EFFECTS OF SOME WEATHER PARAMETERS AND RESERVOIR INFLOW PATTERN ON HYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATION IN KAINJI DAM NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

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Date
2016-05
Authors
ADEGBEHIN, Ayodeji Benjamin
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Abstract
The focus of this empirical study is to investigate the effect of weather parameters and reservoir inflow patterns on hydroelectric power generation in Kainji dam Niger state, Nigeria. Investigation was conducted using rainfall, temperature, evaporation, reservoir inflow and the data on amount of power generated for the period of thirty years from Kainji Hydropower Station. Hypothesis was tested for relationship between the weather parameters (rainfall, temperature, evaporation) and reservoir inflow on the amount of power generated using Pearsons product moment correlation coefficient. The data collected was used to show the trend pattern of each parameter for the time frame of study. The amount of power generated for the period of study was analyzed to know the season that more electricity was generated. The seasons were divided into wet season (AprilOctober) and then the dry season (November-March). The mean annual electricity in mega watts per hour in each season was found before getting the overall mean for the dry season and overall mean for the wet season for the thirty years period (1985-2014). The trends of the parameters for the time frame of study were shown using trend lines. The study reveals that dry season has more electricity generated (270 mwh) than the rainy season (202 mwh). The low flow period in Kainji reservoir is between March and July of each year, while April marks the beginning of the wet season period in the area, this must have contributed to the low amount of power generated during this period. Precipitation, evaporation and temperature show an increasing trend, while the reservoir inflow pattern show a decreasing trend, while all parameters exhibit fluctuations at various levels. The research indicated that rainfall and reservoir inflow have strong relationships with the amount of power generated, with 0.83 and 0.92 correlation coefficients while temperature with 0.21 and evaporation with 0.33 do not have significant relationship with the amount of power generated. It was recommended that the government should encourage the use of other alternative sources of electricity generation in order to meet the growing demand in electricity. Also, the remaining 4 turbines in Kainji reservoir should be installed as it would increase the number of the turbines in the station from 8 to 12 turbines as initially designed. This will help to increase the reservoir generating capacity to 960 Megawatts instead of only 760 Megawatts.
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A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc) IN GEOGRAPHY DEPARTMENT OF GEOGRAPHY FACULTY OF SCIENCE AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA
Keywords
EFFECTS,, WEATHER PARAMETERS,, RESERVOIR INFLOW PATTERN,, HYDROELECTRIC POWER GENERATION,, KAINJI DAM NIGER STATE,, NIGERIA
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