The water footprint from hydroelectricity: a case study for a hydropower plant in Romania

University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest, Department of Hydraulics, Hydraulic Machinery and Environmental Engineering, Romania

^* Corresponding author: diana.robescu@upb.ro

Abstract

In Romania, the hydropower is the main form of renewable source with an important share in energy mix. Despite their valuable advantages on supplying energy and balancing the energy system, public acceptance, environmental, social and economic impact has become a common challenge in development of hydropower projects. Increasing of water consumption and raising awareness regarding available water resources leads to an integrated management approach of them. In this paper the water footprint is estimated for one of the largest Romanian hydropower project, namely Hydropower Plant Vidraru. The water footprint from hydroelectricity is evaluated considering electricity production of the hydropower plant, water footprint of dam construction and three different approaches to quantify water footprint of the reservoir: gross water consumption, net water consumption and water balance. Also, water footprint is assessed based on economic value of the reservoir using allocation coefficients for various purposes of the reservoir. It is estimated that economic benefit of the reservoir is 81.92·10⁶ €/y, with hydroelectricity major contributor.