Browsing by Author "Melo Contreras, Óscar Alfredo"

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    Adaptation to Climate Change in Basins within the Context of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus
    (2023) Jander Palma, Vicente Gabriel; Vicuña Díaz, Sebastián; Melo Contreras, Óscar Alfredo; Lorca Galvez, Álvaro Hugo
    This study uses a water-food-energy nexus model, which connects water-based productive activities and allocation policies, to simulate water resources management strategies for adapting the Maule Basin in Chile to climate change impacts. Two strategies are considered: introducing linear hedging rules to a reservoir and establishing adaptative water rights linked to irrigation efficiency of crops in the area. The simulations are run over 14 different climatic scenarios that project different water availability conditions. A multiobjective optimization of environmental, agricultural, and energy outcome indicators is conducted to generate noninferior portfolios that combine the strategies proposed. Simulation results, though limited to a deterministic approach and pessimistic climate scenarios, show that 79 out of the 84 combinations of objective-scenarios increase their performance because of the strategies, with notable increases in agricultural resilience (64%), outflow (92%), and total benefits (26%). We find considerable trade-offs between the food/energy production and water outflow, alongside agricultural vulnerability and resilience.
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    Evaluation of multipurpose reservoir operating policies at basin and electric power system scales
    (2024) Durán Flores, Antonia Ignacia Paz; Favereau Monti, Marcel Joseph; Lorca Gálvez, Álvaro Hugo; Vicuña Diaz, Sebastián; Melo Contreras, Óscar Alfredo; Negrete Pincetic, Matías Alejandro
    Climatic phenomena, particularly hydrological droughts, have led to significant changes in reservoir operation strategies. Multi-purpose reservoir operations are essential for effectively managing stored water resources for various activities like electricity generation andagricultural irrigation. Despite considerable efforts to support decision making for each economic activity, there remains a weak integrationacross these sectors in joint analyses. To address this, an integrated approach combining a model of a large power system and a model at the basinscale is proposed to analyze the operation of both power and agricultural systems. This approach allows evaluation of the operating policies of amultipurpose reservoir and its performance at both the local and regional scales under different hydrological scenarios. A modification is imple-mented whereby the priority of water extraction to agricultural users is increased. Its effects are assessed for different hydrological trajectories ina case study in the Laja Lake basin in southern Chile, the biggest Chilean basin with a capacity of up to5,500Hm3. The Laja Lake, a multi-purpose reservoir with substantial hydroelectric generation capacity and extensive agricultural areas plays a crucial role in the operation of thenational power system. Based on an analysis of 2025, it is demonstrated that hydrological changes directly impact electrical and agriculturalperformance. Drought conditions increase thermal generation, costs, emission intensity, and water deficits. Furthermore, the policy modificationreveals tradeoffs between the power sector’s emissions and agricultural water deficits. For drier scenarios, increasing agricultural extractionpriority results in low additional operational costs and emissions from the power system, which supports adopting a policy aligned with netzero objectives.