Hydropower needs to be put back in global energy agenda, says IEA
The installation of new hydropower plants is expected to slow down significantly within 10 years, which threatens the ability of nations across the globe to achieve their goal of net-zero carbon emissions while ensuring reliable and affordable energy supplies for their citizens, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
“Hydropower is the forgotten giant of clean electricity, and it needs to be put squarely back on the energy and climate agenda if countries are serious about meeting their net zero [carbon emission] goals,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said in a statement.
In the Philippines, the Department of Energy said hydro accounts for about 3,600 megawatts of installed capacity but there was untapped potential for about 11,900 MW of hydropower.
Forgotten giant
The IEA noted that many hydropower plants could ramp their electricity generation up and down very rapidly compared with other power plants such as nuclear, coal and natural gas.
“[Hydropower] brings valuable scale and flexibility to help electricity systems adjust quickly to shifts in demand and to compensate for fluctuations in supply from other sources,” Birol said.
“Hydropower’s advantages can make it a natural enabler of secure transitions in many countries as they shift to higher and higher shares of solar and wind—provided that hydropower projects are developed in a sustainable and climate-resilient way,” he added.
An IEA report on the hydropower market shows that this segment is expected to grow in capacity by 17 percent between 2021 and 2030.
Economically attractive
However, this projected growth is nearly 25 percent slower than hydropower’s expansion in the previous decade.
The report noted that while hydropower remains economically attractive in many parts of the world, new hydropower projects often face long lead times, lengthy permitting processes, high costs and risks from environmental assessments and opposition from local communities.
The IEA said these pressures result in higher investment risks and financing costs compared with other power generation and storage technologies, thereby discouraging investors.
Also, reversing the expected slowdown will need a range of strong policy actions from governments to address the major challenges that are hampering faster deployment of hydropower.
According to the report, these measures include providing long-term visibility on revenues to ensure hydropower projects are economically viable and sufficiently attractive to investors, while still ensuring robust sustainability standards.