Application of Geographical Information System in Environmental and Economic assessment of Run-of-river Hydropower in Central Vietnam

Abstract

Conventional hydropower exploitation includes building large dams and reservoirs would pose significant impact to the environment. Recently there is trend to switch from building large hydropower plant to small and medium size, particular run-of-river hydropower plant. This study assesses the feasibility of installing run-of-hydropower scheme in the Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin with regards to the environmental and economic impact. The analysis was performed using GIS to identify the location of power plant that might have environmental constrains. The economic payback of each power plant was calculated and spotted on the digital maps. The methodology proposed in this study could be helpful for decision-makers in the preliminary identification of the most suitable locations to install run-of-river plants in the Vu Gia Thu Bon river basin.