This paper examines the risk assessment procedure for a Nordic hydropower production process while taking climate change into account. It is evident that climate change poses new risks and concerns for hydropower companies, especially with regards to the high uncertainty that results from the ignorance of relationships between climate change and hydropower production (descriptive uncertainty). However, climate change may also provide opportunities. This paper focuses on the development of a risk assessment procedure to support the risk identification process as a means of reducing the descriptive uncertainty. The intention of the study was to develop and test a procedure in which climate scenarios and traditional technical risk assessment have been integrated. This allows us to obtain a practical method as well as associated support tools for identifying and evaluating climate change-related risks and opportunities for hydropower plants. This new procedure is intended to help hydropower plants plan their future investments and strategies by identifying and prioritizing the risks caused and opportunities created by climate change. The study was conducted as a part of the Nordic Energy Research funded Climate and Energy Systems (CES) project and was coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.
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April 01 2010
Creating a climate change risk assessment procedure: Hydropower plant case, Finland
Riitta Molarius;
1VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1300, FI-33101, Tampere, Finland
E-mail: [email protected]
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Jaana Keränen;
Jaana Keränen
1VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1300, FI-33101, Tampere, Finland
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Jari Schabel;
Jari Schabel
1VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1300, FI-33101, Tampere, Finland
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Nina Wessberg
Nina Wessberg
1VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1300, FI-33101, Tampere, Finland
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Hydrology Research (2010) 41 (3-4): 282–294.
Article history
Received:
December 09 2008
Accepted:
October 01 2009
Citation
Riitta Molarius, Jaana Keränen, Jari Schabel, Nina Wessberg; Creating a climate change risk assessment procedure: Hydropower plant case, Finland. Hydrology Research 1 June 2010; 41 (3-4): 282–294. doi: https://doi.org/10.2166/nh.2010.123
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