Feature Article: Value-Based Decision Making for Hydro Asset Management

Value-Based Decision Making for Hydro Asset Management—by Boudewijn Neijens & Miranda Alldritt

Assets are acquired and managed because of the value they bring to owners and operators, and considerable money and time are invested in maintaining and sustaining these assets to preserve their ability to deliver value.

Each and every investment planned for hydropower assets, whether a greenfield, growth, sustainment or routine investment, should contribute value. It is important to quantify this value appropriately, because it’s a crucial factor in determining whether or not an investment has merit, and how it ranks compared with other possible investments in a resource-constrained world.

In this technical article published in the 4th issue of the International Journal on Hydropower & Dams, Copperleaf’s Miranda Alldritt and Boudewijn Neijens review several methods that can be used to assess the value of hydropower investments.

They describe how the Copperleaf Value Framework takes into account the many contributors to project value—ranging from unit availability, capacity, and green power incentives, to flood control, and environmental and recreational impacts. They explain how to build a comprehensive value score for each project, and the importance of using decision analysis and optimization techniques that take the effect of time on value and risk into consideration. Read the full article here.

The International Journal on Hydropower & Dams publishes, for its readers in more than 180 countries, research papers, descriptive case studies, project updates, business and financial news, and policy papers aiming to help advance the state-of-the-art of dam engineering and hydropower development.