Modeling Hydropower Systems for Training

The implemented version of the software package for
research and calculation of complex hydraulic systems, in the
current implemented version, allows to carry out water-energy
modes of operation for one of the hydroelectric power stations
of the Volga-Kama cascade - Votkinskaya HPP. In its current
version, the complex allows to carry out water-energy
calculation of the operation mode of the station for one watereconomic
year. Currently, this complex is used as a tool for
coursework in the Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

One of the significant shortcomings in the development of
the country's scientific and technical potential is the growing
gap between academic and university fundamental science.
This leads to the dispersion of funds, disunity of scientists, and
a decrease in the quality of education.
Many software packages are created to solve a specific
problem. In the field of hydropower, each hydroelectric power
plant or cascade of plants has its own software package, with
its own features and with its own requirements. Most of these
systems have been used for a long time and do not contain the
latest achievements in the field of software development or in
the field of computing optimization, which leads to a large
number of papers and dissertations on the optimization of one
particular cascade, plant. It affects the quality of training of
students in Universities, as you have to choose what to pay
more time, to seek guidance on working with complex and due
to the narrow specialization, they generally are available only
to staff the plant, so the employment in this field have to learn
to work with the new software. [1].
With the development of computer technology, training in
innovation and teamwork skills has become particularly
important in technical education. In interactive technologies,
the role of the educator and the trainees is changing, and the
role of information is also changing: information becomes not
the goal of the educational process, but a means for mastering
the actions and operations necessary for innovation [2].
The introduction of computer technologies in the
educational process, as well as the saturation of universities
with computer technology, significantly weakened the interest
in other types of technical means. Recent events in the world
have shown that the learning process can be completely built
on the basis of computer technologies and the Internet, but at
the same time the quality of education deteriorates, students '
attention is lost, and interest in the discipline decreases.
Currently, there are no software packages that allow
optimizing water and energy regimes in large hydropower
systems with complex hydraulic and electrical connections.
The project offers the development of a software package that
allows optimizing water and energy regimes in large
hydropower systems with complex hydraulic and electrical
connections, taking into account the experience of using
similar complexes for specific hydro power plant (HPP)
cascades and other hydropower complexes. The planned
software package can be used both for calculating the waterenergy
mode of operation of a separate HPP or pumped storage
power plant (PSPP) (or cascade of plants) when planning
operational modes, and for performing calculations for
research, design, and training purposes [3].
II. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND PROBLEM STATEMENT
Russian Professional standard 20.007 "Employee for
planning modes of hydroelectric power plants/accumulating
power plants" formulates the main purpose of the type of
professional activity as follows: planning of water-power,
electric power and hydrological modes of operation of
hydropower facilities, ensuring reliable, uninterrupted and
trouble-free operation of equipment and electricity generation
[4]. This work is devoted to solving some problems of studying

complex hydropower systems, as well as teaching students
how to calculate the water-energy regime of HPP operation,
which includes the following knowledge, skills and abilities:
• Calculation of the optimal water-energy regime of a
plant/cascade of plants;
• Implementation of water management and waterenergy
calculations of modes of hydropower
installations with reservoirs of different types of river
flow regulation;
• Verification of the correctness of the performed
calculations, the reliability of the final and intermediate
results, ensuring the execution of repeated
(verification) calculations, if necessary;
• Carrying out calculations in accordance with the
current requirements of scientific and technical
achievements, imposed on the results of calculations;
• Search for and use in the work of regulatory and
technical documentation.
One of the key factors in the learning process is the
feedback from the complex and the student's understanding of
what actions he performs, and why he does it this way. The
theoretical basis is provided by the university teacher, and the
practical one is already a complex, so it is important that the
actions performed in the complex do not differ or contradict
the theoretical foundations [5].
Since the work involves mathematical modeling of
complex hydropower systems, it should imply the necessary
functionality that allows you to conduct studies of arbitrary
systems with complex hydrological connections, which involve
hydroelectric power plants, hydroelectric power plants,
pumping plants. The complex should take into account the
stochastic nature of river flow and the variability of
hydrometric characteristics of watercourses. When conducting
the research, the complex's functionality should support
various modern methods of optimizing the water and energy
regime [6].
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE ON THE
EXAMPLE OF THE VOTKINSK HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT
The implemented complex is designed for the study of
complex hydropower systems. The first step to solving the
problems described above is to obtain a solution for the
existing hydroelectric system, since the main task in
conducting research is to obtain an average long-term output,
we can consider as the first stage obtaining electricity
generation by direct water-energy calculation for the long-term
operation of the plant. The Votkinskaya HPP was taken as an
existing hydroelectric facility.
To plan the long – term operation of the Votkinsk
hydroelectric power plant, the rules for the use of water
resources of the reservoir (hereinafter referred to as the Rules)
are used as the main document [7]. The restrictions imposed on
the long-term operation of the hydroelectric power plant, which
were taken into account in this work, are also described in the
rules.
Taking into account the restrictions on the Rules, it is
necessary to determine the mode of operation of the
hydroelectric power plant for the next year. After receiving
mode, possible to say how much electricity it produces
hydroelectric power for the year, determine the area of work
plants in the annual load chart, schedule repairs and to assess
the profit that can be paid to the plant over the next year. Like
many plants that are operating power facilities, Votkinskaya
HPP operates according to the reservoir's dispatching schedule,
that is, a set of certain recommended values that determine the
permissible values for the final mark of the reservoir at the end
of the period under review, as well as the marks determine the
permissible average flow rate of the station for the period
under review. Since existing power facilities are most often
subjected to research on the optimal use of water resources
both by the company itself and by scientists, the availability of
a database of existing facilities, their limitations and features of
operation will be a useful addition to the tool for the study of
complex hydraulic systems [8].
The operation of the hydroelectric power plant and the
planning of its operating mode in the presence of the current
dispatching schedule, has some features. According to the
available initial information, namely, inflow costs, the initial
mark set at the beginning of the billing period, the operating
zone in the field of the dispatcher schedule and the average
flow rate of this zone are determined, then, according to the
algorithm presented in [9], the upstream mark at the end of the
billing period is determined. The resulting upstream mark is
plotted on the dispatch chart, if the final mark does not go
beyond the boundaries of the working area and the restrictions
imposed by other water users are not violated, then this
discharge flow into the downstream is taken as the main one
for this calculation interval, the resulting upstream mark
becomes the initial mark for the next calculation period.