Join us for a lively discussion in the third free webinars exploring the potential for energy recovery in water networks.  

 
Thia event will demonstrate the substantial potential for micro-hydropower (MHP) in the EU Atlantic Area water industry to generate clean energy and contribute to improving the sustainability of the EU’s water sector. Using a series of case studies in water distribution and irrigation networks, the significant economic and environmental benefits of MHP use will be explored. 

The session will be led by Helena Ramos (Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal)  
 
Featuring: 

• MHP energy recovery potential in water distribution networks in the EU Atlantic Area. (Aida Mérida Garcia (Córdoba, Spain) 

• Economic and environmental benefits of the micro hydraulic plants in water networks. (Indalecio González Fernández, University of Oviedo, Spain) 

This event will be hosted on Microsoft Teams. After you have registered you will be sent a link to join the event. 

Translation will be available on our YouTube channel for our international audience: Languages include English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. 
 
Can’t attend the live event? 
Register now and we will send you a link to the live recording 

Presentations 

MHP energy recovery potential in water distribution networks in the EU Atlantic Area  

Abstract 

WP4 of the REDAWN project focussed on assessment of the potential for micro-hydropower energy recovery in the water sector (drinking water, wastewater, industry and irrigation), across the Atlantic Area of Europe. The work was organised in 4 steps: data collection, estimation of energy recovery potential in the identified sites, extrapolation of the results to a country scale, and resource projections.  In a general analysis of the results, Spain represented 50% of the total extrapolated power potential, followed by the UK and France, with 21% each. From the total potential for Spain, 69% corresponded to the irrigation sector, characterized by its seasonality, so the annual energy recovery potential was lower. In terms of total energy recovery potential, which ranged between 926.3–2127.4 GWh, the contribution of Spain dropped (30%-42%), followed by the UK and France, with 25%-34% and 25-28%, respectively, with the drinking water sector having the highest potential. The future projections, based on population progression estimations, pointed to an increase of almost 9% of the total potential for energy recovery through MHP in the analysed regions by 2050. These results show an important potential for MHP in the water industry to generate clean energy and contribute to improving the sustainability of the EU’s water sector. 

Economic and environmental benefits of the micro hydraulic plants in water networks 

Abstract 

The REDAWN Project focuses on the second challenge, trying to consolidate a new water-energy management model more sustainable and promoting the installation of micro-hydroelectric plants (MHP) in water networks in the Atlantic area. The use of MHP in water networks offers several economic and environmental benefits for the energy and water sectors. During the talk, these benefits will be explained and the potential of their application in the water networks of the Atlantic Area will be shown. The emphasis placed on energy in the management of organisations in the water and process industries is an important institutional factor for the uptake of MHP energy recovery.  Various options exist to achieve savings, for example different organisational structures, external incentives and penalties.  In Work Package 8 we have benchmarked structures and practices across the industries in order to identify best practice and achieve more rapid uptake of MHP.  Using a series of MHP case studies in water distribution and irrigation networks, sourced from across the AA region, the differences and similarities were explored through a cross-case comparison.  During the webinar we will present findings from the case comparison and summarise the key insights learned focussing on: the background and drivers of the projects, the economic feasibility, monetary and non-monetary benefits, the organisational process and the barriers that were encountered.   Recommendations for improvements in e.g., organisational structure, processes and leadership will be presented in addition to improvements of the wider policy and administrative regime of each region. 

There will be a live Q&A after the presentations with all the speakers. 

Speaker profiles 

Prof. Helena M. Ramos (University of Lisbon, Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal) 

Helena M. Ramos has a Ph.D. degree and is Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (from Technical University of Lisbon - now University of Lisbon - Portugal) at Department of Civil Engineering. Expert in different scientific domains: Hydraulics, Hydrotransients, Hydropower, Pumping Systems, Leakage Control, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Sources, Water Supply, Vulnerability. More than 300 publications being one book in Small Hydro, 63 in Journals with referee and 132 in International Conferences; Supervisor of several post-doc, PhDs and MSc students and author of 8 innovative real solutions in the domain of Civil Engineering - hydropower and hydraulic system control. 

Aida Mérida García, Córdoba Spain

Agricultural Engineer (2008-2013, University of Córdoba-Spain), Master's in Projects and Management of Agri-food Industries (2013-2014, University of Córdoba-Spain) and PhD in Agricultural, Food, Forestry and Sustainable Rural Development Engineering (2015-2019, University of Córdoba-Spain).  During her PhD, her work focused on the development of models for the optimal management and design of irrigation networks powered by solar energy. During this period, she spent 3 months in Trinity College Dublin (Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering), to get the International Mention of the PhD, working on the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).  Currently, she works as research assistant at Trinity College Dublin, in the project REDAWN (Ireland, December 2019-now), working with the energy recovery potential through MHP in the water distribution networks.  Aida's research has focused on the optimization of the water and energy use in water distribution networks, including the integration of renewable energies and the assessment of the environmental impacts. 

 
Indalecio González Fernández, University of Oviedo 

Indalecio González Fernández is Engineering of Energy by University of Oviedo and MBA in technology management with more than 15 years of experiences in the development and implementation of sustainable energy technologies in the regions.  He has been teacher in the University of Oviedo and in several masters and training courses in renewable energies.  He is working as head of renewable energies department and energy planning of the regional energy agency of Asturias and is manager of the regional energy cluster of Asturias.

Register for another chance to catch our previous two webinars in the series with live Q&A:

REDAWN Webinar 1: Saving energy in water networks. Thursday 29 October | 15:00 – 16:00hrs CET| Register now

REDAWN Webinar 2: Micro hydropower in water networks – technical, institutional, policy case studies. Thursday 5 November | 15:00 – 16:00hrs CET| Register now