Abstract
This document describes the Strategic
Research Agenda (SRA) of the Joint
Programme m (JP) on Hydropower within the
framework of the European Energy Research
Alliance (EERA).
The SRA represents the consensus of EERA
JP Hydropower participants. It has been
developed based upon an initial mapping
of individual participating researchers’
perception of the key challenges for
hydropower technologies to contribute
to the fullest extent towards meeting the
climate targets of the European Union. After
this mapping, the inputs were discussed in
the individual Sub-Programmes (SPs) and
the process of establishing the SRA was
started as a bottom-up process, leading to
the individual SP SRA contributions being
merged with an overarching part anchored
to the targets, frameworks, strategies and
policies of the European Union and the
European Commission.
The SPs were asked to present the most
important focus areas from each SP to be
included in this executive summary. Without
prioritizing between them, the list presents the
areas requiring focus and targeted research
eff orts for making hydropower a key enabling
technology for making the green transition:
Development of novel and innovative method for designing, engineering, constructing,
installing and operating fl exible hydroelectric units featuring high grade effi ciency,
reliability, safety and sustainability
• Using and further developing the latest technology regarding hydraulic scale models,
numerical methods, and fi eld investigations and by developing advanced hybrid
modelling strategies combining laboratory, numerical and fi eld studies to make full
use of the advantages of the diff erent modelling strategies to minimize associated
uncertainties
• Value and operational requirements of hydropower in the future power system
• Open source hydropower data and models for energy system analysis
• Investigation of the impacts of climate change on water resources and subsequent
impacts on power production and freshwater ecosystems
• Assessing and compensating environmental impacts, lost ecosystem services and
biodiversity in reservoirs and downstream rivers
• Assessing factors promoting social acceptance, improved public engagement and
increased uptake of hydropower in consumers` energy portfolios
• Investigating supportive and limiting eff ects of national and European policies,
policy mixes and regulations on the environmental upgrading of existing hydropower
infrastructure, new hydropower development and increased operational fl exibility
• Transformation of hydropower asset maintenance from interval-based to predictionbased by use of new sensors and measurements
• Integration of cross-domain knowledge into new and established business processes
in the hydropower sector
Research Agenda (SRA) of the Joint
Programme m (JP) on Hydropower within the
framework of the European Energy Research
Alliance (EERA).
The SRA represents the consensus of EERA
JP Hydropower participants. It has been
developed based upon an initial mapping
of individual participating researchers’
perception of the key challenges for
hydropower technologies to contribute
to the fullest extent towards meeting the
climate targets of the European Union. After
this mapping, the inputs were discussed in
the individual Sub-Programmes (SPs) and
the process of establishing the SRA was
started as a bottom-up process, leading to
the individual SP SRA contributions being
merged with an overarching part anchored
to the targets, frameworks, strategies and
policies of the European Union and the
European Commission.
The SPs were asked to present the most
important focus areas from each SP to be
included in this executive summary. Without
prioritizing between them, the list presents the
areas requiring focus and targeted research
eff orts for making hydropower a key enabling
technology for making the green transition:
Development of novel and innovative method for designing, engineering, constructing,
installing and operating fl exible hydroelectric units featuring high grade effi ciency,
reliability, safety and sustainability
• Using and further developing the latest technology regarding hydraulic scale models,
numerical methods, and fi eld investigations and by developing advanced hybrid
modelling strategies combining laboratory, numerical and fi eld studies to make full
use of the advantages of the diff erent modelling strategies to minimize associated
uncertainties
• Value and operational requirements of hydropower in the future power system
• Open source hydropower data and models for energy system analysis
• Investigation of the impacts of climate change on water resources and subsequent
impacts on power production and freshwater ecosystems
• Assessing and compensating environmental impacts, lost ecosystem services and
biodiversity in reservoirs and downstream rivers
• Assessing factors promoting social acceptance, improved public engagement and
increased uptake of hydropower in consumers` energy portfolios
• Investigating supportive and limiting eff ects of national and European policies,
policy mixes and regulations on the environmental upgrading of existing hydropower
infrastructure, new hydropower development and increased operational fl exibility
• Transformation of hydropower asset maintenance from interval-based to predictionbased by use of new sensors and measurements
• Integration of cross-domain knowledge into new and established business processes
in the hydropower sector