Environmental impacts and mitigation measures for pumped storage hydropower in Norwegian reservoirs (EnviPump) – Project number: 358659 - CUP E63C25002370005

The project aims to understand the effect of pumping operations in coupled reservoirs used for hydroelectric power generation, in which part of the water that is normally turbined as it flows from the upstream reservoir to the downstream reservoir is pumped back upstream when the price of electricity is sufficiently low. Particular attention will be paid to the impacts of such operations on the thermal stratification of the reservoirs and on the formation and stability of the ice layer at the surface, which will also be assessed on the basis of the interpretation of satellite imagery (SAR and visible). The analysis will be carried out using two thermo-hydrodynamic models of varying complexity: a three-dimensional model, Delft3D, and a two-dimensional (laterally averaged) model, CE-QUAL-W2. This project contributes to the EnviPump project coordinated by SINTEF, Norway.