Editorial

SAVING ON THE TRANSFORMATION TO RENEWABLES TODAY MEANS BURNING TOMORROW’S REMAINING TREASURES

In March last year, the WHO officially announced the COVID-19 situation had become a pandemic. Since then, we’ve experienced a year of upheaval, most of it for the worse. To a greater or lesser degree there have been consequences for many businesses in the hydroelectric sector, too. The virtues of stamina, persistence and composure have been of great value in the face of the extreme restrictions on travel and mobility, problems with subcontractors, complex testing programmes and the omnipresent necessity of preventing infection. In fact, more than ever we’ve depended on – and continue to depend on – our creativity and flexibility. Only those capable of adapting, and of providing the best ideas and solutions, are best-equipped to thrive in adversity. It’s not easy to identify the positives in a crisis, although there’s no doubt they exist. The realisation that team meetings don’t have to involve flying to Munich, Oslo or Lisbon will surely endure. Almost everything can be just as easily discussed in an online conference, as reflected by the astronomical growth in the market values of tech companies offering video conference services. Similarly, the option to control certain functions and facilities remotely is also here to stay, although the capacities of such systems are still limited. Despite the general atmosphere of pandemic fatigue, there have certainly been two sides to the Corona coin. The reality we knew is making way for a ‘new normal’ – a reality in which vaccination programmes are promising to return our familiar freedoms. The first warmer days of spring and the ever more comprehensive vaccination campaigns are encouraging us to look forward to a time when personal contact is the norm again. The previous Covid year has made clear to us that personal contact is something we can’t replace. Kick-starting the economy, while aiming to create a sustainable future, will require us to remain active, resolute and responsible in investing in the energy transition. Cost-cutting in the field of renewable resource development simply equates to the incineration of the natural wealth of tomorrow’s generations. IRENA, the International Renewable Energy Agency, very recently published a new study showing that public investment in the energy transition is a direct creator of employment and, thus, a GDP growth catalyst. Consequently, raising the overall annual volume of investment in renewables to 4.5 trillion US dollars would expand the global economy by 1.3% and more or less triple employment in the sector to 30 million people. This would allow progress toward economic recovery and the achievement of climate goals to be realised harmoniously. The role of hydropower in tomorrow’s energy mix is becoming increasingly clear. It’s capacity to guarantee dispatchable generation, and to deliver reserve power and compensatory energy, will ensure it remains a central pillar of Europe’s energy supply. A prime example of its importance for Europe’s power grids occurred on the 8th January this year, when the European power grid almost collapsed. The emergency mechanisms intervened within seconds. Just an hour after the alarm had sounded, the situation had been ironed out and the grid had returned to its usual ‘cruising altitude’ of 50 Hz. Regardless of the reasons for this perilous power-out, one thing became clear very quickly: This response would not have been possible without hydropower. Within a few seconds Austria’s hydropower plants, and a number of gas power stations, managed to provide the extra energy required to prop up the grid and eradicate the threat of a general power cut – a capability none of the other renewables can guarantee. Should there ever be an actual blackout, it will again be our hydroelectric power plants that repower the electricity grid, a fact that highlights the unique status of hydropower among the renewable energies. I wish all our valued readers an enjoyable and informative time reading the latest edition of zek HYDRO.

Best regards, Roland Gruber