Impact of Climate Change on Hydroelectric Generation in Run-of-River: A Case Study of Mahipar Hydropower Plants

Abstract Climate change is one of the harmful environmental issues, characterized by increasing global temperature, varies in rainfall patterns, changes in precipitation timing and intensity, and a decline in snowfall. Since the hydroelectric generation depends on consistent river flow, fluctuations and reductions in flow directly affect the output of the energy. Recent worldwide studies indicate that the volume rate of rivers has significantly decreased in recent years. Therefore, this study investigated that the impact of climate change on the Mahipar plant energy generation. To assess this impact, hydrological data from five stations along the same river were analyzed over the past four decades and compared with real energy generation records. The result of the present work revealed that the river’s flow volume has reduced by approximately 51% while, energy generation has decreased by around 37%. Furthermore, the study predicted that the river flow will continue to decline in the future with a reduction rate of 0.67 m3/s per year.