Estimating production losses in run-of-river hydro plants

Particularly in the developed countries, the encouragement of energy production from renewable sources has led to an increase in small run-of-river hydro plants. The profitability of an investment in such systems depends on the ability to maximize production, which depends on the availability of the primary source. This means minimizing the impact of shutdowns for maintenance and the failure of components within the system. This paper presents a new approach for the calculation of energy lost as a result of machine shutdowns in run-of-river hydro plants.