Importance of hydropower reservoirs and dams in Europe to mitigate the energy crisis and to serve as a catalyst and enabler for the Green Deal

Hydropower has a long tradition in Europe and contributed significantly during the last century to industrial development and welfare in most of the countries in Europe. The ambitious plan for an energy transition in Europe now seeks to achieve a lowcarbon climate-resilient future in a safe and cost-effective way, serving as an example worldwide. The key role of electricity will be strongly reinforced in this energy transition. In many European countries, the phase out of nuclear and coal generation has started with a transition to new renewable sources comprising mainly of solar and wind for electricity generation. However, solar and wind are variable energy sources and difficult to align with demand. The IEA (2021) concludes that hydropower provides “unmatched” flexibility and storage services required for ensuring energy security and delivering more solar and wind power onto the grid. In the future, these services will be in much greater demand to achieve the energy transition in Europe, and worldwide. Hydropower has all the characteristics to serve as an excellent catalyst and enabler for a successful energy transition. The HYDROPOWER EUROPE Forum brought together some 650 relevant stakeholders representing all sectors (including design, construction, production, sectoral associations, environmental and social issues), who participated actively for 40 months (2018-2022) through an extensive program of review and consultation addressing needs of the whole hydropower sector targeting an energy system with high flexibility and renewable energy share. The follow-up ETIP HYDROPOWER project (2022-2025) consolidates the strong network of the HYDROPOWER EUROPE Forum into a sustainable association and helps to unify the voices of hydropower in Europe. ETIP HYDROPOWER will facilitate, enhance and disseminate the Research and Innovation Agenda (RIA) and the Strategic Industry Roadmap (SIR) (drafted under the HYDROPOWER EUROPE project) taking into consideration the future needs of the sector and the R&I targets and the emerging policy priorities. This will help to ensure that hydropower can play the vital role of an enabler in the transition to a clean and safe energy system and the achievement of climate neutrality by mid-century. Furthermore, besides unifying the voices of hydropower, ETIP HYDROPOWER will further align and coordinate the industry RIA and SIR strategies to provide consensus-based strategic advice to the SET Plan (European Strategic Energy Technology Plan) covering analysis of market opportunities and research and development funding needs, biodiversity protection and ecological continuity. Another goal is, in one with Europe and the latest EU climate and energy related policies, deepening the understanding of innovation barriers and the exploitation of research results.