Optimising Water Allocation for Combined Irrigation and Hydropower Systems

The allocation of water resources among different sectors is often driven by distinct objectives, as exemplified by the divergence between hydropower production and irrigation. This study aims to optimise the water–energy nexus of an irrigation system abstracting water directly from a hydroelectric plant by minimising the pumping costs for irrigation, ensuring necessary water needs for crops and maximising revenue from hydropower generation. The optimisation procedure was implemented using a methodology based on a particle swarm optimisation algorithm and applied to a real case study located in northern Italy. The findings offer facility operators a management tool to optimise water resources efficiently for different needs.