SmallFlex GOMS

Description

The main motivation for launching the "SmallFlex Goms" project is to build on the successful experience gained from the "SmallFlex" project, which was conducted between 2018 and 2020. The results of the latter have clearly revealed the great potential of small run-of-river hydro power plants in producing energy in peak hours as well as providing system services while maintaining the safety of the power plant and at the same time minimizing the environmental impacts related to hydropeaking.

In this project, a particular attention is paid to the following objectives:

• Demonstration of the flexibility of KWGO for a long-term operation.
• Definition of the main criterion and limits for a given run-off power plant to determine its flexibility.
• Evaluation of the complementarity of flexible medium and small power plant (run-off and storage) with new renewable production.

The obtained results through the proposed project will be of high value for the whole fleet of the Swiss hydropower production, as the potential for small hydro is quite high and demand for this sector is rising to answer to the long-term energy policies and decarbonization. The results and recommendations are believed to be directly applicable to many hydro power plants in Switzerland.

Figure – SmallFlex GOMS system representation.