Hydropower Generation Potential of the Pwalugu River of the White Volta River Basin, Ghana

Hydropower is one of the most commercially developed renewable energy sources globally. This study assessed the hydropower generation potential of the Pwalugu River section of the White Volta River in Ghana using the depth-averaged shallow-water equations (SWEs) hydrodynamic model. Various topographic models of the seabed were engineered to assess the topographic response to hydrodynamic flow, including the formation of whirlpools. The modelled equations were discretised using the Lax-Wendroff iteration scheme, and Python 3.07 was employed to implement the algorithm. The computed hydropower associated with the flowing fluid showed a significant difference before and after interacting with the engineered bottom-topographic structures. The topographic response to the flow led to increased mass flow rate, instigated by the developed flowing whirlpool, which served as a dynamic energy storage system for the flow channel. The topographic model with two mounts arranged along the river channel could produce power within the range of 1.8 MW - 2.9 MW. These were observed at locations x = 240 m, x = 481 m, and x = 962 m from the source of disturbances. The study, therefore, showed that the Pwalugu River section of White Volta River has the potential of generating hydropower if turbines are sited at these locations to enhance power generation capacity for the electrification of rural communities and the utlisation of the spillage from the Bagre dam in Burkina Faso, which causes perennial flooding in low-lying communities along the White Volta and the Black Volta in Ghana.