Optimum Operating of Gotvand Hydropower Plant in case of Capacity Expansion and Considering Gotvand Regulating Dam Limitations

Importance of optimal use of water resources is one of the factors of necessity of restudying of existing water projects, particularly dams and power plants. Therefore, according to the expansion of the capacity of Gotvand power plant up to 1640 megawatts, maximizing its performance is the main driver of this research. One of the objectives of optimization model developed for optimum performance of Gotvand power plant is maximizing of the value of the produced energy using a proposed combined value. Also, another objective is minimizing of the difference between maximum and minimum hourly release from the Gotvand regulation dam. Based on the results of the optimization model, the optimal power plant performance capacity was proposed according to the combination of 4 units of 250 MW and 4 units of 160 MW (1640 MW in total). In order to determine installed capacity of the Gotvand regulation power plant, a simulation was done for 64 years, in an hourly time step, by considering the downstream conditions and reservoir limitations. The results showed that optimum installed capacity is 50 to 60 megawatts.