Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU

Mitrovic, Djordje; Chacón, Miguel Crespo; García, Aida Mérida; Morillo, Jorge García; Diaz, Juan Antonio Rodríguez; Ramos, Helena M.; Adeyeye, Kemi; Carravetta, Armando; McNabola, Aonghus

doi:10.3390/w13070899

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Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU

¹,

²,

Juan Antonio Rodríguez Diaz

Helena M. Ramos

Kemi Adeyeye

⁴,

Armando Carravetta

⁵

and

Aonghus McNabola

^1,*

Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering, University of Cordoba, 14071 Cordoba, Spain

Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources, CERIS, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

⁴

Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK

⁵

Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Academic Editor: Stefano Alvisi

Water 2021, 13(7), 899; https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070899

Received: 4 February 2021 / Revised: 24 February 2021 / Accepted: 23 March 2021 / Published: 25 March 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Energy Recovery and Hybrid Solutions in the Water Sector)

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Abstract

Studies have shown micro-hydropower (MHP) opportunities for energy recovery and CO₂ reductions in the water sector. This paper conducts a large-scale assessment of this potential using a dataset amassed across six EU countries (Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, and Portugal) for the drinking water, irrigation, and wastewater sectors. Extrapolating the collected data, the total annual MHP potential was estimated between 482.3 and 821.6 GWh, depending on the assumptions, divided among Ireland (15.5–32.2 GWh), Scotland (17.8–139.7 GWh), Northern Ireland (5.9–8.2 GWh), Wales (10.2–8.1 GWh), Spain (375.3–539.9 GWh), and Portugal (57.6–93.5 GWh) and distributed across the drinking water (43–67%), irrigation (51–30%), and wastewater (6–3%) sectors. The findings demonstrated reductions in energy consumption in water networks between 1.7 and 13.0%. Forty-five percent of the energy estimated from the analysed sites was associated with just 3% of their number, having a power output capacity >15 kW. This demonstrated that a significant proportion of energy could be exploited at a small number of sites, with a valuable contribution to net energy efficiency gains and CO₂ emission reductions. This also demonstrates cost-effective, value-added, multi-country benefits to policy makers, establishing the case to incentivise MHP in water networks to help achieve the desired CO₂ emissions reductions targets. View Full-Text

Keywords: water supply; irrigation; water treatment plants; micro-hydropower; energy efficiency; extrapolation

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Mitrovic, D.; Chacón, M.C.; García, A.M.; Morillo, J.G.; Diaz, J.A.R.; Ramos, H.M.; Adeyeye, K.; Carravetta, A.; McNabola, A. Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU. Water 2021, 13, 899. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070899

AMA Style

Mitrovic D, Chacón MC, García AM, Morillo JG, Diaz JAR, Ramos HM, Adeyeye K, Carravetta A, McNabola A. Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU. Water. 2021; 13(7):899. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070899

Chicago/Turabian Style

Mitrovic, Djordje, Miguel C. Chacón, Aida M. García, Jorge G. Morillo, Juan A.R. Diaz, Helena M. Ramos, Kemi Adeyeye, Armando Carravetta, and Aonghus McNabola. 2021. "Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU" Water 13, no. 7: 899. https://doi.org/10.3390/w13070899

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Multi-Country Scale Assessment of Available Energy Recovery Potential Using Micro-Hydropower in Drinking, Pressurised Irrigation and Wastewater Networks, Covering Part of the EU

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