Study on the optimal hydropower generation of Zhelin reservoir

Zhelin reservoir, a multi-purpose reservoir designed mainly for hydropower generation, is located in Xiushui watershed in Jiangxi Province, China. As the rainfall has a decreasing trend in recent years, the reservoir storage capacity cannot be fully filled and the original operation rule can no longer fulfill the desired target for power production. In order to ensure the dam safety and produce more economic benefits from hydropower generation, the original operation rule of the reservoir needs to be evaluated for possible improvement to yield optimal benefits. In this study three optimization algorithms including progressive optimization algorithm (POA), particle swarm optimization (PSO) and genetic algorithm (GA) are applied. According to a long discharge data series, the minimization of water consumption rate is chosen as the objective function, along with several physical and operational constraints. After comparing the results of the three methods, POA is found more suitable for Zhelin reservoir. Sensitivity of the optimization algorithms is also analyzed, of which, the step size of water level of the reservoir for POA, the initial population sizes for PSO and GA are also explored to search for the most suitable parameters. The investigation further reveals that step size 0.01 m, population size 50 and 30 are the best choice for POA, PSO and GA, respectively.

► Three optimal algorithms are studied for optimizing the Zhelin reservoir operation.
► The results of the three optimal algorithms are investigated to choose the most suitable optimal method for Zhelin reservoir.
► The sensitivity of the parameters of the three optimization algorithms is studied.