In Norway, many watercourses are regulated for hydropower production and this can help in managing floods. Hydropower producers can utilise the flexibility of their production system to help limit flood damage, and thus the larger society can be saved extensive costs. In the SamVann project, we will look at the socio-economic value of flood management from existing hydropower reservoirs and regulations.
In order to be able to weigh the socio-economical costs of preventive measures such as draining reservoirs prior to an expected flood event, against the socio-economical value of avoided damages and costs, up-to-date knowledge of costs and their drivers is needed.
SamVann will establish a method for estimating the socio-economic value of flood mitigation from hydropower regulation by developing cost functions for flood damages that can be used in hydraulic simulations in various test watercourses.
The simulations will also take into account that future climate change may result in less predictable flood events, so that more knowledge is needed on how the various cost components are affected by new hydrological conditions and various flood parameters, such as flood peak, speed and duration of water flow.
Research partners:
Business partners:
- Energi Norge
- Statkraft
- Hydro Energy
- BKK
- Sira-Kvina
- Østfold Energi
- Skagerak Energi
- NVE
- Statens Vegvesen
- Tryg Forsikring
- Multiconsult
- COWI
- Mycoteam
Other project partners:
- Lærdal kommune
- Trondheim Municipality
- County Governor of Vestland
- Huseiernes Landsforbund
- The Co-operative Housing Federation of Norway (NBBL)
In cooperation with:
This is an Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector, partly financed by the Research Council of Norwah.