Abstract: In view of the fact that hydropower stations in a river basin are the estate of different owners, the compensation benefit allocation of cascade stations should not merely ensure the maximization of overall benefit but meet equity and rationality. This paper describes a new method for compensation benefit allocation of the multi-owner stations, namely the variation coefficient-Shapley value method or a combination of the variation coefficient method and the Shapley value method, and applies it to the three-level cascade stations in the Nanhe valley of the middle Hanjiang. Results show that this method not only considers the contribution rates by various hydropower plants in joint scheduling, but also takes into account each plant’s capacity, output, adjustable reservoir capacity, multi-year average power generation and other individual characteristics. Thus, it helps achieve the equity and rationality of the allocation and promote each plant’s participation in the cascade joint dispatching, ensuring the benefit maximization of cascade joint scheduling.

Key words: compensation benefits allocation, multi-owners, cascade hydropower stations, variation coefficient method, Shapley value method