The EU electricity sector is undergoing a fundamental change with the increase of the digitalisation of energy systems and the increase in intermittent renewable sources. As a result, these systems are more deeply monitored, and artificial intelligence and big-data are implemented in daily operations. Hydropower represents one-sixth of global electricity generation and the majority of renewable energy generation. It also provides a significant contribution to grid flexibility and energy security, as it can modulate generation very rapidly and be stopped and restarted smoothly. This enables as greater penetration of intermittent wind and solar power in the grid. Current estimations show that the digitalisation of the world's 1,225 GW of existing hydro could increase annual production by 42 TWh, which amounts to $5 billion US in annual operational savings, significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, and improvements in the sustainability of hydropower.
However much of the EU hydropower fleet requires modernisation and refurbishment actions. Modernisation actions related to digitalisation in the short to medium term have the potential to make a significant impact on the efficiency, sustainability and predictability of existing hydropower plants. Digitalisation of hydropower can deliver enhanced services, increase grid flexibility, aid environmental and socio-economic sustainability, and foster the general green and digital transition in Europe.
The iAMP-Hydro project will improve the digital operation of existing hydropower plants through the development of 6 expected results (R) which will collectively form iAMP - a novel intelligent Asset Management Platform (see result R5 in Fig. 1) encompassing secure open and transparent data sharing protocols (R4) and three novel digital solutions: R1. Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance modelling; R2. Ecological status monitoring and water management; R3. Improved weather and flow forecasting. The full package of digital solutions will be validated at a diverse set of five real-world existing hydropower plants producing evidence for policy making to support the green and digital transition of hydropower (R6).
iAMP-Hydro includes five existing hydropower plants as test sites which include differing power capacities, electromechanical equipment type, water end-use, flow and head regimes, climatic conditions, and environmental sensitivities (biodiversity).
The project will increase the technology competitiveness of existing hydro by reducing O&M costs by 5-10%, improving generation and revenues, increasing flexibility and data-driven decision making in hydropower operations. It will also increase the market penetration of renewables in the grid by 8.4 TWh, and getting closer to the EU 2030 Climate and Energy targets, and EU green deal.
iAMP-Hydro will improve environmental and socio-economic sustainability of the existing hydropower fleet by reducing operating costs by €1 billion per annum, reducing CO2 emissions by 1260 tonnes, creating 10,000 future-proof jobs, and enabling environmentally sustainable flow regulation using digital solutions.
The project will advance the scientific basis for hydropower digitalization by developing, validating and providing a roadmap for the further development of 5 new digital technologies. We will produce 10 peer reviewed journal publications and 20 conference publications.
