
A new program backed by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe funding program has been launched, intending to improve hydropower plant refurbishment.
The Solutions for Hydropower plants to Enhance operational Range, Performance, And improve environmental impact (SHERPA, in a very generously applied acronym) project will aim to develop and validate new technologies for refurbishing current hydropower plants (HPPs), namely:
- Additive manufacturing for metallic patches and coatings to minimize damage and enhance resistance to cavitation
- New strategies to adapt rotational speed depending on the flow range
- Advanced air injection systems to improve water quality and efficiency
- New runner designs adapted to E-flows, increasing performance
Modeling, simulation, and monitoring tools will assess the new solutions in terms of energy output, flexible operation, cost-effectiveness, and impact on biodiversity. The goal is to expand and/or adapt the operational range of the HPP to include lower flows without harming their lifetime, economic viability, and environmental and social impact. In order to meet this objective, the project proposes a methodology comprising eight work packages in groups of four blocks to be carried out over the course of 42 months.
SHERPA’s consortium includes seven notable partners from four European countries: Iberdrola Generación, S.A., AIMEN Centro Tecnológico, Voith Hydro, EPRI in Europe, Innomerics, AECOM, Zabala Innovation Europe and Zabala Innovation Spain.
Currently, hydraulic turbines are employed across a broad spectrum of operational regimes. A particular case is represented by the environmental flow (E-flows), which are essential for the conservation of fluvial ecosystems but often have to operate out of design parameters to prevent switching off the plants. However, the impact of hydropower plants on water quality and biodiversity up- and downstream is also a target for refurbishing actions, the SHERPA project said.