Upgrading EU Hydropower for future needs

This week, Brussels was abuzz with the discussion of hydropower and its role in the power system of Europe. As hydropower makes up a big share of the electricity mix in Europe, we are keenly aware of the role hydropower is playing today and will play in the future of our energy system. To reinforce that, this week we launched the first in a series of short reports to call attention to hydropower’s unique benefits. This report is about Europe’s leading source of renewable storage and flexibility – storage and flexibility being an energy transition imperative that we detailed just two weeks ago. What we did not detail, was the vast potential of hydropower in the energy system of tomorrow. That is what we will do today.

Back on the menu: storage and flexibility

Just a few weeks ago a provisional deal was reached on the revised Renewable Energy Directive (RED), setting 2030 RES targets up to 42,5% To achieve this a massive expansion of installed solar PV and wind capacities is required. One related issue, however, is rather neglected in the current policy debate. The integration of these two intermittent technologies leads to an increasing need for flexibility and storage to ensure a balanced and reliable power system. ?These can come in the form of dispatchable power plants that allow electricity supply to be matched with demand – also known as flexibility – and storage capacity to soak up surplus electricity and feed it back into the grid as needed. As our article a couple of weeks ago explained, there are a number of technologies that can fit into these categories. Pumped hydro storage was described in passing but it and the broader hydropower technology deserves a second look, as, in fact, it fits both simultaneously.

Today’s special: water

To be stressed first, all types of hydropower are crucial to our energy system. On the one hand, there are big reservoirs and related run-of-river plants that can adapt their generation to demand, providing a valuable contribution of about 20% of the EU's total electricity generation that can be ramped up or down as needed – thus acting as flexible capacity. Then there are so-called pumped storage plants, which, as the name indicates, provide electricity storage via their pumping system.

The crucial benefit of pumped hydro for the energy transition is the fact that when surplus electricity is available from the variable generation of wind and PV, that electricity can be used to pump water from a lower to an upper reservoir and can be transformed back into electricity whenever it is needed. When compared with the storage technologies hydrogen and batteries, this process wields a much higher efficiency factor and is possible on a much larger scale respectively, and at a competitive cost.

In this week’s hydropower short report, six points are mentioned that drive home the benefits of hydropower for Europe’s energy system:

Can we supersize it?

Pumped hydropower storage already packs a punch. As noted above, it accounts for 90% of electricity storage capacity in the EU today, according to the European Commission ’s Directorate-General for Energy and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) . What is more, we do not need to build out new assets to increase capacity, and new greenfield projects alone will not be able to achieve the capacity expansion required. In the figure below, there is a potential to deliver 36,000 MW across Europe simply by upgrading existing reservoirs. This is equivalent to 80% of the capacity of pumped hydro storage that we already have or 11.5 million electric vehicles (EVs). ?

Take, for example, the Lünerseewerk II project in Austria, a new pumped storage plant to be built on an existing reservoir with a generation capacity of 1,000 MW and a potential pump capacity of 1,000 MW. In Portugal at Alto Lindoso as well, an old turbine is being replaced with a reversible unit able to generate 630 MW and pump 315 MW. Numerous other projects like this exemplify the central point that we can add more storage to our already flexible hydropower generation, serving a crucial role in the energy transition.

For delivery

Ensuring this potential is met in the coming decade to aid in Europe’s energy transition requires a number of actions taken today that are pointed out in the short report. As the debate around the EU’s electricity market design swirls, we must ensure the fundamental marginal pricing principle remains unscathed as it is what ensures that flexible hydroelectricity is dispatched when it is needed most. Beyond that, investor confidence in projects must be ensured through a stable legislative environment, fair remuneration for investments, and more certainty and expediency in the permitting process. Hydropower is a renewable energy source, and as such should receive the same support as any other renewable project. The double role as a flexibility source and storage capacity should also be considered as well as its multi-purpose benefits outside of the energy sector.

??The power of hydro in the EU’s energy system is indisputable, although the technology can often be the target of misleading arguments and discriminating legislation. Nonetheless, the success of the energy transition depends on all technologies, and the role of hydropower is unmistakable - flexibility and storage potential included. That is not all it has to offer, however, and we will be bringing another short report like this one to you in the coming months. Stay tuned for our second hydropower report.

This week's edition written by:

Nicholas A. Steinwand, Strategic Communications Officer -?Eurelectric

With technical input by:

Adrian Lindermuth , Policy Advisor - Eurelectric