Enabling sustainable development along the Elbe river

Just downstream of the city of Hamburg, the tide-influenced part of the Elbe River has been witnessing low oxygen conditions, negatively impacting the fragile ecosystem. With new power plants planned along the river, several concerns were raised, related to the cooling water discharge from the power plants into the river and the consequent impact on the aquatic environment. To address these concerns, the adjacent federal states decided to develop a heat capacity plan. To help with this, we developed a hydraulic ecological model based on our MIKE by DHI software, which served as a potent instrument supporting authorities during the licensing procedures.