Environmental risk assessment of small hydropower (SHP) plants: A case study for Tefen SHP plant on Filyos River

• A multi-criteria scoring tool is used for environmental risk assessment of SHP.
• The environmental criteria were taken from EBRD.
• The status of SHP plants in Turkey was critically analysed.
• The tool was applied to the Tefen SHP plant in operation on Filyos River.
• The assessment indicated that the SHP plant has high environmental risk.

A multi-criteria scoring tool is used to assess the environmental risk level of small hydropower plants on the basis of documented evidence, measured data, and on-site observations. The assessment is based on evaluating compliance with the standards of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The following environmental criteria are assessed: environmental flow, water quality, fish passage and protection, watershed protection, threatened and endangered species. I evaluated the Tefen hydropower plant, which has been in operation on the Filyos River in northwestern Turkey since 2011. The assessment showed that the plant failed all of the EBRD criteria.