ABSTRACT
Water Vortex Power Plants (WVPP) are small hydroelectric power plants for exploiting the hydropower potential at locations with low heads and discharges. Marketed as “fish friendly” facilities, they allow fish to migrate in up- and downstream directions. Within the scope of a Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) funded research project, the Technische Universität Dresden developed a 1:1 laboratory model of a WVPP, in order to enable the realisation of animal experiments with different fish species and to collect validation data for the 3D-CFD-simulation of the facility. The combination of radio frequency identification (RFID) telemetry and video recording permitted a quantitative analysis of the behaviour. Significant impacts on the fish due to pass-related damage did not occur. Collisions with the turbine blades are not expected due to the low turbine speed and flow velocities and did not materialize. The CFD model supports the understanding of the relationship between current signature and the fish’s chosen motion path.
