Optimization of Small Hydropower in The Abbay Basin
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Date
2004-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Although Ethiopia possesses a huge hydropower potential, the energy problem in the country
is enormous. A great majority of the population in Ethiopia are dependent on traditional
resources to fulfill their energy needs. Due to the poor energy supply, the people not only
have to put up with an unattractive living environment but also suffer the consequences of
climatic change caused by the associated environmental impacts. Numerous villages do not
get electricity supply due to the scattered nature of the settlements. Therefore, the energy
policy should give enough attention to decentralized systems in which small hydropower
potential plays a significant role. This study considers some of the small hydropower sites in
the Abbay basin and that the selection of optimum sites or the optimum level of development
at the sites can be undertaken with the application of non-linear optimization techniques. The
optimization has been conducted on the basis of four theoretical small hydropower systems
established in the Abbay basin. Among these four, the two systems consisted of two
hydropower alternatives each and the other two consisted of three hydropower alternatives
each. In this thesis, Microsoft Excel 2000 solver, which uses the Generalized Reduced
Gradient(GRG2) algorithm for optimizing nonlinear problems has been used. Using this
optimization technique, the level of development of each of the hydropower sites has been
determined. The method can also be used to select the optimum small hydropower site(s)
from a number of alternatives. Further study for optimization can be conducted on renewable
hybrid systems combining a decentralized energy sources for rural electrification.