Heather O’Brian Technology - 06/October/2022

The forgotten power of water

The share of hydroelectric power in electricity generation is set to decrease as solar and wind come to dominate. Yet, hydropower has a crucial role to play in providing flexibility and storage for grids increasingly running on variable renewable energy resources

Often overlooked by governments, a lack of effective market mechanism is holding new hydro and pumped storage back

STORAGE NEEDS Electricity grids will require larger and longer storage options as the share of variable wind and solar generation grows

VITAL ROLE Hydropower is a dispatchable, flexible source of electricity so can replace traditional polluting forms of energy

KEY QUOTE Once you have no combined-cycle gas plants and a week with no wind, batteries won’t do anything for you ...

 

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