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Environmental Impact of Small Hydro Power Plant—A Case Study

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Currently an international topic—not only among the members of the European Union—is the use of renewable energy, such as hydro power. The subject of this paper is the environmental impact assessment of the small hydropower (SHP) plant. The paper identifies the environmental impacts of an SHP plant in Spišské Bystré, Slovakia. It also assesses the alternatives to a specific hydraulic structure by quantitative evaluation from the point of view of character of the impacts, their significance, and their duration. The conclusion of the work includes the selection of the optimal alternative of the assessed construction and proposes measurements to reduce the negative impacts. The benefit of this paper is in highlighting the importance of assessing the impact of construction on the environment in the planning phase. Eliminating the negative impacts of the construction on the environment is much more challenging than the implementation of preventive measures, and it is therefore necessary to assess at the planning phase how the construction and operation of the proposed activities impact the environment.
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environments
Article
Environmental Impact of Small Hydro Power
Plant—A Case Study
Martina Zele ˇnáková1, *, Rastislav Fijko 1, Daniel Constantin Diaconu 2and Iveta Reme ˇnáková1
1Department of Environmental Engineering, Technical University of Košice, 042 00 Košice, Slovakia;
rastislav.fijko@tuke.sk (R.F.); iva.remenakova@gmail.com (I.R.)
2
Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Technical University of Bucharest, 010041 Bucharest, Romania;
ddcwater@yahoo.com
*Correspondence: martina.zelenakova@tuke.sk; Tel.: +421-55-602-4270
Received: 30 November 2017; Accepted: 8 January 2018; Published: 10 January 2018
Abstract:
Currently an international topic—not only among the members of the European Union—is
the use of renewable energy, such as hydro power. The subject of this paper is the environmental
impact assessment of the small hydropower (SHP) plant. The paper identifies the environmental
impacts of an SHP plant in SpišskéBystré, Slovakia. It also assesses the alternatives to a specific
hydraulic structure by quantitative evaluation from the point of view of character of the impacts,
their significance, and their duration. The conclusion of the work includes the selection of the optimal
alternative of the assessed construction and proposes measurements to reduce the negative impacts.
The benefit of this paper is in highlighting the importance of assessing the impact of construction
on the environment in the planning phase. Eliminating the negative impacts of the construction on
the environment is much more challenging than the implementation of preventive measures, and it
is therefore necessary to assess at the planning phase how the construction and operation of the
proposed activities impact the environment.
Keywords: environmental impact assessment; hydro power plant; matrix of impacts
1. Introduction
Like the power industry, water management is not a sector per se, but it does secure access to
water for all other sectors and for society as a whole according to need. However, unlike energy there
are no alternative sources of water, and that is why for several years now water has been considered as
a strategic raw material. The assessment of water resources involves establishing the amount, quality,
and availability by evaluation of the possibilities of sustaining their development, management,
and control. Water is used for cooling, shipping, and washing as a solvent, and also sometimes is
found in the ingredients of finished products. A large amount of water is needed for refrigeration
equipment. Volumes of industrial water are completely different in individual industrial sectors
and also in different types of production, depending on the technology of the production process.
Again, this depends on the climatic conditions, because the use of industrial water usually seems to be
significantly smaller in northern areas than in southern regions, where the air temperature is higher.
Developing the use of industrial water is one of the main reasons for water pollution in the world today.
This is explained by the fact that in various countries, industrial growth has greatly increased and
exaggerated the proportions of waste being released as waste water into watercourses, predominately
untreated or only partially purified. In the battle with such pollution problems, many countries have
approved energy measures for reducing the use and release of industrial waters. Since the 1970s and
1980s, a tendency towards stabilization and even a drop in the demand for industrial waters has been
seen. It is expected that in many countries in the future, the trend will be a downward one due to a
Environments 2018,5, 12; doi:10.3390/environments5010012 www.mdpi.com/journal/environments
Environments 2018,5, 12 2 of 10
larger use of systems for supplying circulating water, and many industrial branches will aim at dry
technologies without water usage.
The issue of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe is becoming important. European Union
countries are continuously working to reduce these emissions. They have created a program for the
use of renewable energy sources, committing to a 20% reduction of emissions by 2020. Working towards
such a goal means that it is necessary to avoid deforestation, use new technologies, and use renewable
energy sources—either geothermal, solar, wind, or hydropower [
1
]. In Slovakia, hydropower is the
most common source of renewable energy used to produce electricity. Based on hydropower potential
available for electricity generation at 7361 GWh per year, the current use is 57.5%. The share of
larger hydropower for electricity produced in 2002 was 92% and the proportion of small hydropower
(SHP) only 8%. The utilization of hydro power plants—particularly SHPs—in Slovakia for electricity
generation is of prime importance to the economy. Small hydropower plants’ utilization of the
total available potential is 16% (1220 GWh), while the current total utilization is 24.5% (284.1 GWh)
of the total available potential of SHP in Slovakia [
2
]. Small hydropower (SHP) plants have an
installed capacity of 1–10 MW, and their impact on the environment is subject to assessment under
Annex 1 of Act no. 24/2006 Coll. the impact assessment on the environment, as amended in the
Slovak Republic. Installations for hydroelectric energy production are also subject to an environmental
impact assessment under the European Directive 2014/52/EC. The necessity of more comprehensive
standards for the impact assessment and the governance of small hydropower projects was proved,
for example, by Kibler and Tullos [
3
]. They investigated the cumulative biophysical effects of small
and large hydropower dams in China’s Nu River, and they revealed that biophysical impacts of
small hydropower may exceed those of large hydropower—particularly with regard to habitat
and hydrologic change. Standards for SHP plants’ impact assessment are necessary to encourage
low-impact energy development. This is also a contribution of the presented paper. The environmental
implications of small and large hydropower projects were also studied by Henning et al. [
4
,
5
] and
Ferreira et al. [
6
]. Mayor et al. [
7
] assessed the differential contributions to the regional energy and
water security of large- and small-scale hydropower deployment in the Spanish Duero basin. Results
of their study showed greater impacts of SHP, mainly as a result of cumulative effects cascading along
the rivers system.
Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the promotion of
electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market and Directive
2003/54/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council have stability rules commune in terms of
obtaining and distributing electricity. The Commission Communication of 10 January 2007 entitled
“Roadmap for renewable energy—Renewable energies in the 21st century: building a more sustainable future”
has demonstrated that a 20% target for the global share of renewable energy would be an achievable
target and that a framework that includes binding targets should provide the business community
with the long-term stability needed to make rational and sustainable renewable energy investments
to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and increase the use of new energy technologies.
The Framework Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources
aims at developing the local and regional electricity market in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The Renewable Energy Directive establishes an overall policy for the production and promotion of
energy from renewable sources in the EU Member States. It requires the EU to fulfil at least 20% of
its total energy needs with renewables by 2020—to be achieved through the attainment of individual
national targets. On 30 November 2016, the Commission published a proposal for a revised Renewable
Energy Directive to ensure that the target of at least 27% renewables in the final energy consumption
in the EU by 2030 is met. The Directive specifies national renewable energy targets for each country
(from a low of 10% in Malta to a high of 49% in Sweden), taking into account its starting point and
overall potential for renewables.
However, all of these initiatives are in conflict with the provisions of the Framework Directive
2000/60/EC, according to which strict rules are imposed to reduce the hydromorphological alteration
Environments 2018,5, 12 3 of 10
of watercourses, but also the evaluation of eco-systems. In Romania, the development of investments
in micro-hydro power plants was supported, but in contradiction the environmental provisions
were enforced, imposing major restrictions. So, in 2015, the European Commission launched the
infringement procedure against Romania due to micro-hydropower projects in the Fagaras Mountains.
A similar situation has occurred in Slovakia.
Assessment of the impact of the project on the environment is considered as a tool that minimizes
the implementation of activities which could in any way negatively interfere with the environment and
at the same time allows choosing the optimal solution from the proposed alternatives of the project
implementation—the alternative with the smallest negative impact of a proposed activity on the
environment. At present, several authors are devoted to the issue of environmental impact assessment
in Slovakia [811]; in the Czech Republic [12]; in Poland [13]; and in Romania [14,15].
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures for public and private projects that are likely
to have significant effects on the environment in Slovakia have been in place since the adoption of
the EIA Act in 1994. In 2006, a new EIA Act was approved, and EIA procedures began to be applied
to buildings under the 2006 Planning Act. Law no. 24/2006 Coll. on the assessment of impacts on
the environment and on amendments to certain laws, which entered into force on 1 February 2006 to
regulate all EIA process in the Slovak Republic. It implements Directive 2014/52/EC of the European
Parliament and the Council amending the previous Directive 2011/92/EC on the assessment of the
effects of certain public and private projects on the environment. EIA is a tool for decision making,
with the final aim of the sustainable development of society.
According to Law no. 24/2006 Coll. the assessment of impacts on the environment and on
amendments in the Slovak Republic, the “Industrial installations for the production of electricity
from water power” hydropower plants from 5 MW to 50 MW are under a screening procedure,
and hydropower plants producing more than 50 MW are under compulsory assessment.
This paper also briefly presents a case study: technical and technological solutions of three
variants of the selected engineering construction of a small hydroelectric power plant situated in
SpišskéBystré, in Slovakia. The assessment was devoted to direct impacts of the proposed activity,
characteristic of the current state of the environment in the affected area, the assessment of the expected
impacts of the proposed activity on the environment, and estimation of their importance using the
point method. For comparison of the variants of small hydroelectric power plants, the matrix method
is applied. The purpose of this comparison is to select the optimal variant of the proposed action,
and proposes measures to prevent, eliminate, minimize, and offset the impacts of the proposed activity
on the environment.
2. Materials and Methods
Many methods have been introduced over the last 50 years to meet the different requirements of
environmental impact assessment studies. Mentioned methods are explained, for example, in
[16,17]
. There
is a need for a general and thorough approach to justifying, explaining, demonstrating, implementing,
sampling, using, and creating real skills in analysis in any area of human society
[18,19]
. Most management
decisions are concerned with the future; however, the future is usually uncertain
[2025]
. The uses of risk
identification, analysis, and assessment in relation to the environment have broadened considerably in
recent years.
Guidelines of the European Commission [
22
] provide information on approaches that were
selected from case studies and literature survey. These include scoping and screening techniques
which predict the magnitude and significance of impacts and attempt to quantify them based on their
intensity, frequency, duration, and character. Scoping and impact identification methods include:
Network and analysis
Consultation and questionnaires
Checklists
Environments 2018,5, 12 4 of 10
Evaluation and screening methods include:
Modeling
Comparative methods
Techniques include:
Matrices
Expert opinion.
The EIA process involves a combination of approaches [12]:
Identification and definition of the impact;
Analysis of the impact associated;
Determining the significance of the impact.
It is expected that EIA will continue to act as an effective tool to prevent the application of
investments not only in Slovakia which by their degree of environmental damage vastly outweigh
their benefits [2325].
In this paper, the impact matrix has been used for the environmental impact assessment of small
hydropower plants, and presents an overview, distribution, and classification of the impact of the
projects on the environment by different criteria for the purposes of the evaluation. In addition, it
also highlights the identification and assessment of the expected impacts of the construction on the
environment. The presented impact matrix combines qualitative and quantitative methods: verbal
statements which were transformed into the numerical values presented in Table 1. This assessment
requires special attention and sensitive work with verbal and numerical scales. It used indicator
values. This method consists of only a very approximate method, where by its value an indicator may
represent a description of the analyzed problem.
The assessment was done by seven experts—the authors and three more people—the experts
working in the field of SHP plant design and/or the assessment of environmental impacts of SHP
plants, and one of them is working in the landscape ecology—the nature protection. They used the
brainstorming method. They consulted the selection of the criteria and their impacts at the personal
meetings as well as by e-mail communication.
The proposed EIA methodology involves a combination of approaches:
Establishing the context
#Characteristics of the current state of the environment in the affected area
#Brief description of alternatives of the proposed activity (A0, A1, A2)
Evaluation of impacts
#The character of the impacts
#The significance of the impacts
#The duration of the impacts
Quantification of impacts and
Comparison of alternatives.
The use of proper EIA methodologies and procedures can help the decision-makers to manage
proper activities based on qualified decisions [26].
In the following, the case study is presented.
Environments 2018,5, 12 5 of 10
Table 1. Quantification of impacts and comparison of alternatives.
Impact on
Alternative 0 Alternative 1 Alternative 2
CH0 S0 D0 CH0 ×
S0 ×D0 CH1 S1 D1 CH1 ×
S1 ×D1 CH2 S2 D2 CH2 ×
S2 ×D2
population:
noise 0 0 1 2 1 21 2 1 2
vibrations 0 0 1 2 0.5 11 2 0.5 1
dust 0 0 1 3 0.5 1.5 1 3 0.5 1.5
quality of life 0 0 1 2 0.5 11 2 0.5 1
economy 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 2 1 2
tourism, recreation 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
sport activities 0 0 1 2 0.5 1 1 2 0.5 1
water conditions:
surface water flowing 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
surface water standing 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
ground water in inundation 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
ground water in protected area
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
soil:
land occupation 0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
water regime of soil 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
soil erosion 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
fauna and flora and their
biotopes:
fauna-mammals 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 21 2 1 2
fauna-birds 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
fauna-ichthyofauna 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 31 1 1 1
fauna-amphibians 1 2 1 2 1 3 1 31 1 1 1
flora-at construction site 0 0 1 3 0.5 1.5 1 2 0.5 1
flora-at backwater 0 0 1 2 1 21 1 1 1
landscape:
structure 0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
using 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
scenery 0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
the protected areas and their
protective zones:
protected areas 0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
water protected areas 0 0 1 1 1 11 1 1 1
the territorial system of
ecological stability 0 0 1 3 1 31 2 1 2
urban areas, land use:
urban areas 0 0 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
land use 0 0 1 3 1 3 1 3 1 3
air:
air quality 0 0 1 1 1
concentrations of emissions 0 0 1 1 1
SUM 7 1 7.5
Study Area
The selected site for the proposed activity—construction of small hydropower plant—is located
in the village SpišskéBystré, district of Poprad, Eastern Slovakia (see Figure 1). The study area is close
to the High Tatras Mountains, where the High Tatras National Park is located (20 km) and near the
Slovak Paradise protection area (10 km), but the selected site is actually out of any protected area.
The municipality is located at an altitude of 674 m, has a population of 2394 and an area of 3787 ha.
Bystrácreek is a right-bank tributary of the Hornád, which belongs to Danube River Basin and has
a length of 17 km. The proposed SHP plant is designed as a run-of-river plant in river kilometer 4.0.
The annual discharge of Bystrácreek is 0.42 m
3
/s. The discharge of 100-years return period in the
site is 60 m
3
/s. Currently, the creek in that area has the character of unregulated water flow with an
irregular trapezoidal profile width from 2.0 m to 6.0 m in the bottom and from 5.0 m to 10.0 m in water
level. The proposal of a small hydropower plant includes a regulation of the river bed, which consists
mainly of fortifications of the channel cross-section.
Environments 2018,5, 12 6 of 10
Three alternatives of the proposed activity were assessed (Figure 2):
Alternative 0—the present state of the environment, no SHP plant will be constructed;
Alternative 1—construction of SHP plant;
Alternative 2—construction of SHP plant with bypass fish pass.
Environments 2018, 5, 12 6 of 10
Figure 1. Location of the study area. SHP: small hydropower.
Impacts on the environment are reflected by the effects of the water project, which in this case is
the small hydro power plant. From the identification of impacts and their influence on individual
components of the environment of the study area by the detection matrix, it is obvious that the most
significant negative impacts during the construction activity will be from construction machinery,
accompanied by noise, emissions, and dust. These stressors negatively affect habitats, climate,
population and other components of the environment. The construction will also affect the soil
layers as well as the quality of surface water. Direct negative impact on the environment during the
operation of the SHP plant is not expected. For a comprehensive assessment of the expected impact
in terms of its significance, nature, and duration, it is recommended to use the quantitative
evaluation method. The assessment of the expected impacts of the proposed activity on the
environment is presented as follows.
proposed construction
of SHP plant
Alternative 0
Figure 1. Location of the study area. SHP: small hydropower.
Environments 2018, 5, 12 6 of 10
Figure 1. Location of the study area. SHP: small hydropower.
Impacts on the environment are reflected by the effects of the water project, which in this case is
the small hydro power plant. From the identification of impacts and their influence on individual
components of the environment of the study area by the detection matrix, it is obvious that the most
significant negative impacts during the construction activity will be from construction machinery,
accompanied by noise, emissions, and dust. These stressors negatively affect habitats, climate,
population and other components of the environment. The construction will also affect the soil
layers as well as the quality of surface water. Direct negative impact on the environment during the
operation of the SHP plant is not expected. For a comprehensive assessment of the expected impact
in terms of its significance, nature, and duration, it is recommended to use the quantitative
evaluation method. The assessment of the expected impacts of the proposed activity on the
environment is presented as follows.
proposed construction
of SHP plant
Alternative 0
Figure 2. Cont.
Environments 2018,5, 12 7 of 10
Environments 2018, 5, 12 7 of 10
Figure 2. Alternatives of the proposed activity.
3. Results
This chapter includes the comparison of alternatives of the proposed activity (SHP plant in
Spišské Bystré) and the selection of the optimal alternative, including a comparison with zero
alternative (Alternative 0, Alternative 1, Alternative 2). The first step of the impact assessment of the
proposed activity on the environment is the identification of the impacts on the partial components
of the environment. When developing criteria and determining their importance, we placed
emphasis on the nature, extent, and duration of the effects. We have assigned values to individual
consequences according to the proposed scale:
The character of the impacts (CH):
o negative,
Alternative 1
Alternative 2
Figure 2. Alternatives of the proposed activity.
Impacts on the environment are reflected by the effects of the water project, which in this case
is the small hydro power plant. From the identification of impacts and their influence on individual
components of the environment of the study area by the detection matrix, it is obvious that the most
significant negative impacts during the construction activity will be from construction machinery,
accompanied by noise, emissions, and dust. These stressors negatively affect habitats, climate,
population and other components of the environment. The construction will also affect the soil
layers as well as the quality of surface water. Direct negative impact on the environment during the
operation of the SHP plant is not expected. For a comprehensive assessment of the expected impact in
terms of its significance, nature, and duration, it is recommended to use the quantitative evaluation
Environments 2018,5, 12 8 of 10
method. The assessment of the expected impacts of the proposed activity on the environment is
presented as follows.
3. Results
This chapter includes the comparison of alternatives of the proposed activity (SHP plant in Spišské
Bystré) and the selection of the optimal alternative, including a comparison with zero alternative
(Alternative 0, Alternative 1, Alternative 2). The first step of the impact assessment of the proposed
activity on the environment is the identification of the impacts on the partial components of the
environment. When developing criteria and determining their importance, we placed emphasis on
the nature, extent, and duration of the effects. We have assigned values to individual consequences
according to the proposed scale:
The character of the impacts (CH):
#negative,
#0no impact,
#+positive,
The significance of the impacts (S):
#1insignificant,
#2significant,
#3very significant,
The duration of the impacts (D):
#0.5 short-term,
#1long-term.
Table 1identifies the impacts on individual components of the environment.
The values of the nature of the impacts are added according to the above-proposed scale. We have
assessed only the impacts envisaged occurring during the construction and operation of the SHP plant.
The next step in the EIA process is the selection of the optimal alternative by assessing the
character, significance, and duration of the impacts undertaken by quantitative method (Table 1).
Impacts’ nature have been counted separately for each alternative of the proposed activity as a sum of
points that are product of multiplying the character, the significance, and the duration of the impacts.
The alternative that reached the highest positive value can be considered as optimal.
The highest value of 7.5 is according to Alternative 2: SHP plant SpišskéBystréwith a bypass
fishpass; therefore, it can be considered from a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact
as an optimal variant, with the least negative impacts to the environment (although this alternative is
the costliest). During construction, it is necessary to pay attention to the measures that reduce and
respectively mitigate the adverse impact on the environment, including the health of the population.
Measures need to be designed to prevent, eliminate, minimize, and compensate the negative impacts.
4. Discussion
The objective of this paper is the analysis and evaluation of the environmental impacts of
small hydro power plants by use of the matrix of impacts. The identification and evaluation of
the environmental impacts include the health and social impacts to the population in the study area.
The aim is the selection of the optimal variant of the proposed activity, using quantitative evaluation.
In practice, there are many procedures and methods which can be used to identify and evaluate
these impacts. In order to identify environmental impacts of the water structure, in accordance with
valid legislation, we used a survey matrix method by which we specified the impacts of the activity
Environments 2018,5, 12 9 of 10
on the components of the environment. This method increases the transparency and precision of
the evaluation process, and also satisfies the requirements of the environmental impact assessment
procedure. This approach can be applied to other infrastructure projects. Comparison of alternatives
and selection of the optimal variant are implemented based on selected criteria and foreseen impacts
of the activity on the environment. This method is adequate for the assessment of the proposed
environmental impacts of SHP plants, although to confirm the results, the other (the alternative)
method could be also used. Comparison of the variants revealed that Alternative 2—construction
of SHP plant with bypass fishpass can be considered as an optimal variant because it reached the
highest positive values. Not only from an economic point of view (which is the use of renewable
energy sources), but also from an ecological point of view that involves the reduction of greenhouse
gas emissions, the proposal of the optimal variant is beneficial to the concerned area. The benefit of
the study is in pointing out the importance of environmental impact assessment of the construction
before requesting a permit for the construction. Eliminating the negative effects of construction on
the environment is far more demanding than the implementation of preventive measures, and it is
therefore necessary to assess how the construction will affect operation of the proposed activity in the
area. The use of the EIA process can help the decision-makers to select proper mitigation measures
based on qualified decisions. The proposed activity in SpišskéBystré, Slovakia is used as a case study
to exemplify the methodology.
5. Conclusions
Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is an important process prior to approval of the proposed
activity. It can provide essential information about the foreseeable impacts of the investment plan on
the environment. The assessment of the potential impacts on the environment is the most important
stage in the EIA process. Environmental assessment is based on the technical description of the project,
as well as prediction and evaluation of the impacts on the environmental components. From the point
of view of environmental requirements for construction, the negative impact on the environment
is minimized in the preparatory phase of the project by analyzing and assessing the impact of the
construction on the environment, thus avoiding an increase in costs due to unforeseen impacts during
the construction phase.
The knowledge of tools to assess interaction between humans, natural resources, and water
projects is developed, distributed, and used with the aim of mitigating adverse impacts and
remediating the environment. The approach has an original solution concept.
Acknowledgments: This work was supported by VEGA project 1/0609/14.
Author Contributions:
Martina Zeleˇnákováprepared and edited the manuscript; Rastislav Fijko worked on the
materials and methods section; Daniel Constantin Diaconu prepared the introduction section; Iveta Remeˇnáková
worked on the drawings. All authors did the evaluation of the environmental impacts and approved the
final manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access
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