Niagara Falls: From tourist attraction to energy source
Niagara Falls is not only a world-famous natural phenomenon but also a powerful source of renewable energy. The hydroelectric power plants supply electricity to around 100,000 households. But how do you align energy production with fluctuating demand and international agreements? Ontario Power Generation (OPG) asked Deltares USA for help, who requested the support of Stichting Deltares.
Smart planning in a complex system
During the day, enough water must flow to allow visitors to enjoy the impressive waterfalls. At night and in winter, more water can be diverted to turbines via underground tunnels. Additionally, OPG has a pumped storage facility and options to temporarily store water upstream.
Due to changes in the energy market, it has become increasingly important to precisely plan how much energy to produce. The existing simple model was no longer adequate. Stichting Deltares proposed using RTC-Tools, a platform for creating smart optimisation models, building upon the existing knowledge and leveraging modern software. This platform can be easily linked to Delft-FEWS, OPG’s existing forecasting system. This led to the creation of the Niagara Hydroelectric Production System (NHPS).
“The system at Niagara Falls is exceptionally complex,” says Arnejan van Loenen, project leader at Stichting Deltares. “You’re dealing with international agreements, highly variable discharges, storage capacity, different types of turbines, and of course supply and demand in the electricity market.”
Energy and balance
Hydropower is more than just a source of renewable energy. It also plays a key role in balancing the electricity grid, especially as the share of solar and wind increases.
“That’s something we really learned as a team during this project,” says Van Loenen. “Hydropower turns out to be very suitable for absorbing peaks and troughs in the grid. That makes it increasingly important for the energy transition and the growth of sustainable energy.”
The RTC-Tools models automatically calculate the optimal strategy: when to store water, when to use it, and which turbines to operate at any given time. Dozens of objectives are weighed, in order of importance; from safety to energy production.
“The models use ‘lexicographic optimisation’,” Van Loenen explains. “That means we first meet the most important conditions, such as safety and minimum flow over the falls. Only then do we look at revenue or efficiency. That makes the outcomes well-explained and reliable.”
Broad Applicability
The first version of NHPS is now used for daily and strategic planning, monthly forecasts, maintenance planning, and even as input for design choices for new turbines. The tool takes into account discharge forecasts, equipment failures, and regulations.
OPG was looking for a solution that works for all its hydroelectric plants: “If it works at Niagara Falls, one of the most complex systems, then it can handle any river system,” says Kurt Kornelsen, then Senior Manager Water Resources, now Director Environment and Climate Change.
Trust and Future
The collaboration between Deltares USA, Stichting Deltares and OPG started with a forecasting system and grew into this much larger assignment.
The NHPS project shows how far Deltares models can go in operational energy optimisation. Van Loenen concludes: “I expect we will do this more often. For Deltares USA and OPG, but also for other clients in Canada and beyond.”
