Study finds 1.67 TWh of untapped hydropower in Carinthia

A study has identified potential to generate a further 1.67 terawatt-hours of hydropower electricity a year in Carinthia, ORF reports. That would cover the annual consumption of almost half a million households.

The study, called the Hydropower Potential Analysis, has been available since March. Experts from Graz University of Technology examined how hydropower could be used more extensively in the Austrian province.

Heat and drought have reduced output for energy producers. Verbund generated one-third less hydropower electricity, while KELAG produced one-quarter less.

More than half of the additional potential could come from building new hydropower plants. The rest could be achieved by modernising existing facilities. The experts recommend directing future subsidies more strongly towards upgrading run-of-river power plants, saying larger facilities operate more economically than many new small plants.

Deputy Governor Martin Gruber of the Austrian People’s Party said he also wanted to advance the construction of new plants. He told ORF Carinthia that the state was working on changes to the Nature Conservation Act to make better use of existing potential and allow more hydropower plants.

Nature Conservation Minister Marika Lagger-Pöllinger of the Social Democratic Party said the law was being evaluated. She said the aim was not to prevent development, but to identify regionally appropriate solutions and create conditions for projects that were economically sensible, efficient and ecologically acceptable.

Carinthia has about 750 hydropower facilities, most of them small plants, some of which have been operating for more than 100 years. According to the study, modernising and upgrading them, a process known as repowering, could increase their output enough to supply 200,000 households.

“It is always better to refurbish existing facilities and increase their efficiency without making further interventions in nature before claiming additional habitats,” Lagger-Pöllinger said.

The study and plant operators also see potential for new facilities. Christoph Aste, a spokesperson for small hydropower, said at least 100 of Carinthia’s 2,800 flood protection structures could potentially be used. He said some would need to be adapted to allow fish to pass under the European Water Framework Directive.

Persistent drought has reduced output by up to one-third this year, Aste said. He added that new plants typically pay for themselves within 20 years and that increasingly frequent extremes meant their design would have to take changing conditions into account.

According to the TU Graz study, new facilities could be built on one-third of currently unused stretches of flowing water, provided those stretches are not designated for renaturation. Lagger-Pöllinger said the state planned to identify possible areas for new hydropower projects before the end of the year.