Small Hydropower Boosting our European economies
The European Small Hydropower Association (ESHA) is a federation of European national hydropower associations as well as members from all sectors of the hydropower field, such as equipment manufacturers, public utilities, independent producers, research institutes, investors, industry and consultants. ESHA represents the interests of the (small) hydropower sector by promoting the benefits and opportunities of hydropower (a mature renewable energy technology) at EU level.
Contact & Info: European Small Hydropower Association Renewable Energy House Rue d’Arlon, 63-65 1040 Brussels (Belgium) www.esha.be - info@esha.be +32 2 400 10 67
Did you know? The Small Hydropower (SHP) industry has an important economic value for Europe with at least 29,000 direct employees and 4,200 companies working in the sector1. SHP can support regional development: agriculture (additional revenues for farmers, irrigation, flood control), tourism (history of ancient mills, electricity for touristic attractions in remote areas) and other benefits to local communities (water supply, monitoring of water quality, additional income opportunity for inhabitants of remote areas and for authorities through taxes). The refurbishment of old SHP plants could generate high incomes for European companies. 1. These figures do not include data from Germany and Austria.
Current challenges European environmental legislation and national implementing laws hinder the development, the operation and the refurbishment of SHP plants through some overshooting measures which have a high impact on the economic viability of the sector. SHP faces many administrative barriers. The licensing procedure for the sector is currently an extremely time consuming, highly bureaucratic procedure and with too many uncertainties. The adaptation of certain support schemes can have an impact on the viability of the sector, in particular when not taking into account the multipurpose application of SHP. Some evolutions in water rights can also negatively affect the sector. SHP developers and investors lack a fair and stable policy framework.
Recommendations Environmental policies should be based on a cost-benefit analysis to ensure the economic viability of the SHP sector. Licensing procedures and issuing permits should rely on simple, fair, solid & transparent procedures (‘One-stop shops’). Fair support mechanisms should take into account the multipurpose features of hydropower and the growing costs arising from environmental obligations. Effective primary access of SHP to the grid, netbilling (payment for actual electricity sent to the grid) or/and authorised direct selling of electricity to third parties in the Member States where it is not possible today are measures that would increase the competitiveness of SHP, while promoting decentralised energy production. Member States should develop strategies to fully integrate SHP plants in regional development policies (e.g. touristic activities).
Small Hydropower Boosting our European economies
Research lacks adequate funding in order to help the sector to reach its full potential.