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Energies
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Innovations in Hydropower and Energy Storage: Bridging Renewable Energy Solutions
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Innovations in Hydropower and Energy Storage: Bridging Renewable Energy Solutions

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A: Sustainable Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 July 2026 | Viewed by 1253

Editors

Dr. Baoshan Zhu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: fluid machinery; renewable energy; computational fluid dynamics and vortex methods
Dr. Haoru Zhao

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Hydraulic Science and Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225100, China
Interests: hydraulic machinery cavitation; pelton turbine multiphase flow; unsteady jet–bucket interactions; cavitation erosion mechanisms
Dr. Yonglin Qin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: runner blade optimization; unsteady flow analysis; transient process investigation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The stability and flexibility of modern power grids are increasingly reliant on intermittent renewable sources and critically depend on dispatchable and responsive generation. Hydropower, with its proven capability for large-scale energy storage and rapid load-following, stands as an indispensable pillar in this energy transition. Its future evolution hinges on technological innovations that enhance efficiency, flexibility, and environmental compatibility. At the heart of these advances lie breakthroughs in hydraulic and fluid machinery—the core components that convert water's kinetic and potential energy into electricity.

This Special Issue focuses specifically on the frontier of hydropower technology and its associated fluid machinery, exploring how these innovations integrate with and are augmented by energy storage solutions. We aim to highlight cutting-edge research that redefines the performance, application, and sustainability of water-based energy systems, from traditional hydropower plants to novel marine and hydrokinetic concepts.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

Core Innovations in Hydraulics and Fluid Machinery:

  • Advanced design, optimization, and numerical simulation of hydraulic turbines (Francis, Pelton, Kaplan, and pump-turbines) for enhanced efficiency, flexibility, and operational range.
  • Development of novel turbines for low-head, in-stream, tidal, and wave energy applications.
  • Innovations in pump and pump-turbine technology for next-generation pumped storage hydropower (PSH).
  • Digital twins, advanced condition monitoring, and AI-driven predictive maintenance strategies for hydropower fleets.

System Integration and Hybridization:

  • Techno-economic design and operational strategies for hybrid plants (e.g., hydropower/PSH coupled with solar PV, wind, or battery storage).
  • Advanced control and grid-forming strategies for integrated hydropower-storage systems to provide essential grid services.
  • Retrofitting, modernization, and powering of non-powered dams with advanced fluid machinery.
  • Modeling and analysis of hydro-mechanical and electro-mechanical transients in complex systems.

Sustainability and Environmental Compatibility:

  • Hydraulic design and operational planning for minimizing environmental impacts.
  • Lifecycle assessment and sustainability analysis of innovative hydropower and PSH projects.

We invite original research articles and comprehensive reviews that address these pivotal themes. Your contributions will help shape the future of intelligent, efficient, and environmentally responsible hydropower engineering.

Dr. Baoshan Zhu
Dr. Haoru Zhao
Dr. Yonglin Qin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydropower technology
  • pumped storage hydropower (PSH)
  • fluid machinery
  • hybrid renewable systems
  • grid flexibility
  • hydraulic system design
  • condition monitoring
  • environmental sustainability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

31 pages, 13881 KB  
Article
The Spatiotemporal Correlation Between Hydraulic Loss and Liutex-Based Vortex Dynamics Across Four Stall Regimes in a Pump-Turbine
by Zekai Liu, Yonglin Qin, Boshuang Jiang, Shuangqian Han, Bowen Zhang, Haoru Zhao, Baoshan Zhu and Hongjie Wang
Energies 2026, 19(13), 3189; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19133189 - 5 Jul 2026
Viewed by 201
Abstract
Pumped-storage hydropower requires pump-turbines to operate safely and efficiently under off-design conditions, where stall-induced unsteady flows can redistribute hydraulic losses and reduce operational stability. Unlike previous analyses focused mainly on spatial correlations, this study develops a spatiotemporal framework to clarify how hydraulic loss [...] Read more.
Pumped-storage hydropower requires pump-turbines to operate safely and efficiently under off-design conditions, where stall-induced unsteady flows can redistribute hydraulic losses and reduce operational stability. Unlike previous analyses focused mainly on spatial correlations, this study develops a spatiotemporal framework to clarify how hydraulic loss (HL) and vortex evolution (VE) co-vary under different stall states at the valley point of the pump-mode hump region in a low-specific-speed, ultra-high-head pump-turbine. Detached eddy simulations (DES) were performed for an original-runner scheme (ORI) and an optimized-runner scheme (OPT), with identical stationary components, boundary conditions, and numerical settings. The comparative cases cover four representative flow states: non-stall, fixed stall, rotating stall, and mixed stall. The local hydraulic-loss rate (LHLR) was decomposed into dissipation (DIS) and transport (TRANS) terms, and Liutex-based vorticity decomposition was used to distinguish shear- and rigid-rotation-related vortex quantities. Pearson correlation analysis was then applied in both space and time. The results show that DIS is consistently associated with shear enstrophy ΩS, whereas the spatiotemporal correlation associated with TRANS and VE parameters exhibits stronger regional and stall-state dependence. These findings provide a quantitative basis for identifying loss-sensitive vortex features and support flow-control and runner-optimization strategies for improving pump-turbine efficiency and stability. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Hydropower and Energy Storage: Bridging Renewable Energy Solutions)
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19 pages, 17323 KB  
Article
Transient Hydraulic Characteristics of Large-Capacity/Low-Head Pumped Storage System During Pump Mode Start-Up
by Yunge Xiao, Chunbing Shao, Congbing Huang, Benhong Wang, Hao Wang, Chaoyue Wang and Fujun Wang
Energies 2026, 19(12), 2877; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19122877 - 17 Jun 2026
Viewed by 229
Abstract
With the large-scale development of renewable energy such as wind, solar and ocean energy, the demand for energy storage is more urgent. Pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) is one of the fundamental solutions to the problem of intermittent supply of renewable energy. The [...] Read more.
With the large-scale development of renewable energy such as wind, solar and ocean energy, the demand for energy storage is more urgent. Pumped hydro energy storage (PHES) is one of the fundamental solutions to the problem of intermittent supply of renewable energy. The large-capacity/low-head pumped hydro energy storage (LL-PHES) system with the use of tubular pump turbine is a beneficial extension of traditional PHES systems owing to large flow rate and cheaper civil structures. However, the continuous competition between the “static water pressure difference caused by gravity” and the “pressure increase caused by accelerated impeller rotation” leads to prominent instability in the start-up process of the LL-PHES system under pump conditions. An explicit coupling algorithm is proposed for analyzing the transient characteristics in the start-up process of the LL-PHES system under pump conditions. This algorithm is based on the idea of dimensional transformation, and performs 3D flow calculations and 2D rigid body dynamics equation solution in the pump domain and the flap gate domain, respectively. This algorithm avoids the problems of high computational cost and poor convergence that exist in existing fully three-dimensional coupling algorithms and ensures the efficiency of transient hydraulic characteristic calculation. A comprehensive analysis of the transient characteristics of the LL-PHES system during pump start-up process is conducted using the proposed new algorithm. The entire process of the increase in rotational speed, valve opening, flow rate, and the continuous evolution of blade surface pressure during the start-up process is quantitatively described. The amplitude and spectral characteristics of the alternating pressure on multiple blades are clarified. The evolution law of blade load during the stage of severe pressure fluctuations during the start-up process is explained. The load distribution characteristics of “high in the leading and trailing edge areas and low in the middle” in the blade stream direction is presented. The research results have a direct guiding role in improving the hydraulic design and enhancing the operational stability of LL-PHES systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Hydropower and Energy Storage: Bridging Renewable Energy Solutions)
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22 pages, 2190 KB  
Article
The Number of Mega Hydropower Projects in Cascade Hydropower Systems Should Be Kept Moderate: Empirical Evidence from 23 River Basins in China (1998–2022)
by Shiwei Lv, Yijing Gong and Jin Zhang
Energies 2026, 19(11), 2521; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19112521 - 24 May 2026
Viewed by 380
Abstract
Mega hydropower projects (MHPs) are known for their substantial socioeconomic benefits but also face significant environmental challenges. This study introduces a novel framework to determine the moderate number of MHPs within a cascade hydropower system (CHS) to achieve a favorable trade-off between socioeconomic [...] Read more.
Mega hydropower projects (MHPs) are known for their substantial socioeconomic benefits but also face significant environmental challenges. This study introduces a novel framework to determine the moderate number of MHPs within a cascade hydropower system (CHS) to achieve a favorable trade-off between socioeconomic benefits and environmental challenges. First, eco-efficiency of cascade hydropower (ECH) is defined to assess this trade-off. Second, a multi-period difference-in-differences model is used to examine the impact of MHP expansion on ECH. Finally, the moderate number of MHPs in CHS is identified based on the estimated effects. The results from 23 case basins reveal that as the cascade of MHPs expands, ECH experiences a sequence of strong positive, weak positive, no effect, and negative impacts. The positive effect of MHP expansion on ECH demonstrates diminishing marginal returns. Once the number exceeds the moderate threshold (five in our case study basins), the positive impact eventually turns negative. This conclusion has undergone a series of robustness checks. The proposed framework provides valuable guidance for optimizing CHS configurations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Innovations in Hydropower and Energy Storage: Bridging Renewable Energy Solutions)
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