The Edge of Risk
ENVIRONMENT
Energy Trilemma Water Scarcity
The Thirst for Power:
Hydroelectricity in a Water Crisis
World
October 19, 2016
BRINK Editorial Staff
The Earth’s thirst for power is teetering toward crisis in an era of increasing
water scarcity where nine of its largest operating power plants are hydroelectric.
As the countries work to balance the energy trilemma and provide secure,
affordable and environmentally sustainable energy, the link between energy and
water and the rising demands for both are stressing resources.
In a report issued earlier this year, the World Energy Council noted that the UN
“has projected there could be a 40 percent shortfall of water availability globally
by 2030.” The WEC warned that “we will start to see the effects of water
scarcity on energy supplies in the very near future.”
The fourth largest power plant in the world, the Guri dam in Venezuela, is so
short of water that power outages could last up to eight hours a day, forcing
factories to close early, driving down production and creating darkened havens
for muggers and other criminal activity.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is a nuclear facility that Japan took off-line in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and has not restarted. Source: EIA
Hoover Dam—one of the largest power plants in the United States—has reduced its
generating capacity by 23 percent, owing to a drop in falling water levels. If
climate change predictions prove true and if stricter water governance policies
aren’t put in place, there won’t be enough water to drive the dam’s powergenerating turbines. “It is an outcome that would destabilize energy markets in
the Southwest, send retail customers that serve millions of residents to the spot
market to buy power at up to five times the cost and dissolve the illusion that
rivers are infinitely malleable to our own purposes,” wrote environmental
journalist Brett Walton.
It is not just hydro-power that is at risk from changing climatic conditions. Water
is used all along the energy value chain in primary energy production (coal, oil,
gas, biofuels) and in power generation (hydro, cooling). As much as 98 percent
of the world’s electricity depends on water and could be affected by a water
shortfall by 2030.
More than half of the world’s power utilities from 2009 through 2014
experienced the negative effects from water shortages, with two-thirds of power
utility and energy companies indicating that water scarcity represents a
substantive business risk.
Water scarcity is already having a global impact on power generation, according
to the World Bank:
South Africa: Lack of sufficient water resources in South Africa have
forced all new power plants to shift to dry-cooling systems, which cost
more to build and are less efficient than water-cooled systems.
North America: In the U.S., a number of power plants were forced to shut
down or reduce power generation due to low water flows or high water
temperatures, resulting in significant financial losses. In 2012, California’s
hydroelectric power generation was 38 percent lower than the prior
summer due to reduced snowpack and low precipitation, further
emphasizing the need for integrated energy-water planning to identify and
reduce risks, maximize benefits and avoid financial losses.
India: In 2013, a thermal power plant was forced to shut down because of
severe water shortages. And this year hydropower dropped 20 percent
compared to 2015.
Australia: During one of the worst droughts in 1,000 years, three coal
power plants had to reduce electricity production to protect municipal
water supplies in 2007.
The World Bank goes on to say:
Without significant action, these types of problems are only expected to get
worse. By 2035, the world’s energy consumption will increase by 35 percent,
which in turn will increase water consumption by 85 percent, according to the
International Energy Agency. Climate change will further challenge water and
energy management by causing more water variability and intensified weather
events, such as severe floods and droughts.
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