Resumo:
The strong environmental and economic pressure on electrical projects currently
verified requires projects to be efficient. With a majority share in the Brazilian electricity
grid, hydroelectric facilities are essential in the current and future period of energy
transformation, with a relevant contribution to national water security. Aiming to
contribute to the efficiency of hydroelectric projects, the present work proposed a
simplified methodology to assess the impact of liquid discharge measurements on
hydraulic and hydrological studies and, consequently, on the design development and
operational control of hydroelectric plants. This methodology allowed measuring the
contribution of the development of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (VAS) to automate
liquid discharge measurement campaigns, conceived by an R&D project of the
Neoenergia group. Due to the speed and safety made possible by this automation, the
equipment will allow the expansion of the sampling of field campaigns that make up
the determination of key curves even in extreme hydrological conditions. This study
made use of data used in the project of the Tabajara hydroelectric plant, performing
simulations without these fluviometric measurements, with sampling limitation.
Deviations from the main hydrological parameters used in the project of this
hydroelectric plant were calculated, as well as the impact on the energy studies that
remunerate the asset, as a result, deviations of: 24% in the dimensioning of spillway
design; 19% diversion works of the river; 8% in the calculation of the ecological flow,
3.3% in the firm output and until, to 3.5 m in the dimensioning of the powerhouse deck
sizing. It was noted the importance of the existence of this VAS to increase the
efficiency and confiability of the projects by applying this equipment in the acquisition
of the hydrological data base to the development of studies and projects of
hydroelectric plants and other hydraulic works was verified.