Abstract
Spatially-coherent droughts are a major threat to the proper functioning of Southeast Asia’s power supply and decarbonization policies, all depending on hydropower supply and long-distance power transfers. Here, we focus on the Laotian-Thai grid—the largest power infrastructure in the region—for which we developed a model representing the relationship between hydro-climatological conditions, water availability, and power system behavior. We show that prolonged droughts in the Mekong basin reduce hydropower production by about 4,000 GWh/ year, increasing the annual production costs and CO2 emissions by about US$ 120 millions and 2.5 million metric tonnes, respectively. These events are largely explained by the periodic oscillations in the tropical eastern Pacific Ocean that modulate water availability in Southeast Asia. Our findings can help reduce the carbon footprint of power systems and inform the design of hydroelectric dams.
Biography
Dr. Stefano Galelli is an Associate Professor at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) and an Adjunct Research Scientist at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University. His research focuses on the development of analytics for the operation of interconnected infrastructure systems and the characterization of hydro-climatological risks. Dr. Galelli carried out his studies at Politecnico di Milano, where he earned a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering (2004, 2007) and a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technology (2011). His previous experience includes a two-year period at the Singapore-Delft Water Alliance, National University of Singapore, where he led the water management group. Dr. Galelli was awarded the Early Career Research Excellence Award (2014) by the international Environmental Modelling & Software society and the 2017 SUTD Excellence in Research Award. His work has been recognized by multiple international journals, including Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, and Earth’s Future.