electricity production, hydro, run-of-river, UPR, ecoinvent 3.6, Undefined
Location: CN-GS - China, Gansu (甘肃)
This dataset represents the production of 1 kWh of electricity in a run-of-river power plant unit in China - Gansu in 2012. Run-of-river power plants are hydro power plants without reservoirs. Depending on the net head of the power plant, high-pressure, medium-pressure and low-pressure systems can be distinguished. Low-pressure power plants including river power stations and canal power plants are very common; therefore these two types of run-of-river power stations are covered in the dataset. To some extent, high-pressure as well as medium-pressure run-of-river systems can be considered as reservoir power stations, e.g. as unit in plant groups that are dominated by storage power plants, but also include alpine run power stations.
LCI data are based on a representative sample of various types of power plants in Switzerland and Austria is taken into account. The calculations are based on the information and data of the following run-of-river power plants: Rupperswil-Auenstein (Baumann 1949), Wildegg-Brugg (NOK 1956), Birsfelden (Aegerter et al. 1954), Donaukraftwerk Greifenstein (Brux 1983; max. Leistung 237 MW) and Rheinkraftwerk Albbruck-Dogern (Radag 1979) as well as the new construction of the power plant Ruppoldingen. The determined specific data was then related to the entire power plant park of Switzerland with an annual net electricity output of 15484 GWh/a (BEW 2001a). Lifetime is assumed to be 80 years for the structural part (including cement, reinforcing steel, diesel, electricity, transportation and explosives) and 40 years for the rest of materials. The data refers to plant construction of a mix of types of dams built between 1945 and the beginning of the 1980s; therefore they might not be representative for more modern construction, for an individual type and for small-scale and smallest-scale plants.
Baumann J. (1949) Kraftwerk Rupperswil-Auenstein. Verlag Kraftwerk
Rupperswil-Auenstein AG, Rupperswil.
Nordostschweizerische Kraftwerke AG (NOK) (1956) Das Kraftwerk
Wildegg-Brugg. In: Schweizerische Bauzeitung, 74 (4), 47-52; 74 (5), 63-67; 74
(6), 83-88; 74 (7), 93-99; 74 (8), 111-116; 74 (10), 145-147; 74 (12), 167-172.
Aegerter A., Dr. Bosshardt O. (1954) Das Kraftwerk Birsfelden. In: Wasser- und
Energiewirtschaft, 46 (5-7), 165-176.
Brux G. (1983) Das Donaukraftwerk Greifenstein. In: Wasser, Energie, Luft, 75
(1-2), 11-13.
Radag A. (1979) 50 Jahre Rheinkraftwerk Albbruck-Dogern Aktiengesellschaft.
Waldshut/Rhein, 1929-1979.
Bundesamt für Energiewirtschaft (2001) Elektrizitatsstatistik 2000. Bern,
Schweiz.
[This dataset is meant to replace the following datasets:]
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.
Run-of-river power plants are hydro power plants without important reservoirs. Depending on the net head of the power plant, high-pressure, medium-pressure and low-pressure systems can be distinguished. Low-pressure power plants including river power stations and canal power plants are very common; therefore these two types of run-of-river power stations are covered in the dataset. To some extent, high-pressure as well as medium-pressure run-of-river systems can be considered as reservoir power stations, e.g. as unit in plant groups that are dominated by storage power plants, but also include alpine run power stations.
The technology used in the dataset has an overall efficiency of 82%, more modern technologies show an overall efficiency of about 88%. The overall efficiency (current: 0,82; modern: 0,88) is composed of the efficiency of the works water channel (current: 1,00; modern: 1,00), the turbine (current: 0,87; modern: 0,91), the generator (current: 0,96; modern: 0,98) and the transformer (current: 0,98; modern: 0,99). For the calculation of the works water channel of run-of-river plants an efficiency of 100% is assumed.
The efficiency losses in turbines depend on the turbine type (Kaplan, Francis, Pelton, etc.), the turbine output and on the ratio between turbined water amount and the rated water amount. In König, examples for curve progressions of the relationship between these variables are shown. For current power plants an efficiency of 87% is assumed, more modern turbines show an efficiency of about 91%.
The efficiency of generators depends on the output, the rotation speed of the generator and the cooling system. For today’s power plants an efficiency of approximately 96% is assumed, modern generators show an efficiency of about 98%. The efficiency of transformers amounts to 98%, respectively 99%.
References:
König F., von (1985) Bau von Wasserkraftanlagen. C.F. Müller, Karlsruhe.
ecoinvent EULA