. It kicks off by modeling hydropower, yes, but it does not end there. Forsund has extended his model to include thermal power and wind power, too forms of alternative energy that are taking on an ever larger profile.The focus of HYDROPOWER ECONOMICS is to provide qualitative economic analyses of how to utilize stored water in a hydropower system with fixed generating capacities. The problem is dynamic because water used today to generate electric power may alternatively be used tomorrow. The distinctive feature of this book is to provide a social planning perspective on the optimal use of water. This is a prerequisite for understanding and evaluating newly-established electricity markets. §The dynamic nature of hydropower production, the high number of units involved, and the inherent stochastic nature of inflow of water make optimization problems quite difficult technically to solve. In the engineering literature complex stochastic dynamic programming models are used and solution algorithms developed for real-life data, with numerical solutions provided. In this book a much more simplified mathematical approach suited to obtain qualitative conclusions is followed. Standard nonlinear programming models for discrete time are used and the Kuhn Tucker conditions employed extensively for qualitative interpretations. A special graphical presentation, termed a bathtub diagram, is developed for two-period illustration.