Calculation of the loss of energy production in the Miño and Sil river basins

Location: Río Miño-Sil
Year: 2020
Client: Naturgy

The company Naturgy hires us to evaluate the loss of energy production of the hydroelectric uses of the reservoirs of Belesar, Los Peares, Velle, Castrelo, Frieira, Albarellos, Salas, Las Conchas and Tambre, as a result of the application of the new Hydrological Plan of the hydrographic demarcation of the Miño-Sil river according to the Royal Decree of 1/2016 of January 8.

This new Hydrological Plan requires minimum ecological flows of these watercourses that cause the direct discharge of water into the watercourse without obtaining its hydroelectric use.

In order to estimate the ecological origin of the application of these minimum flows and the economic losses produced to the company NATURY, our technicians perform an analysis of the flows and hydroelectric uses obtained during the years 2017 and 2018 compared to those that would be obtained in case of discharging the water necessary for the maintenance of these flows, resulting in a total loss of production of about 205 GWh of energy which is equivalent to an economic loss of 10,872,612 € and at an ecological level, the analysis also shows the consequences of the implementation of this Plan, which would affect the current flora and fauna, by increasing the current flows.