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Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event

Received: 26 November 2021     Accepted: 20 December 2021     Published: 29 December 2021
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Abstract

The management of water resources and specifically the energy supply from hydropower systems are strongly affected by drought events. This paper is devoted to the unfolding of legal consequences caused by an extreme hydrological drought event. The legal litigation occurred when – due to a severe deficit of water – the hydropower company that manages the hydro energy resources over the entire territory of Romania was unable to deliver the amount of electricity stipulated in the power purchase agreements. The studypresents an extensive statistical analysis of extreme hydrological drought events occurrence, using the threshold level method. The statistical analysis was applied on large historical records of the flow rates (50-90 years) and revealed the occurrence of extreme drought events, i.e. extremely low occurrence frequency phenomena. The characteristics of the historical data were studied to highlight the area where the forecast normally used in the hydro generation planning is not possible. In order to evaluate the occurrence of extreme drought phenomena, the natural monthly and annually flows of the Danube and other seven major interior rivers in Romania (Argeș, Bistrița, Olt, Lotru, Sebeș, Someș, Siret and Raul Mare) were analyzed, reflecting fairly a general picture of the flow distribution on the entire territory. The analyzed cases refer to periods when – due to a severe deficit of water – the Romanian hydropower company was unable to generate electricity according to the power purchase agreements (PPA). The results of the statistical analysis were further used as the base for the legal cases that confirmed the force majeure situations claimed by the hydropower company.

Published in International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis (Volume 9, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16
Page(s) 201-213
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Water Resources, Extreme Drought, Unpredictability, Statistical Analysis

References
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[2] Traore Z. N. and Fontane D. G. (2007). “Managing Drought Impacts: Case Study of Mali, Africa.” Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management, 133 (4), 300-308, 10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9496(2007)133:4(300).
[3] Brewer M J, Heim R R Jr (2011) The Global Drought Monitor Portal. Published in Towards a Compendium on National Drought Policies: Proceedings of an Expert Meeting, Washington, D.C. USA, 115-124.
[4] Wilhite D A (2012) Breaking the Hydro-Illogical Cycle: Changing the Paradigm for Drought Management. EARTH Magazine 57: 7, 71–72.
[5] Wanders, N, Wada, Y, Van Lanen, HAJ. (2015). “Global hydrological droughts in the 21st century under a changing hydrological regime”, Earth System Dynamics Journal, 6 (1), 1-15, 10.5194/esd-6-1-2015.
[6] Wanders N, Wada Y (2015) Human and climate impacts on the 21st century hydrological drought, Journal of Hydrology, 526, SI, 208-220. 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2014.10.047.
[7] Van Lanen H A J, Laaha G, Kingston D G, Gauster T, Ionita M, et al. (2016) Hydrology needed to manage droughts: the 2015 European case. Hydrological Processes, 30 (17), 3097-3104.
[8] Leopold L B (1959) Probability Analysis Applied to a Water-Supply Problem. Geological Survay Circular 410, Washington.
[9] Assessment of the Regional Impact of Droughts in Europe [ARIDE] (2000) Drought Event Definition, Technical Report No. 6, Edited by H. Hisdal and L. M. Tallaksen.
[10] Van Loon A F (2015) Hydrological drought explained, WIREs Water, 2: 359–392, 10.1002/wat2.1085.
[11] Bonaventura H W, Tobgay S (2015) Construction Claim Types and Causes for a Large-Scale Hydropower Project in Bhutan. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 20 (1), 49–63. (http://web.usm.my/jcdc/vol20_1_2015/JCDC%2020(1)%202015-Art.%203%20(49-63).pdf).
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[19] Șerban, P., Stănescu, V. Al. and Roman, P. (1989). Dynamic hydrology (Hidrologie dinamică). Bucharest Technical Press (in Romanian).
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[21] Hydrological monograph [HM] (1967) The Danube river between Baziaș and Ceatal Izmail (“Dunărea între Baziaș și Ceatal Izmail”), Edited by Stănescu V. Al., The Romanian Hydrotechnical Studies and Research Institute Internal Publishing House (in Romanian).
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Petre Roman, Diana Maria Bucur, Georgiana Dunca. (2021). Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event. International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis, 9(6), 201-213. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16

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    ACS Style

    Petre Roman; Diana Maria Bucur; Georgiana Dunca. Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event. Int. J. Environ. Monit. Anal. 2021, 9(6), 201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16

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    AMA Style

    Petre Roman, Diana Maria Bucur, Georgiana Dunca. Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event. Int J Environ Monit Anal. 2021;9(6):201-213. doi: 10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16,
      author = {Petre Roman and Diana Maria Bucur and Georgiana Dunca},
      title = {Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event},
      journal = {International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis},
      volume = {9},
      number = {6},
      pages = {201-213},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijema.20210906.16},
      abstract = {The management of water resources and specifically the energy supply from hydropower systems are strongly affected by drought events. This paper is devoted to the unfolding of legal consequences caused by an extreme hydrological drought event. The legal litigation occurred when – due to a severe deficit of water – the hydropower company that manages the hydro energy resources over the entire territory of Romania was unable to deliver the amount of electricity stipulated in the power purchase agreements. The studypresents an extensive statistical analysis of extreme hydrological drought events occurrence, using the threshold level method. The statistical analysis was applied on large historical records of the flow rates (50-90 years) and revealed the occurrence of extreme drought events, i.e. extremely low occurrence frequency phenomena. The characteristics of the historical data were studied to highlight the area where the forecast normally used in the hydro generation planning is not possible. In order to evaluate the occurrence of extreme drought phenomena, the natural monthly and annually flows of the Danube and other seven major interior rivers in Romania (Argeș, Bistrița, Olt, Lotru, Sebeș, Someș, Siret and Raul Mare) were analyzed, reflecting fairly a general picture of the flow distribution on the entire territory. The analyzed cases refer to periods when – due to a severe deficit of water – the Romanian hydropower company was unable to generate electricity according to the power purchase agreements (PPA). The results of the statistical analysis were further used as the base for the legal cases that confirmed the force majeure situations claimed by the hydropower company.},
     year = {2021}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Establishing Legal Force Majeure Case for the Interruption of Hydro Energy Supply Related to an Extreme Hydrological Drought Event
    AU  - Petre Roman
    AU  - Diana Maria Bucur
    AU  - Georgiana Dunca
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16
    T2  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JF  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
    JO  - International Journal of Environmental Monitoring and Analysis
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    EP  - 213
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-7667
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijema.20210906.16
    AB  - The management of water resources and specifically the energy supply from hydropower systems are strongly affected by drought events. This paper is devoted to the unfolding of legal consequences caused by an extreme hydrological drought event. The legal litigation occurred when – due to a severe deficit of water – the hydropower company that manages the hydro energy resources over the entire territory of Romania was unable to deliver the amount of electricity stipulated in the power purchase agreements. The studypresents an extensive statistical analysis of extreme hydrological drought events occurrence, using the threshold level method. The statistical analysis was applied on large historical records of the flow rates (50-90 years) and revealed the occurrence of extreme drought events, i.e. extremely low occurrence frequency phenomena. The characteristics of the historical data were studied to highlight the area where the forecast normally used in the hydro generation planning is not possible. In order to evaluate the occurrence of extreme drought phenomena, the natural monthly and annually flows of the Danube and other seven major interior rivers in Romania (Argeș, Bistrița, Olt, Lotru, Sebeș, Someș, Siret and Raul Mare) were analyzed, reflecting fairly a general picture of the flow distribution on the entire territory. The analyzed cases refer to periods when – due to a severe deficit of water – the Romanian hydropower company was unable to generate electricity according to the power purchase agreements (PPA). The results of the statistical analysis were further used as the base for the legal cases that confirmed the force majeure situations claimed by the hydropower company.
    VL  - 9
    IS  - 6
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Hydraulics, Hydraulic Machinery and Environment Engineering, Faculty of Energy Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

  • Department of Hydraulics, Hydraulic Machinery and Environment Engineering, Faculty of Energy Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

  • Department of Hydraulics, Hydraulic Machinery and Environment Engineering, Faculty of Energy Engineering, University Politehnica of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

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