Grafik: pixabay / Gerald Altmann
HYDRO
DIGITALISATION SET TO PLAY A CENTRAL ROLE IN HYDROPOWER UTILISATION Designed and developed decades ago, the architectural foundations of continental Europe’s energy infrastructure are still going strong. For the most part it was thermal power stations, supported by nuclear energy and hydropower facilities, that formed the essential backbone of the overall system. However, as fossil energy sources are gradually being phased out, the resulting changes require a full redesign of the entire system. A new system architecture will have to be set up to meet the European Green Deal goals, which call for complete EU-wide climate neutrality by 2050. Thermal power plants are to be reduced to a minimum, and their generating capacities are to be replaced mainly by wind and solar power stations. However, achieving these goals will certainly raise considerable challenges in terms of grid stability due to the highly volatile nature of these energy resources. New technologies are needed to deal with these challenges. In all probability, this is where the oldest form of renewable energy will enter the stage: hydropower – the one form of energy that is better suited than any other to ensure the required compensation on the grid. That said, it will take quite a lot of adaptations and technical innovation to make this possible. To get hydropower future-proof and ready for this demanding task, a high-profile network of researchers has been founded under the auspices of the European Energy Research Agency (EERA), which is dedicated to promoting current research at various locations through out Europe. The coordinator of the crucial “Digitalisation” sub-programme is well-known, especially in Austria: Dr. Eduard Doujak from TU Wien (the Technical University in Vienna), who took the time to give an interview to zek HYDRO. zek: Dr. Doujak, some months ago the prestigious energy research network of the European Energy Research Agency (or EERA for short) was extended to include a new joint programme on Hydropower. Could you please tell us a bit about the background of this move and its main objectives. Doujak: Most of the credit is due to the programme’s initiators from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). They had been lobbying for the programme to be included in the network. TU Wien was invited to participate along with several other universities. We thought a cooperation like that was a good idea and that it would open up some interesting perspectives. That’s how we became a part of the EERA. This research network is dedicated primarily to promoting the transformation of the European energy
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system into a climate-neutral enterprise by 2050. The umbrella organisation consists of a network of around 50,000 European researchers who are working in variety of relevant fields.
JP HYDROPOWER – a new subnetwork within the EERA Joint Research Programme Hydropower is one of the EERA network’s 17 main research programmes. Its stated purpose is to enable hydropower to advance to a key position in the context of the current restructuring of Europe’s renewable energy system. For this reason relevant research activities are being bundled and directed towards the programme’s common goal. The joint programme is headed by Professor Ole Gunnar Dahlhaug from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
zek: Who can join this network as it stands now? Doujak: It’s a research network that is open only to universities and research organisations. The six sub-programmes of JP HYDROPOWER:
SP1 Hydroelectric Units: electro-mechanical components for hydropower stations SP2 Hydropower Structures: all physical and constructional parts of hydropower stations SP3 Grid, System integration and Markets: grid issues, system integration, and markets SP4 Water Resources, Environmental Impact and Climate Adaptation: environmental issues SP5 Social Acceptance, Engagement and Policy: socio-economic aspects SP6 Digitalization: digital transformation in the hydropower industry
Homepage: www.eera-hydropower.eu
May 2021
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