Technology Collaboration Programme by IEA
2025 → Present

Task 20

Digital Twins in Hydropower 1.0
2023 → Present

Task 19

Hydropower and Fish 2.0
2018 → Present

Task 16

Hidden Hydro
2010 → Present

Task 9

Valuing Hydropower Services

Background

IEA Hydro initiated a programme (Phase I) to investigate the value of services provided by storage hydro projects through the establishment of the economic values of energy management, water management and other socio-economic services. All hydropower projects which have any form of reservoir (even diurnal storage) are multipurpose and the services analysed are potentially applicable to all projects. Historically, the broad range of energy and non-energy services provided by hydropower plants have not been explicitly valued, being part of a utility’s mission.

Since the start of Phase I, two key issues affecting the hydropower sector have arisen; the penetration of variable renewable energy (VRE) sources has increased substantially and the potential impacts of climate change are being recognized. These dynamics pose both challenges and opportunities for hydropower and require further exploration and analysis beyond the scope of the original Annex work.  This will form the basis of Phase II.

Phase II will consider the role of hydropower in producing significant amounts of firm renewable energy and storage to support VRE’s, and providing flexible energy services to support electricity systems – collectively termed ‘hydro balancing’. Specifically, Phase II will develop an understanding two key strategic themes:

  • how hydropower will be valued in future electricity market scenarios, and
  • how hydropower will be valued under alternate climate change scenarios

Objectives

Task 1: Energy, Grid Services and Adaptation

  1. To present a holistic coverage of the role of hydropower in providing hydropower balancing and flexibility services to the electricity grid. This will allow hydropower developers, agencies, regulators and stakeholders to have a clear understanding of the issues and options for management and mitigation.
  2. To highlight the important role for hydropower in new and transitioning power systems globally. This will enable the appropriate valuing (and incentivizing) of hydropower balancing and flexibility services.

Subsets of this Objective include:

  • Clearly identifying the role of hydropower and the energy services provided in various future scenarios,
  • Addressing issues, alternatives and options for flexibility and balancing
  • Estimating costs in providing services and subsequent benefits to the power system

Task 2: Climate Change Adaptation Services

  1. Understanding therole of hydropower in minimising or mitigating risks associated with a changing climate
  2. Assessing the value that hydropower provides in minimising or mitigating risks associated with a changing climate

Task 3: Hydropower Balancing and Flexibility Roadmap

To collate the outputs from Annex Tasks into a Hydropower Balancing and Flexibility Roadmap and its dissemination.