Evaluating the Potential Use of River Kaduna for the Production of Hydro-Power Using QSWAT

Abstract

This paper applied geo-spatial technology and the Soil and Water Assessment Tool(SWAT) modeling tool for the assessment of hydropower potential in the River Kaduna, Kaduna State, daily precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature data, discharge records, land use, and soil data were used for the SWAT model setup and simulation. The model was calibrated using river runoff data (1997-2002) with a model performance of R² of 0.71,Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) of 0.859, Percentage Bias (PBAIS) of 10.39 and validated using river runoffdata (2003-2008) with a model performance of R² of 0.75, NSE of 0.96 and PBAIS of 12.59, which shows a good correlation. The validated SWAT model was used to simulate the river flow discharge at the potential hydropower points. One potential hydropower location was identified that fulfilled the criteria of sufficient head determined from digital elevation model (DEM) processing.