Small Hydro-Power as a Source of Renewable Energy in the European Union

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1 1 Paper N 0 : II.13 Small Hydro-Power as a Source of Renewable Energy in the European Union Roman Wichowski Abstract: The development of renewable energy sources (RES) is a central aim of the EU s energy policy, because RES has an important role to play in reducing CO 2 emissions. Hydropower contributes one-fifth of the world s power generation and it provides the majority of supply in 55 countries. Its present role in electricity generation is therefore substantially greater than any other renewable technology. Hydropower is the largest and most mature source of renewable energy, with MW of installed capacity producing over 22% of the world s electricity, i.e TWh in 2002 [7]. In the European Union, hydro energy represents about 90% of all EU renewable energy sources (RES) production and supplies about 14% of electricity demand. Small-scale hydro (<10 MW) has high efficiency and potentially low installation costs depending on the size of installation and location and currently represents only 3% of all hydro production. Decreases in head height, variable speed generators, reductions in the cost of equipment and environmental mitigation technologies will enhance the attractions of mini-hydropower. The object of this paper is to present an overview of Small Hydro-Power (SHP) in the European Union. More than small hydro-power plants were in operation in 1999 in 26 European countries with a total installed capacity of 12.5 GW. The total production was about 50 TWh per year, corresponding to 9.7% of the total hydropower production and 1.7% of the total electricity production. About 94% of the total hydro-power capacity in Western Europe is installed in 8 countries, i.e. Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway. The EU White Paper [3] foresees a SHP production increase of 18 TWh in the EU countries between 1995 and 2010, which contributes by 4.7% of the global renewable energy production increase. Keywords: European Union, hydropower, small-scale hydro, mini-hydropower, development potential.

2 196 Wichowski 1. Introduction Hydropower is the largest source of renewable energy with MW of installed capacity, producing over 22% of the world s electricity, i.e TWh in 2002 [5]. Most assessment consider that already existing plants exploit only about 19% of the world s total viable hydropotential. In Western Europe hydropower contributed to the production of 568 TWh of electricity in 2002, or about 19% of EU electricity. Despite the present large hydropower capacity, there is still much room for further development for small hydro-power. In 1999 more than Small Hydro-Power (SHP) were in operation in 26 European countries with a total installed capacity of 12.5 GW. The total production of SHP is about 50 TWh per year, corresponding to about 10% of the total hydropower production and 1.7% of the total electricity production. About 94% of the total capacity is installed in 8 European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway) [3]. The European Union White Paper [1] foresees that a small hydro-power production increase of 18 TWh in EU countries between 1995 and 2010, which contributes by 4.7% of the global renewable energy production increase. In 1995 approximately 307 TWh of hydro energy was produced in the EU from an overall capacity of 92 GW. Small hydro plants, i.e. plants smaller than 10 MW accounted for 10% of installed capacity (9.3 GW) and produced 37 TWh of energy. An increase of 10% in installed capacity of large hydro (8500 MW) is likely by 2010 if one takes into account projects already planned. An additional installed capacity of 4500 MW of small hydro plants by 2010 is realistic contribution which could be achieved. 2. Renewable energy in the European Union The European Union (EU) was one of the strongest proponents of the Kyoto Protocol, and assumed for an emission reduction obligation of 8% below the 1990 level. The promotion of renewable energy has an important role to play in addressing the growing dependence on energy imports in Europe and in tackling climate change. Since 1997, the European Union has been working towards the ambitious target of 12% share of renewable energy in gross inland consumption by In 1997, the share of renewable energy was 5,4% and by 2001 it had reached 6%. The EU s Renewables Directive has been in place since 2001 [4]. In accordance with Directive 2001/77/EC, all Member States have adopted national targets for the share of electricity production from renewable energy sources. It aims to increase the share of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (RES) in the EU to 22.1% by 2010, thus helping the EU reach the RES target of overall consumption of 12% by With the enlargement of the European Union, the new Member States are required to adopt the RES-E Directive [4] by 1 May In the accession treaty, national indicative targets are set and the overall renewable electricity target for the enlarged Union will therefore be 21% of gross electricity consumption by National indicative RES-E targets for 2010 for all Member States of EU-25 are presented in Table 1 [2,4,12].

3 Small Hydro-Power as a Source of renewable Energy in the European Union 197 Table 1 National indicative RES-E targets for 2010 for Member States [2,4,12] EU-25 country RES-E 1997 [%] RES-E 2010 [%] EU-25 country RES-E 1997 [%] RES-E 2010 [%] Austria Sweden Belgium United Kingdom Denmark Czech Republic Finland Cyprus France Estonia Germany Hungary Greece Latvia Ireland Lithuania Italy Malta Luxemburg Poland Netherlands Slovakia Portugal Slovenia Spain EU Small Hydro-Power Plants (SHP) in the European Union 2.1 A brief history of small hydro-power Small hydro-power (SHP) has been exploited for centuries. First, the energy in falling water was used in mechanical form, e.g. watermills for milling grain. The invention of water turbine in 1827 led to the development of modern hydropower. In 1880s, hydropower turbines were first used to generate electricity for large scale use [7]. In Europe, turbines replaced the waterwheel almost completely by the end of 19 th century. Small turbines were increasingly used throughout Europe and North America. With expansion and increasing access to transmission networks, power generation was concentrated in larger units benefiting from economies of scale. This resulted in a trend away from small hydropower systems to large hydropower installation between 1930s and the 1970s [7]. The oil crisis in 1973 re-kindled interest in the development of small hydropower resources. This led to a revival of the industry and with new turbine manufactures. Interest in developing hydropower systems again declined through the 1980s and early 1990s due to the low level of fuel prices and the subsequent dash for natural gas. More recently, liberalization of the electricity industry has contributed in some areas to the development of small hydropower generating capacity by independent power producers. There is no international consensus on the definition of Small Hydropower (SHP). The upper power-limit varies from 2.5 MW to 25 MW, but 10 MW is becoming generally accepted by the European Commission and has been adopted by ESHA The European Small-Hydro Association. Common definitions for small hydropower electric facilities are the following [3]: small hydropower: capacity of less than 10 MW; mini hydropower: capacity between 100 kw and 1 MW; micro hydropower: capacity below 100 kw.

4 198 Wichowski The natural factors which affect SHP potential are the quantity of water flow and the height of the head. Flow roughly relates to average annual precipitation and the head depends on topography. The main requirement for a successful hydropower installation is an elevated head, either natural or artificial, from which water can be diverted through a pipe into a turbine coupled to a generator that converts the kinetic energy of falling water into electricity. Small hydropower can generally be divided into three different categories depending on the type of head and the nature of the plant: high-head power plants are the most common and generally include a dam to store water at a higher elevation; these systems are commonly used in mountains areas; low-head hydroelectric plants generally use heads up to meters in elevation or simply function on run-of-river; low-head systems are typically built along rivers; supplemental hydropower systems are generating facilities where the hydropower is subordinate to other activities like irrigation, industrial processes, drinking water supply or wastewater disposal; electricity production is thus not the prime objective of the plant but often a useful by-product. During the 20 th century, the technology for harnessing water power developed rapidly and turbine efficiencies close to 100% were achieved. Typically, larger turbines have higher efficiencies. For example, efficiency is usually above 90% for turbines producing several hundreds kw or more, whereas the efficiency of a micro-hydropower turbine of 10 kw is likely to be in the order of 60% to 80%. 2.2 General overview of Small Hydro-Power Plants in the European Union In the former EU-15 there operates about SHP plants with an average size of 0.7 MW and there are 2770 SHP plants installed in the EU-10. The average plant size of these categories is 0.3 and 1.6 MW. The SHP plants situated in the former EU-15 are also the oldest, and surveyed countries have the highest share of young SHP plants, especially the candidate countries. The total installed capacity of SHP plants in the former EU-15 is around 9910 MW, i.e. 12 times more than in the EU-10. Electricity generation by SHP in the former EU-15 is nearly 17 times that of the EU-10, i.e GW/year and 2329 GW/year, respectively [12]. Installed capacity and corresponding generation is expected to increase from 11% to 30% by the year 2010 and 2015 when compared with reference year 2002 in the former EU- 15. About the same rate of increase will be kept for EU-10 (11-40%). Small hydro-power of the former EU-15 plays a far greater role in the electricity production than in surveyed countries. In the latter countries SHP plants contribute only % of the total electricity generation, less than half that of the former EU-15. Concerning the total hydropower production (excluding pumped storage plants), SHP shares are almost equal in the former EU- 15 and EU-10 (11% and 13% respectively) [7,12]. SHP has many positive effects on nature and society and it replaces fossil fuel based power production.

5 Small Hydro-Power as a Source of renewable Energy in the European Union 199 The former EU-15 has an estimated economically feasible SHP potential of about GWh/year, or 110 TWh/year. The new member states (EU-10) have economically feasible potential of 775 GWh/year, or 7.8 TWh/year. More than 82% of all economically feasible potential has been exploited in the former EU-15. SHP potential exploitation rate is about 36% in the new EU-10 [8, 12]. Hydropower (large and small) contributes 17% to production of electrical energy in Europe, ranging from 99% in Norway, 76% in Switzerland, 65% in Austria, 51% in Sweden, down to 23% in France, 12% in Czech Republic, 6% in Poland, 4% in Germany, 3% and less in the UK and some other countries. Small hydropower accounts for approximately 7% of total hydro generation in Europe. The present capacity and production for 30 European countries are shown in Table 2 [10]. Table 2 Installed capacity and production of SHP plants (up to 10 MW) in 30 European countries [10] No. European Capacity Energy MW/Plant Number country [MW] [GWh] [MW] EU countries Austria Belgium Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Ireland Italy Luxemburg Netherlands Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Non-EU countries Croatia Norway Romania Switzerland Turkey other non EU countries Grand total

6 200 Wichowski The total installed capacity of SHP stands at MW and production is estimated at GWh. Leading countries in Europe are Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Norway, Austria and Switzerland which combine 86% of small hydro-power capacity and production. The SHP production consists of around individual power plants with an average capacity of 0.7 MW and a production of 2.7 GWh per year. Average capacity varies widely between countries, from over 4 MW per plant in Portugal and Netherlands, 2.82 in Greece, 2.44 in Belgium, for Italy, Spain, France, Finland and UK, down to kw in others [10]. 2.3 Prospects for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) Potential for Small-Hydropower technical capacity worldwide is estimated at GW. World hydropower economic potential is estimated at about 7300 TWh per year, of which 32% has been developed, but only 5% (117 TWh) through small-scale sites [8]. In Asia (India, Nepal and China) almost 15% of the potential technical SHP capacity (60-80 GW) has been developed, while in South America only 7% of its potential (40-50 GW) has been realized. In the Pacific and in Africa, less than 5% of the potential (5-10 GW and GW, respectively) has been developed. In North America and Europe, a larger share of the technical potential has already been developed than in developing countries [8]. In developed countries there are three key markets for small hydropower with substantial near-term potential: a) new installations; b) restoration and refurbishing of existing facilities and c) addition of SHP plants at dam built for flood control, irrigation and drinking water. The greatest potential for SHP exists in new installations in developing countries. In rural areas of these countries, energy demand is often moderate and can be met by small or micro hydropower schemes. The plants are frequently operated in isolation or are connected to the local grids. The main competitor to SHP today in these countries is diesel generation. Refurbishment of old sites means the replacement of old equipment with more efficient turbines and/or generators, which would increase power production and/or reduce maintenance costs. The restoration and refurbishment of old sites is one of the most promising and cost-effective ways to increase hydropower generating capacity. Small hydro-power installed capacity is estimated to grow between 1% and 6% per year over the next 20 years. Developing countries are likely to experience higher growth rates than other countries. The largest increase is expected to be in China. Rapid expansion with significant growth rates of 5% or above are expected on other of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and North and sub-africa. Central and Eastern Europe are expected to increase their capacity at a lower growth rate of 2%, mainly through refurbishment and restoration of old sites. In Table 3 is presented the global growth rates and installed capacity of SHP by 2070 [8]. In Western Europe most of the region s hydroelectric resources have already been developed. In East-Central Europe, hydroelectricity already represents a substantial source of power in some countries such as Albania (96%), Croatia (59%) and Romania (37%). Despite a very large potential for expansion, these countries have found it difficult for a such projects.

7 Small Hydro-Power as a Source of renewable Energy in the European Union 201 Table 3 Global growth rates and installed capacity of SHP by 2020 [8]. Region Present Business-as-usual scenario Accelerated development scenario [MW] Growth rate 2020 [MW] Growth rate 2020 [MW] China 1) % % Europe % % South and Central America % % 9500 North America % % Rest of the World % % 5000 Total % % ) Higher and different capacity figures (especially for China) are communicated based on different SHP definitions [7] 2.4 Hydropower in Poland Hydroelectric generation in Poland began at the end of the 19 th century, and expanded during the early 20 th century. However, the two world wars and subsequent conflicts destroyed existing infrastructure and dampened further development. Of the approximately hydropower stations operating in Poland before World War II, only less than half of them survived the war. During the post World War II years, efforts and electrification, urbanization, and industrialization focused on construction of large, state-owned thermal power plants fueled by hard coal and brown coal. Consequently, the conventional hydroelectric power industry received little support from state authorities. In total, Poland currently has about 500 small hydro-power plants of total capacity about 170 MW. All the plants (small and large) are grouped in a few production companies and several distribution companies and are private property. Poland s has approximately MW of installed capacity (December 31, 2002). Hydropower contributes MW or about 7% of the total capacity. Installed hydro capacity breaks down as follows: 1350 MW (4.0%) from pumped storage plants; 170 MW (0.5%) in small hydro and other renewable stations. Several thousand sites exist in Poland for small, mini, and macro hydropower stations, while several dozen sites exist where medium sized hydro plants (up to several dozen megawatts) could be built. Summary 1. Hydropower is a proven, well understood technology based on more than a century of experience. It schemes have lowest operating costs and longest plant lives. Many existing stations have been in operation for more than a half of century and are still operating efficiently.

8 202 Wichowski 2. Hydropower plants provide the most efficient energy conversion process. Modern plants can convert more than 95% of moving water s energy into electricity, while the best fossil-fuel plants are only about 60% efficient. Hydropower also has the highest energy payback ratio. 3. Hydropower is the largest and most mature source of renewable energy, with MW of installed capacity producing over 22% of the world s electricity, i.e TWh in In Western Europe hydropower contributed to the production of 568 TWh of electricity in 2002, or about 19% of EU electricity. 4. In 1999 there were in operation SHP in 26 European countries with a total installed capacity of 12.5 GW. The total production was about 50 TWh per year, corresponding to about 10% of the total hydropower production and about 2% of the total electricity production. About 94% of the total capacity is installed in 8 countries, i.e. in Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Norway. 5. Small hydro-power has a huge potential, which could allow it to make a significant contribution to future energy needs. SHP makes possible the production of renewable, decentralised, and indigenous energy, which corresponds perfectly to the objectives of both the Kyoto protocol, and the European Commission s White Book, since there are no CO 2 emissions. References Communication from the Commission Energy for the Future: Renewable Sources of Energy. White Paper for a Community Strategy and Action Plan. COM(97)599 final, Commission of the European Communities, Commission-Staff-Working Document, The share of renewable energy in EU. Country Profiles. Overview of Renewable Energy Sources in the Enlarged European Union, COM(2004)366 final, Brussels, Current situation of small hydropower in the EU-15 according to ESHA s members. European Small Hydropower Association. Directive 2001/77/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2001 on the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources in the internal electricity market. Official Journal of the European Communities, L 283/33, Dragu C., Sels T., Belmans R., Small Hydro Power State of the Art and Applications, K.U. Leuven, ESTAT ELEN, Energy Institute, Leuven, Belgium. European strategy document for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration in Small Hydropower. Prepared by the Engineering work Group of the thematic Network on Small Hydropower, DG TREN, 11/11/2003. Eurostat yearbook 2004, The statistical guide to Europe, Data , European Commission, 2004 edition. International Energy Agency, Renewables for Power Generation. Status & Prospects, 2003 Edition. Kueny J.L.: Objectives for Small Hydro technology, Institute National Polytechnique de Grenoble, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d Hydraulique et de Méchanique du Grenoble, Leckscheidt J.L., Tjaroko S.T., Overview of mini and small hydropower in Europe, ASEAN Centre for Energy, Jakarta, Indonesia. Patlitzianas K.D., Kagiannas A.G., Psarras J., Renewable Energy Sources in EU Current status, future developments and challenges, National Technical University of Athens, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Small Hydropower Situation in the New EU Member States and Candidate Countries. Prepared by the Marketing Working Group of the Thematic Network of Small Hydropower (TNSHP), Small Hydropower Systems, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), July The role of Hydropower in Sustainable Development, International Hydropower Association (IHA) White Paper, February 2003.