Hydropower

Hydro engineering and water management

As a source of renewable energy, hydropower is particularly important to New Zealand. Many hydropower projects are multi-disciplinary, requiring a broad range of hydrological and hydraulic modelling skills including:

• Hydrological analyses, including flood and low flow yield assessments

• River and floodplain modelling

• Spillway capacity and dam break studies

• Resource consent applications and reviews

• Hydraulic design for hydropower and irrigation including intakes, canals and penstocks

A variety of hydrological and hydraulic modelling packages are routinely used to assess:

• Existing and post-scheme hydrological analysis and simulation to assess catchment rainfall characteristics or, for example, the existing and post-scheme hydrological characteristics of a river at a power station outfall

• Dam break, river, and floodplain modelling to assess the hydraulic effects in a river

• Pipe network modelling

• Floodplain and spillway capacity modelling

• Flood routing to calibrate catchment response during recorded events to enable accurate estimates of design floods including peak monitoring flow