The dynamics of cooling water discharge in a shallow, non-tidal embayment

•Effects of cooling water discharge studied in Greifswald Bay.•Simulation of cooling water plume confirmed by satellite images.•Plume spreading is mainly dependent on the wind direction.•Despite strong pumping, small effect on the bay's hydrodynamics.

The dynamics of cooling water spreading in a non-tidal embayment is subject of a modelling-based study of Greifswald Bay, a shallow embayment at the south-western coast of the Baltic Sea. Potential cooling water spreading due to a possible power plant at Greifswald Bay is evaluated as differences between a realistic hind-cast simulation and a similar simulation but including the cooling water pumping. The model results are confirmed with satellite imagery of the embayment during operation of a nuclear power plant in the 1980s. The effect of cooling water pumping on the residual circulation, additional stratification and the heating of near-bed waters in the herring spawning areas is evaluated from the simulation. The model results for an idealised embayment and the realistic scenario, as well as the satellite images, show a clear dependence of the plume spreading on the wind direction. Although the surface plume affects a large area of the embayment, the results show a localised impact on residual circulation, bulk stratification and heating of the waterbody.