Environmental flow assessment in hydropower plants and çambaşi hpp case

There are direct proportion with the amount of energy consumption and the level of development of the countries. That's why; the priority of the countries primarily is to use their energy resources in order to supply energy demand. This situation is similar to Turkey, energy politics have been projected according to different production processes. It has been aimed to use all hydroelectric potential according to these approaches, which is available throughout the country. It is the main aim to use of the potential energy of water, which is the basic component of the operating principle of the hydroelectric power plants. Water both has vital for electric production and is life source of ecosystem. Since, it directly or indirectly affects all living being, which live throughout the river basin. In this thesis, environmental flow assessment methodologies have been investigated in hydroelectric power plant projects, which they won't damage not only the integrity of ecosystems and river structure, but also will indirectly ensure the electric generation. Environmental flow recommendations are made for the run-of-river type Çambaşı Regulator and hydropower plant installed in Turkey, after examining the procedures used all over the world. Tennant, Tessman and Flow Duration Curve methods are used while determining the environmental flow. Calculations are made separately for Çambaşı and Ögene regulators which constitute the hydropower plant; and environmental flows are calculated respectively. The values obtained are compared with the calculated values and natural flow rate values. After all these comparisons and investigations, best methods that can be used for determining the environmental flow are recommended for hydropower plants.