Authors: R.J. Carryer, S.G. Bridgeman, K. James
HYDRO 2008, Ljubljana, Slovenia , October 2008
Abstract
Surprisingly few existing hydropower schemes presently benefit from the deployment of state-of-the-art
Decision Support Systems (DSS). Such expert software systems allow long term planners and short term schedulers, as well as real time dispatchers, to better utilize their power and water resources to maximize production efficiencies and revenues. DSS installations, primarily in North America and in Scandinavia, have demonstrated 3% or greater efficiency improvements in several applications, and have increased the revenues of the operations by a considerably greater percentage. (1), (2) Yet despite the obviously environmentally desirable and positive economic impact that DSS implementations can have, comparatively few state-of-the-art systems have been installed on a worldwide basis. It is certainly not a “business as usual” consideration in many countries.
