NEEWa

With the Green Deal, the European Union has set itself the goal of being climate-neutral by 2050, i.e. no more net greenhouse gas emissions are to be released. In order to achieve this goal, the share of renewable energies in final energy consumption must be increased; this share is to grow to 32% in the EU by 2030. Hydropower is another option for decentralised electricity generation from renewable sources. Although these purely gravity-driven power plants can provide 100 % of clean, base-load capable energy at favourable production costs, the possibilities have not been fully exploited in many places due to various legal hurdles and a lack of technical expertise. The biggest challenge here is usually ecological compatibility, which describes the impact of the power plants, most of which are installed in rivers, on their environment. Hydropower plants, regardless of their size, must not jeopardise the fish population or significantly impair the surrounding flora of the riverbed. There is currently little awareness of the technological possibilities in this area, which leads to political discussions and impedes the construction of new plants. The energy stored in wastewater can be utilised in sewage treatment plants, sewer networks and aquacultures not only as electricity through turbines, but also as waste heat through heat exchangers. These requirements and the associated investment costs for the construction of hydropower plants have therefore increased significantly in recent years, which is why fewer and fewer new power plants are being installed. In other sectors such as wastewater management (sewer network), wastewater treatment and aquaculture, there is also great energy potential that has not yet been tapped due to a lack of knowledge transfer and the need for research in some areas.