Estimating the economic value of hydropeaking externalities in regulated rivers
Ruokamo, Enni; Juutinen, Artti; Bin Ashraf, Faisal; Haghighi, Ali Torabi; Hellsten, Seppo; Huuki, Hannu; Karhinen, Santtu; Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria; Marttila, Hannu; Pongracz, Eva; Romakkaniemi, Atso; Vermaat, Jan E. (2023-11-06)
Ruokamo, Enni
Juutinen, Artti
Bin Ashraf, Faisal
Haghighi, Ali Torabi
Hellsten, Seppo
Huuki, Hannu
Karhinen, Santtu
Kopsakangas-Savolainen, Maria
Marttila, Hannu
Pongracz, Eva
Romakkaniemi, Atso
Vermaat, Jan E.
Elsevier
06.11.2023
Ruokamo, E., Juutinen, A., Ashraf, F. B., Haghighi, A. T., Hellsten, S., Huuki, H., Karhinen, S., Kopsakangas-Savolainen, M., Marttila, H., Pongracz, E., Romakkaniemi, A., & Vermaat, J. E. (2024). Estimating the economic value of hydropeaking externalities in regulated rivers. In Applied Energy (Vol. 353, p. 122055). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2023.122055.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202402071628
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:oulu-202402071628
Tiivistelmä
Abstract
Hydropower is a flexible form of electricity generation providing both baseload and balancing power to accommodate intermittent renewables in the energy mix. However, hydropower also generates various externalities. This study investigates individuals' preferences for policies aiming to reduce short-term regulations (i.e., hydropeaking in regulated rivers) while accounting for associated externalities with a discrete choice experiment. This is the first valuation study focusing on hydropeaking that considers both negative and positive externalities. The results imply that most individuals prefer stronger restrictions on short-term regulations to mitigate local environmental impacts. Individuals especially value improvements in recreational use, fish stocks, and the ecological state. On the other hand, potential increases in CO2 emissions are linked with a clear disutility. The estimated benefits obtained from an improved state of the river environment due to such restrictions exceed the disutility caused by increased CO2 emissions. The results also reveal unobserved preference heterogeneity among individuals, which should be accounted for in the willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimation using a model specification with correlated utility coefficients. Overall, the findings can inform policy-makers and environmental managers on the economic value of hydropeaking externalities and further guide the sustainable management of rivers regulated for hydropower generation.
Hydropower is a flexible form of electricity generation providing both baseload and balancing power to accommodate intermittent renewables in the energy mix. However, hydropower also generates various externalities. This study investigates individuals' preferences for policies aiming to reduce short-term regulations (i.e., hydropeaking in regulated rivers) while accounting for associated externalities with a discrete choice experiment. This is the first valuation study focusing on hydropeaking that considers both negative and positive externalities. The results imply that most individuals prefer stronger restrictions on short-term regulations to mitigate local environmental impacts. Individuals especially value improvements in recreational use, fish stocks, and the ecological state. On the other hand, potential increases in CO2 emissions are linked with a clear disutility. The estimated benefits obtained from an improved state of the river environment due to such restrictions exceed the disutility caused by increased CO2 emissions. The results also reveal unobserved preference heterogeneity among individuals, which should be accounted for in the willingness-to-pay (WTP) estimation using a model specification with correlated utility coefficients. Overall, the findings can inform policy-makers and environmental managers on the economic value of hydropeaking externalities and further guide the sustainable management of rivers regulated for hydropower generation.
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