News – STOR-HY

STOR-HY in their words: University of Twente

Posted on 22/07/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

UT and STOR-HY

The University of Twente (UT), located in the Netherlands, is a leading research university integrating engineering, technology, natural sciences, and social sciences to address global and regional challenges. With over 12,000 students from around the world and more than 4,100 staff members, UT fosters an international and interdisciplinary research environment.

Within the Faculty of Engineering Technology at UT, the Department of Civil Engineering and Management hosts the Multidisciplinary Water Management (MWM) group, specialising in water resources management, sustainability assessment, and decision-support modelling and research.

In the STOR-HY project, the MWM research group at UT leads Work Package 7 (WP7) on integrated sustainability, developing a comprehensive sustainability framework to assess the environmental and economic performance of the innovative technologies across the demonstration sites. Specifically, the UT team is responsible for conducting life cycle assessments, biodiversity impact assessments, circular economy evaluations, and life cycle costing analyses. Through these activities, UT aims to quantify environmental impacts, assess the effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, evaluate resource efficiency and material circularity, and analyse economic performance in collaboration with other consortium partners in WP7.

Contribution to STOR-HY

Within the STOR-HY project, UT is actively involved in the following key activities:

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): This activity quantifies environmental impacts (e.g., climate change, water use, and resource depletion) and evaluates the benefits of STOR-HY innovations using system thinking and life cycle perspectives.
Biodiversity Assessment: This activity evaluates the impact of pumped storage hydropower construction and operation on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, considering drivers such as land use change, climate change, and pollution through LCA-based indicators.
Circular Economy Assessment: In this activity, we assess circular economy potential in terms of material efficiency, reuse and recycling, using circularity indicators and material flow analysis in relation to the environmental performance of pumped storage hydropower.
Life Cycle Costing (LCC): UT is developing an LCC model to investigate long-term economic performance, including capital, operational, refurbishment, and decommissioning costs, as well as levelled costs of electricity and storage.

The final deliverable of WP7 will incorporate the findings from these assessments, along with the social components from our consortium partner (NORCE), into the development of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) framework. This integrated framework identifies trade-offs and synergies across the life cycle stages of the demonstrators, providing science-based guidance and decision-support tools to ensure the sustainability of the demonstrators in the STOR-HY project.

Rethinking the assessment approach for greenhouse gas emissions from pumped storage hydropower projects

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the primary driver of climate change, which is increasingly recognised as a major threat to biodiversity worldwide. Rising temperatures and more frequent extreme weather events resulting from the accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere can disrupt habitats, alter ecosystem functioning, and accelerate biodiversity decline. As countries expand their renewable energy systems to mitigate climate change, it is essential that GHG emissions are accurately accounted for in order to ensure that climate benefits are fully realised and environmental trade-offs are identified.

During the operational phase, GHG emissions from pumped-storage hydropower arise from two main sources. The first is direct emissions from reservoirs, including methane and carbon dioxide released from flooded land and aquatic ecosystems. The second is indirect supply-chain emissions, particularly those associated with the electricity consumed during pumping operations. Since pumped-storage hydropower relies on grid electricity to pump water to an upper reservoir, its carbon footprint depends strongly on the carbon intensity of the electricity mix.

Current assessments that use conventional LCA approaches typically rely on static inventory data for electricity grids and reservoir emissions. However, this conventional static LCA approach is limited in its ability to represent the variations in GHG emissions that occur throughout the lifespan of pumped-storage systems, which often operate for many decades. This can sometimes result in the overestimation of the GHG emissions from pumped storage hydropower.

Our research team at the University of Twente is addressing this challenge by developing and applying a time-explicit LCA approach for the specific context of pumped-storage hydropower systems. By incorporating temporal variations in electricity generation mixes and reservoir emissions, this method provides a more accurate representation of GHG emissions throughout the operational lifetime of pumped-storage hydropower systems. This is particularly important as electricity grids continue to decarbonise and reservoir emissions change over time.

This new approach will help policymakers, developers, and operators to better understand the long-term climate performance of pumped storage hydropower and its potential environmental impact on global and local biodiversity, thereby supporting more informed and sustainable planning decisions.

Conclusion

UT’s participation in STOR-HY reflects its commitment to enhancing the sustainability of future energy storage systems through scientific innovation and interdisciplinary research. By leading the project’s integrated sustainability assessment activities, UT is developing and applying improved methods, new scientific approaches and indicators, and decision-support frameworks to quantify the environmental, biodiversity, circular economy, and economic performance of pumped-storage hydropower systems. In doing so, UT is helping to improve the understanding of the long-term sustainability trade-offs and opportunities associated with hydropower operation and refurbishment. These contributions aim to support evidence-based decision-making and enable the development of more sustainable, resilient, and environmentally responsible pumped energy storage solutions within the STOR-HY project and beyond.

Artificial intelligence supports the digital transformation of hydropower

Posted on 10/07/2026 by STOR-HY

STOR-HY continues to contribute to cutting-edge research at the intersection of artificial intelligence and hydropower digitalisation. A new scientific paper by KAIZEN Solutions has been accepted for presentation at the 2026 International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), one of the world’s leading conferences in computer vision and pattern recognition that will take place in Lyon, France, from 17 to 22 August 2026.

Entitled “RAGDNet: A Region-Adjacency Graph for Semantic Segmentation of Mechanical Drawings Using Graph Neural Networks”, the paper was written by Alexandre Monnier, Nicolas Hili, and Yann Ledru. It introduces a novel artificial intelligence approach that improves the interpretation of complex mechanical drawings by combining region-adjacency graphs (RAGs) with graph neural networks (GNNs).

Making engineering drawings understandable for AI

Technical drawings remain an essential source of information throughout the lifecycle of industrial infrastructure. However, many historical engineering assets, including hydropower plants, still rely on paper documentation that is difficult and time-consuming to analyse and compare with modern digital models.

The research addresses this challenge by developing an AI model capable of automatically identifying and classifying the different elements of mechanical drawings. Rather than treating a drawing as a conventional image, the proposed method represents it as a graph, allowing the model to better capture the relationships between neighbouring components. This enables a more accurate semantic interpretation while requiring fewer computational resources than many state-of-the-art approaches based on vision transformers.

Supporting the digitalisation of hydropower

Within STOR-HY, digitalisation plays a central role in improving the operation, monitoring, and maintenance of pumped storage hydropower plants. AI-based tools capable of understanding technical documentation can help engineers access and interpret legacy information more efficiently, facilitating the comparison between historical drawings and current digital models.

These capabilities support the broader objectives of the project by enabling smarter engineering workflows and contributing to the development of advanced digital tools for hydropower infrastructure.

From research to real-world applications

The acceptance of this paper at ICPR 2026 highlights the scientific excellence of the work being carried out within the STOR-HY consortium. By combining advances in artificial intelligence with practical industrial challenges, the research contributes to the development of innovative digital solutions that can improve the management of critical energy infrastructure.

You can read the full paper here.

STOR-HY in their words: INESC TEC

Posted on 25/06/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

INESC TEC is a private, non-profit research association with public interest status, committed to scientific research and technological development, operating at the intersection of academia, industry, public administration, and society. The research centre connects these sectors by applying its research findings to technology transfer projects, focusing on generating value and delivering societal impact.

INESC TEC comprises 13 R&D centres, including the Centre of Power and Energy Systems, which is involved in the STOR-HY project to bring expertise in power systems, energy storage modelling, and electricity and ancillary service markets, focusing on hybridisation of pumped-storage hydropower plants (PSPs) with photovoltaic (PV) and battery energy storage systems (BESS) and optimisation of market participation.

Contribution to STOR-HY

INESC TEC’s main contributions to STOR-HY unfold in two directions: assessing the flexibility contribution of the various innovative technological solutions in STOR-HY to the power system and optimising the Alqueva triple-hybrid demonstrator in ancillary services markets.

The first of these contributions is framed within the STOR-HY matrix. Building on the flexibility matrix presented in the XFLEX Hydro project (2019-2023), the new matrix provides an updated view of the flexibility dimension in the current European ancillary services landscape, considering new pan-European market mechanisms and requirements for service provision. Through dynamic simulations, INESC TEC is evaluating the demonstrators’ ability to provide various ancillary services while complying with these requirements. Additionally, the new STOR-HY matrix incorporates environmental and societal dimensions developed by the partners at the University of Twente and NORCE, respectively.

The second contribution focuses on optimising the operation of a hybrid hydropower-floating PV-BESS plant in the electricity and frequency regulation markets. INESC TEC is developing a rolling-horizon model predictive control layer that continuously re-optimises setpoints in order to absorb intraday deviations while honouring day-ahead and ancillary service commitments.

The Alqueva hydropower plant, a 520 MW facility and the first triple hybrid system in the EU, serves as the demonstrator for this framework combining hydropower, photovoltaics, and battery storage, making it an ideal testbed for integrated market-operation strategies.

Coordinating market participation and plant control at Alqueva

At INESC TEC, we are developing operational tools within STOR-HY that connect market decisions with hydropower plant control. Our framework has two decision layers: one for market participation and the other for real-time operations.

The first layer focuses on the day-ahead market and ancillary services. Optimisation models are used to schedule generation and ancillary service bids for the following day, taking into account respecting reservoir and operational constraints.
The second layer operates closer to real time. Built on model predictive control, it continuously updates the plant’s operating setpoints as the day unfolds. Because renewable generation can differ from forecasts, the plant often has to adjust its operations during the day while remaining within its market commitments.

Flexibility is only valuable if it can be delivered reliably. By linking market scheduling with real-time control, the framework enables plants such as Alqueva to provide flexibility services while making better use of available water resources.

Challenges and opportunities of hydropower in the EU

Modern hydropower plants do not operate in isolation: they are cornerstones of electricity markets, making up most of the global storage capacity and can rapidly adapt to the ever-changing energy landscape. Thanks to the general time-dispatchability of their power generation, they can offer a wide range of operational flexibility.

Furthermore, traditional fixed-speed hydropower plants and PSPs contribute to the power system inertia by their very nature. However, they have some limitations. For instance, they have a slow response time to frequency variations or power setpoints, and their range for reactive power provision and absorption is limited. Moreover, operating these plants in frequency control can induce behaviours in the machines that accelerate wear and tear on the mechanical components, such as frequent setpoint adjustments or mode changes from pump to turbine. Given the wide variety of ancillary services that a PSP can provide and their respective market frameworks, optimally balancing the operation of the plant across different markets to increase revenues is a complex, multifaceted task.

Conclusion

STOR-HY aims to address the many challenges of PSP in an evolving power system, where renewable and converter-interfaced generation are on the rise. Hydropower has the capacity and responsibility to respond to these new challenges and the potential to contribute more to power system stability and generate new sources of revenue. These factors drive research and technological innovation projects such as STOR-HY.

Taking these steps is paramount in moving towards power systems that rely less on fossil fuels and more on renewable energy. This has long been a priority for the European Union and is a pillar of INESC TEC’s commitment to society.

Fourth consortium meeting and review meeting

Posted on 05/06/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

On 3–4 June 2026, the STOR-HY consortium convened in Brussels for its fourth consortium meeting and first review meeting, bringing together project partners, the Project Officer from the Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA), an external reviewer, and one of the Chairs of the International Advisory Board. This two-day event offered the chance to evaluate progress made during the initial reporting period, discuss ongoing activities and define priorities for the next phase of the project.

Reviewing progress across the project

The meeting opened with a presentation by project coordinator Alexandre Presas Batlló (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya), who provided an overview of the project’s achievements to date. At month 18, STOR-HY remains on track to deliver innovative pumped storage hydropower solutions, having submitted 16 deliverables, published several scientific publications, and developed a growing portfolio of communication and stakeholder engagement activities.

Partners then presented progress across all work packages.

WP2 reported advances in defining the technical, economic, environmental, regulatory, and social requirements for future pumped storage plants through the development of the STOR-HY matrix, which was presented in a workshop last July. Significant progress has also been made in defining business use cases for all demonstrators and developing methodologies to assess social acceptance and environmental performance.

WP3 showcased developments in advanced monitoring technologies and the Cyber-physical platform for Advanced Decision Support (CADS). Monitoring systems are already operational at several demonstrators, while work continues on virtual sensors, predictive maintenance strategies, CFD and FEM models, and the cloud-based CADS platform that will support operational decision-making.

WP4 presented progress on innovative control and operational management strategies for pumped storage plants. These activities included developing advanced control algorithms, optimisation tools for energy management and ancillary services, battery sizing methodologies, and concepts for hybridising hydropower with batteries and photovoltaic systems.

WP5 highlighted advances in technologies for harsh operating environments and saltwater applications. Partners reported progress on their work with anti-corrosion coatings, biofouling mitigation solutions, sediment monitoring technologies, and studies exploring the future potential of saltwater pumped storage hydropower in Europe.

Demonstrating innovation in real operating environments

A key focus of the meeting was WP6 and the project’s demonstrators, which are essential for validating STOR-HY technologies under real operating conditions. Updates on the demonstrators at Vouglans–Saut Mortier–Coiselet, Le Cheylas, La Rance, Alqueva, and Vilarinho das Furnas were presented. The activities presented ranged from advanced monitoring campaigns and wear-and-tear assessments to biofouling mitigation, hybridisation studies, and innovative operational strategies for increasing flexibility.

Sustainability, exploitation, stakeholder engagement, communication and dissemination

Progress was also reported on the project’s sustainability activities. WP7 presented initial results of the life-cycle assessment, biodiversity analysis, circular economy evaluation, life-cycle costing, and social acceptance studies. These activities will contribute to a comprehensive sustainability framework capable of evaluating the environmental, economic, and social impact of innovative hydropower solutions.

WP8 presented ongoing work to maximise the long-term impact of STOR-HY through exploitation planning, market analysis, and the identification of Key Exploitable Results (KERs). The first version of the project’s Exploitation Master Plan is currently being prepared to support the future uptake of STOR-HY technologies.

WP9 presented the progress achieved in stakeholder engagement, communication, dissemination, and training activities. During the first reporting period, the project launched its website and social media channels, published scientific papers and technical articles, organised public events and workshops, and strengthened collaboration with other European hydropower initiatives.

A successful first review

The second day of the meeting was dedicated to the review of the first reporting period. The consortium presented its achievements to the Project Officer and the external reviewer, who assessed the project’s progress against its objectives and planned activities.

The review was successful, and the consortium received positive feedback on the quality of the work performed. The reviewers recognised the project’s achievements and provided valuable recommendations for the next stages of implementation.

Having established a solid foundation established during its first 18 months, STOR-HY now enters the next phase of the project with a clear roadmap for advancing innovative technologies and operational solutions that will contribute to the future of pumped storage hydropower in Europe.

We would like to thank all the partners for their contributions, the International Advisory Board for its continued support, and the Project Officer and reviewer for their constructive feedback and guidance throughout the review process.

STOR-HY in their words: EDF

Posted on 01/06/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

EDF is a French multinational energy company, primarily owned by the French state. It operates nuclear, hydro, wind, solar, and thermal power plants. EDF supplies electricity and energy services across Europe and worldwide to millions of customers. EDF participates in the STOR‑HY project through two entities: EDF Hydro and EDF R&D. EDF R&D is the research and innovation division of the EDF Group. It develops advanced technologies supporting low‑carbon electricity generation, nuclear safety, renewable energies, power grids, and digital solutions.

EDF Hydro is a major player in hydropower in France. With an installed capacity exceeding 20 GW, hydropower represents approximately 15% of EDF’s national electricity production. The hydro fleet includes more than 400 power plants and 600 dams, operated by around 5,000 employees. EDF Hydro operates six pumped‑storage power plants (PSPP), representing a total of 5 GW of installed capacity. Each year, EDF Hydro invests over €500 million in maintenance and modernisation, ensuring the long‑term safety, reliability, and performance of its assets.

Within STOR‑HY, EDF specifically addresses key challenges related to hydropower‑based energy storage, carrying out tests and measurements at several power plants in close collaboration with the industrial and academic partners of the consortium.

Vouglans – Saut‑Mortier – Coiselet (VSMC)

Vouglans, Saut‑Mortier, and Coiselet form a cascade of three dams and associated power plants located in the Jura Mountains, with a combined installed capacity of approximately 370 MW. Ongoing works to add pumping capability at Saut‑Mortier will make this site a representative example of cascaded pumped‑storage operation.

Challenges: Managing increased mechanical wear due to intensified operation, exploring potential evolutions of the Unit 4 pump start‑up mode at Vouglans, and limiting the environmental impact of flushing operations on biodiversity.
Research: Studies focused on optimizing cascade operation and improving Unit 4 pump start‑up strategies.
Testing: Site tests are planned for 2027, including strain‑gauge measurements on Unit 4, supported by hydraulic scale‑model testing and theoretical modeling. This site also contributes to research on low‑head tandem pumping.

Le Cheylas

Le Cheylas is a pumped‑storage power plant located in the Alps, commissioned in 1980, and equipped with two 230 MW units. The plant operates under a head of approximately 260 m.

Challenges: Adapting operation to the 15‑minute electricity market (ArchyFlex) to reduce start-stop cycles, and anticipating the impact of sediment transport on machine wear.
Control systems: The validation of upgraded control commands was completed in 2025, enabling new transitions from turbine mode to synchronous compensator mode.
Testing: Additional instrumentation was installed in August 2025. A dedicated test campaign is planned for September 2026 to evaluate solutions aimed at enhancing the flexibility and extending the lifetime of this 45‑year‑old PSPP.

La Rance

La Rance is a unique tidal power station, commissioned in 1966, and remains a global reference in marine renewable energy. It is equipped with 24 reversible generating units, each rated at 10 MW, for a total installed capacity of 240 MW.

Focus: Saltwater tidal pumped‑storage‑like operation.
Challenges: Mitigating biofouling effects and assessing the integration of a battery system to better align tidal‑constrained operation with market requirements.
Testing: Biofouling tests are ongoing, with test coupons installed in May 2024. Cleaning trials were conducted in November 2025, evaluating techniques such as sponge cleaning, cavitation jets, and underwater brushing.

Conclusion

EDF’s active involvement in the STOR‑HY project demonstrates its strong commitment to advancing innovative and sustainable energy storage solutions. By leveraging its extensive hydropower expertise, conducting large‑scale experimental campaigns on real facilities, and closely collaborating with industrial and academic partners, EDF plays a key role in bridging research and operational deployment. These efforts reinforce EDF’s position as a major driver of the energy transition, supporting more resilient, flexible, and low‑carbon power systems for the future.

STOR-HY in their words: EDP Produção and EDP R&D

Posted on 27/04/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

EDP’s perspective within STOR-HY

The EDP Group participates in the STOR-HY project through two complementary entities: EDP Produção and the EDP R&D Centre, combining operational expertise with strong innovation capabilities.

EDP Gestão da Produção da Energia, S.A. (EDP Produção) is a leading utility in Portugal, operating more than 60 hydropower plants and two thermal power plants. As the branch of the EDP Group responsible for electricity generation in Portugal (excluding wind), EDP Produção plays the role of both a utility and an end user of the technologies and business models developed within the project.

As a key partner and major hydro operator, EDP Produção brings the perspective of a large-scale storage investor and asset owner, contributing to the development of specifications, integrated management systems, demonstrators, and business models.

The EDP R&D Centre, established in 2015 and part of EDP Innovation, focuses on research and development activities supported by laboratory facilities and a dedicated technical centre. It currently manages more than 40 European projects, with a strong focus on renewable energy technologies, electrification of heat, and energy storage solutions.

Contribution to STOR-HY

Within STOR-HY, EDP is actively involved in key technical developments, including:

Vilarinho das Furnas hydropower plant, located on the Homem River in northern Portugal. This facility includes a 94-meter-high dam and a power station equipped with two generating units: one Francis unit and one reversible unit, both rated at 80 MVA.

Alqueva, the first triple hybrid system in the European Union, combining:
- Hydropower plant (4 × 130 MW)
- Photovoltaic system (5 MW)
- Battery Energy Storage System (BESS; 1 MW)

In this context, STOR-HY will develop an innovative energy management tool designed to optimise asset response to market conditions. This tool will incorporate operational constraints such as equipment wear and tear, as well as market limitations. Additionally, a BESS sizing analysis will be carried out to assess the added value of higher-capacity storage systems.

Challenges and opportunities for hydropower in Europe

Hydropower faces several critical challenges in the coming decades. One of the most pressing is the aging of infrastructure: by 2030, around 20% of hydropower units worldwide are expected to be over 50 years old.

At the same time, climate change is increasing hydrological variability, with more frequent and intense extreme events, such as prolonged summer droughts (e.g., 2022) and severe winter floods (e.g., 2026). These dynamics reinforce the role of hydropower as a critical infrastructure within the energy system.

Despite these challenges, hydropower also represents a major opportunity. In energy systems with high penetration of variable renewable sources such as wind and solar, hydropower plays a central role by:

Providing around 95% of the world’s energy storage capacity, effectively acting as the “battery” of the power system
Delivering flexibility and reliability through ancillary services
Supporting grid stability and enabling higher integration of renewables

Conclusion

EDP’s participation in STOR-HY reflects its long-term commitment to accelerating the energy transition through innovation and integration of renewable technologies. By combining large-scale hydropower assets with emerging solutions such as battery storage and advanced energy management systems, EDP is actively contributing to a more flexible, resilient, and sustainable energy system.

Looking ahead, the company sees hydropower not only as a mature technology, but as a strategic cornerstone for future energy systems. Through projects like STOR-HY, EDP aims to unlock new value streams, optimise asset performance, and reinforce the role of storage as a key enabler of a carbon-neutral Europe.

New publication highlights the role of operational natural frequencies in condition monitoring

Posted on 15/04/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), coordinator of the STOR-HY project, has published a new scientific article that contributes to advances in condition monitoring of hydropower systems. Published in the Journal of Energy Storage, the paper explores innovative approaches to analysing the dynamic behaviour of pump-turbine units, focusing on improving the reliability and maintenance strategies of pumped storage hydropower. You can read the full publication here.

From research to real-world application

As hydropower systems face increasing operational demands due to the integration of renewable energy, advanced monitoring techniques are becoming essential. Digitalisation and data-driven approaches are key enablers for improving diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and overall plant performance. Against this backdrop, the UPC-led research investigates how operational natural frequencies can be leveraged to gain a better understanding of the structural and mechanical condition of hydropower components. One key finding is that “Operational natural frequencies can serve as health indicators for advanced condition monitoring”.

A foundation for STOR-HY technologies

This insight is particularly relevant for STOR-HY. The ability to track natural frequencies during operation opens new pathways for:

Early detection of wear and structural degradation;
Improved diagnostics under real operating conditions; and
More accurate predictive maintenance strategies.

These findings directly inform the development of STOR-HY’s advanced monitoring solutions, which are designed to detect failure mechanisms at an early stage and optimise maintenance planning in pumped storage plants. Based on this research, STOR-HY will further develop technologies that integrate these indicators into real-time monitoring systems and digital tools. This will contribute to the operation of hydropower becoming more reliable and cost-effective.

Supporting the future of flexible hydropower

By linking fundamental research with applied innovation, this publication reinforces STOR-HY’s mission to reduce operational and maintenance costs, extend the lifetime of hydropower assets, and enhance the flexibility and resilience of Europe’s energy system. As the energy transition accelerates, such advances will be crucial in ensuring that pumped storage hydropower remains a cornerstone of a stable and sustainable electricity grid.

STOR-HY in their words: UPC

Posted on 23/02/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

The Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) – BarcelonaTech plays a leading scientific and technical role in the STOR-HY project, contributing with advanced digital modelling, simulation, and smart monitoring solutions for pumped storage hydropower (PSP) plants.

UPC’s work forms the scientific backbone of the Cyber-Physical Platform for Advanced Decision Support (CADS), enabling the development of digital twins capable of supporting predictive maintenance, operational flexibility, and long-term reliability of hydropower assets.

Advanced computational modelling

UPC develops multi-scale computational models that replicate the real physical behaviour of pumped storage units under highly flexible operating conditions. These include:

1D system-level hydraulic models to simulate transient events such as start-ups, shutdowns, rapid load changes, and water hammer phenomena.

3D Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to analyse pressure fluctuations, rotor-stator interactions, cavitation risk, and off-design operation.

Finite Element Method (FEM) structural models to evaluate stresses, vibration modes, and fatigue life of critical components such as runners and shafts.

Smart monitoring and virtual sensors

A key innovation led by UPC is the development of virtual sensing methodologies, combining physical measurements, physics-based simulations, and artificial intelligence. This approach allows:

Indirect estimation of dynamic stresses in rotating components;
Fatigue damage prediction without intrusive instrumentation;
Real-time health indicators integrated into the digital twin, and
Data-driven decision support for predictive maintenance.

Validation in European demonstrators

UPC’s models and monitoring strategies are validated across several European PSP demonstrators, including:

Le Cheylas (France): advanced monitoring and model validation.
VSMC (France): experimental modal analysis and structural calibration.
Vilarinho (Portugal): hydraulic short circuit (HSC) operation.
Alqueva (Portugal): strain-based fatigue assessment.
La Rance (France): variable speed conversion.

Enabling the digital transformation of hydropower

Through advanced simulations, integrated monitoring strategies, and digital twin development, UPC contributes to increased operational flexibility, reduced operational expenditure (OPEX), extended component lifetime, improved reliability and safety, and enhanced integration of renewable energy.

Gender equality in hydropower

Posted on 08/01/202610/07/2026 by STOR-HY

In the European Union (EU), women are underrepresented in the energy sector, making up only 24% of the total workforce. While the situation is slightly better in the renewable energy sector (32%), particularly compared to the oil and gas industry (23%), this figure remains significantly lower than the proportion of women employed in the overall economy (47%). In the hydropower sector in particular, women represent just 23% of the workforce.

Furthermore, women in the renewable energy sector tend to be concentrated in support roles rather than technical or decision-making ones. The highest share of female employees are in administrative roles (45%), followed by non-science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) technical roles (36%). Women are most underrepresented in senior leadership roles, holding only 19% of these positions. Their presence is somewhat higher in middle management, where they make up 26%.

Barriers restricting women’s participation, career progression, and long-term retention

Recognising the specific challenges that women face in the renewable energy sector is a necessary step towards creating effective solutions and enabling them to contribute fully to the energy transition.

These challenges are closely interconnected, but they can be grouped into three main categories:

Workplace barriers, such as biased recruitment practices and working conditions.
Societal constraints, including cultural and social norms and discriminatory laws and policies.
Barriers relating to skills, education, and professional development.

Workplace barriers

Although social expectations and disparities in education and skills development play a significant role in shaping women’s involvement in the workforce, workplace barriers linked to gender were identified as the most common challenges.

They include structural issues, such as the lack of family-friendly policies or gender targets; discriminatory practices, including biased hiring practices and hostile work environments, and practical constraints, such as inflexible work arrangements and rigid mobility requirements. Inflexible work arrangements include the lack of maternity and/or paternity leave, flex-time, home office or part-time work, and on-site childcare.

These barriers mean that while women and men are recruited for entry-level positions in nearly equal numbers, the proportion of women declines noticeably when it comes to the first step up the career ladder.

Societal constraints

Deep-rooted social norms result in cultural expectations for women that conflict with career choices and opportunities. One of them is the perception that hydropower and the energy sector in general are male-oriented.

The lack of visible role models also creates a challenge, as it becomes more difficult for others to picture themselves working in the field or to identify potential mentors within their organisations.

Additionally, women are more likely than men to receive critical feedback related to their personality, instead of constructive feedback. In the hydropower sector, they often receive less credit than their male colleagues, and the quality of their work is perceived as lower than their male colleagues.

Academic barriers

The most prominent barrier is the low number of women with STEM degrees, where on average only 20-30% of students are female. This percentage is even lower in engineering classes, which on average have 15-20% female students.

This lack of representation is also present in conferences and other events, where the majority of speakers are usually men. As a result, women might be more reluctant to attend events, which decreases their opportunities to network.

Another issue is the lack of awareness among women of opportunities in the hydropower sector, which are often disseminated through professional networks to which women have limited access.

Measures to address the barriers

The following measures, based on international evidence and sector-specific research, offer concrete pathways for improving women’s participation, retention, and advancement.

Measures to address workplace barriers

Organisations can establish gender-equality objectives at the highest decision-making levels to ensure leadership accountability, embedding gender considerations into business strategy. This includes adopting diversity and inclusion policies, conducting regular gender audits, and integrating equality goals into managers’ performance evaluations.

Recruitment processes should be transparent, competency-based, and free from gendered language. Employers can widen candidate pools by looking beyond traditional engineering profiles and engaging with women’s networks in the energy sector. Clear promotion criteria and regular pay equity reviews help to address persistent pay gaps and ensure equal remuneration for equal work.

Offering flexible working options, such as remote working, flexible schedules, job sharing, parental leave for all genders, and childcare support, reduces the burden of balancing work and care responsibilities. These measures are essential for improving retention rates and enabling women to advance in their careers without facing penalties for family duties.

Hydropower facilities often require work in remote locations. Companies can make these environments safer and more accessible to women by providing adequate facilities, properly fitted safety equipment, secure accommodation, and safe reporting mechanisms for harassment or misconduct.

Mentorship programmes, women’s resource groups, sponsorship initiatives, and leadership training are effective tools for advancing women into decision-making roles. Guidance from experienced professionals can help women to navigate career barriers, expand their networks, and build their confidence.

Measures to address societal constraints

Sector-wide visibility campaigns can highlight the contributions of women in hydropower and reposition the industry as a viable and attractive career path. This could involve showcasing diverse female role models, sharing stories from the field, and challenging stereotypes that depict hydropower as a “male-oriented” or physically unsuitable profession.

Since men continue to occupy most leadership roles in hydropower, it is essential to involve them in gender equality initiatives. Training on unconscious bias and equitable leadership, combined with encouraging men to act as sponsors and vocal supporters of gender equality, can help to remove societal constraints.

Measures to address academic barriers

Exposure to science and engineering should begin in primary and secondary education. Outreach programmes, school partnerships, STEM clubs, and campaigns that counter gender stereotypes can help to spark early interest in technical subjects and normalise girls’ participation in STEM.

Scholarships, internships, and apprenticeships designed for women can increase their representation in hydropower-related disciplines. Gender-responsive teaching practices, inclusive classroom environments, and the presence of female faculty members also encourage women to join STEM programmes.

Programmes that bridge the gap between universities and the energy sector, such as joint industry–academia training initiatives, career fairs, site visits, and graduate programmes, help female students gain practical experience and better understanding of career opportunities in hydropower.

Ensuring gender-balanced panels, inviting female experts as keynote speakers, and promoting women’s research contributions can counteract the lack of representation that often discourages women from participating in academic and professional communities.

Gender equality in STOR-HY

STOR-HY is committed to gender equality. To this end, the project coordinator, the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), is implementing a Gender Action Plan to foster a gender-balanced leadership and evaluate and monitor the involvement of women and men in STOR-HY. The plan includes the following objectives:

To strengthen the gender dimension in research and technological solutions
To address gender imbalances in decision-making and leadership
To enhance the visibility of female researchers
To facilitate gender-sensitive recruitment and career development of female researchers and students
To foster an inclusive project culture

These objectives will be achieved by implementing and monitoring of specific actions throughout the project’s lifetime. Examples of these actions include analysing the gender dimension of research and technological solutions, supporting women’s participation in industry events, promoting networking opportunities, and creating awareness campaigns.

According to STOR-HY’s initial gender balance assessment, 26% of participants are women, which is slightly above the industry average. In line with these trends, women represent 58% of administrative and communication roles.

References

Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP). (2023). Power with Full Force: Getting to Gender Equality in the Hydropower Sector. The World Bank. https://www.esmap.org/Gender-and-Hydropower

García-Baños, C. (2025). Renewable energy: A gender perspective. International Renewable Energy Agency. https://www.irena.org/Publications/2025/Oct/Renewable-Energy-A-Gender-Perspective

Gareis, K., Dashja, E., Hüsing, T., Popov, P., Schulz, C., Pollitzer, E., Borchgrevink, H. M., Striebing, C., Schraudner, M., Voigt, N., Gorgels, S., Danne, C., Morales, O., Müller, I., Hausner, B., Badieijaryani, A., Gligurovska, E., and Dimanoska, M. (2024). Gender balance in the R&I field to improve the role of women in the energy transition. European Commission. https://doi.org/10.2777/8283

Hakhu, A., and Helgenberger, S. (2021). Green employment for women. Towards gender-inclusive renewable energy careers. Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. https://doi.org/10.48481/iass.2021.031

United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and International Center on Small Hydro Power (ICSHP). (2022). World Small Hydropower Development Report 2022. https://www.unido.org/WSHPDR2022

United Nations Women (UN Women). (2021). Call to action: Gender equality in the renewable energy industry. https://energia.org/document/call-to-action-gender-equality-in-the-renewable-energy-industry

Visit to Vilarinho das Furnas

Posted on 08/12/2025 by STOR-HY

On 25^th and 26^thNovember, GE Vernova and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) travelled to Portugal and meet with the engineering and operational teams of EDP Produção. The aim was to clarify technical questions and gain a better understanding of the current operations and uses of the Vilarinho das Furnas demonstrator.

The visit included a meeting at EDP’s Porto headquarters with representatives from EDP NEW, EDP Produção, GE Vernova, and the UPC, followed by a visit to the Vilarinho das Furnas hydropower plant. The demonstrator aims to explore and develop a solution in which the main inlet valve (MIV) regulates the hydropower plant. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation and finite element analysis (FEA) were developed by GE Vernova based on CFD calculations carrried out by the Geophysical and Industrial Flow Laboratory (LEGI) at the Institut polytechnique de Grenoble (INPG). Studies on the future operating modes were conducted by UPC.

The site visit had two goals. Firstly, it aimed to discuss practical topics regarding the installation of the two Vilarinho units in preparation for the site tests to be performed by the UPC and GE Vernova. This involved checking the accessibility of different parts of the units, such as the draft tube, MIV, and turbine pit, to determine where and how the sensors can be installed and consulting with the EDP operating team on how the cables can be routed to connect the sensors.

Secondly, the aim was to witness the start-up sequence of Unit 2, the pumped storage plant, in turbine mode, in order to understand how the MIV functions and obtain the operational logs necessary for the model to be developed by GE Vernova. This starting sequence was made possible with the help of the EDP operation team.