From the Editor’s Desk |
Hydropower at Europe’s flexibility frontier
E
urope’s energy transition is unfolding at unprecedented speed. By 2050, variable renewable energy (VRE) is expected to make up around 86% of installed capacity, driving flexibility requirements to seven times today’s levels, exceeding
2,000 TWh annually. For engineers in the hydropower sector, this isn’t an abstract policy figure – it is a looming operational reality. The question is no longer whether hydropower will be needed, but how quickly and effectively we can adapt the fleet to shoulder the flexibility burden. Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is Europe’s unrivalled long-duration storage asset. With 48GW installed across the EU and Switzerland, it provides about 1.2TWh of storage today. Yet this is nowhere near sufficient to absorb the growing surpluses from wind and solar. Curtailment already cost Europe €4.3 billion in 2023; by 2030, curtailed energy could reach 118 TWh annually. Engineers know that every gigawatt of PSH brought online is not simply a new plant – it is a buffer against wasted electricity, market instability, and blackouts. The technology’s strengths lie in its ability to deliver services across the full timescale of system needs. From inertia and fast frequency response to week- long energy arbitrage, PSH remains uniquely versatile. Variable-speed reversible pump-turbines extend this capability, offering rapid frequency regulation even in pumping mode. Black start functionality, demonstrated during the April 2025 Iberian blackout, underscores hydropower’s resilience role: PSH was among the first assets capable of re-energising the system without external supply. Few technologies can match this portfolio.
But the engineering challenge is only half the story.
The real bottleneck lies in economics and regulation. Long project lead times – often close to a decade – collide with volatile market conditions and under- compensation for essential services. Many system- critical contributions, from voltage support to synthetic inertia, are either excluded from remuneration frameworks or priced below cost. For PSH operators, this translates into higher wear, accelerated equipment fatigue, and strained O&M budgets without commensurate returns.
4 | October 2025 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com Europe’s engineers also face a permitting maze.
Despite RED III acknowledging renewables and storage as overriding public interest, implementation remains inconsistent at member-state level. Projects linger in “pending approval” purgatory: nearly 20GW of Europe’s PSH pipeline is waiting on regulatory clearance. Streamlined, one-stop permitting and clear guidance on environmental assessment – especially for closed-loop and brownfield projects – are urgently needed if we are to double the fleet by mid-century. On the technical front, research and innovation cannot stagnate. R&D&I investment in hydropower has declined in recent years, even as operating regimes have grown more aggressive, with more start-stop cycles and higher ramping stress. Engineers will need to deliver innovations in wear-resistant materials, predictive maintenance, digital optimisation, and biodiversity-sensitive designs. Variable speed, ternary machinery, and hybrid configurations must shift from demonstration to standard practice. Hydropower’s future in Europe will not be defined by capacity additions alone. It will be shaped by your ability as engineers to push technical boundaries while simultaneously engaging policymakers to design frameworks that properly value flexibility. The recent Paris Pledge (p10) is clear: the sector stands ready to invest, but regulatory certainty and revenue stabilisation are non-negotiable, For those of us in hydropower engineering, this is both a challenge and an opportunity. Europe’s grid of 2050 cannot function without what we build, optimise, and sustain today. Our expertise is no longer just about turbines and reservoirs – it is about anchoring the entire energy transition.
Carrieann Stocks
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45
