The Future of Swiss Hydropower Realities, Options and Open Questions

The NRP70 project 'The Future of Swiss Hydropower: An Integrated Economic Assessment of Chances, Threats and Solutions' (HP Future) has been initiated in 2014 with the objective to identify options for Swiss hydropower (HP) to adopt to the ongoing and expected electricity system changes. The project has been finalized in 2018 and this final report provides an overview of the obtained results and insights. Following a short summary of the main findings is provided

Energy policy in British Columbia: An investigation of stakeholders’ perceptions regarding the emergence, development and evolution of the policies in the electricity generation sector

Entre 2007 et 2010, le gouvernement de Colombie Britannique entreprend la mise en place d’une série d’objectifs énergétiques et climatiques. Il en résulte alors l’imposition de nouvelles règles concernant notamment la gestion et la planification du système de production d’électricité provincial. Ce dernier, à large dominante hydraulique, se voit ainsi imposer plusieurs mesures spécifiques, dont notamment l’autosuffisance, un minimum de 93% de production d’origine renouvelable, ainsi que la conservation en mains public des structures d’accumulation hydrauliques. Or, dans les années qui suivent (2011-2012), plusieurs projets susceptibles d’affecter le système électrique dans son ensemble sont initiés ou promus au sein du territoire infranational. Parallèlement, plusieurs amendements sont adoptés, diminuant la portée de certains objectifs provinciaux. La Colombie Britannique est ainsi susceptible d’offrir un exemple pertinent pour étudier l’émergence et l’évolution de mesures unilatérales d’atténuation de GES à une échelle sub-nationale. Alors qu’une partie des études existantes nous incite à penser que ce type de mesures n’a que de faibles chances d’aboutir, d’autres approches nous présente une série de facteurs susceptibles d’expliquer l’émergence de telles mesures. Ainsi, en se concentrant sur la production d’électricité dans un territoire défini, il s’agit de considérer la promotion des sources renouvelables comme une réponse partielle à l’atténuation de GES dans le secteur défini. Ici encore, la littérature scientifique met en avant tant les avantages que les inconvénients spécifiques à une gestion d’un système électrique intégré basé sur des ressources renouvelables au sein d’une entité territoriale définie. Cette recherche se base sur une série d’interviews, intégrant plusieurs des principaux représentants et partie prenantes du système électrique Britanno-Colombien. Elle vise à investiguer les conceptions et problématiques de ces acteurs, en rapport à l’émergence et l’évolution de trois politiques énergétiques spécifiques (autosuffisance, objectif climatique et propriété publique). Il s’agit également de comparer ces résultats avec les principales conclusions émanant de la revue de littérature, ainsi que d’appréhender l’importance du contexte provincial dans un tel cadre

Impact Analysis of Hydropower: Exploring New Projects and Existent Installations Using Sustainability Assessment Tools

Sustainability has increasingly become a key policy goal, mainly as an answer that the current path of modern societies in not viable in the long term. Several assessment tools have been developed accordingly, especially focusing on the energy sector. This thesis focuses on hydropower, the main source of renewable power worldwide. Hydropower is in this frame explored and analyzed in four steps: 1) Investigation of diversity in water rights, and elaboration of a 9-steps process to overcome this diversity; 2) Exploration of hydropower impacts and building of causal diagrams; 3) Application of MCDA tools and stakeholder survey to analysis the future of existing hydropower installations, based on one case study; 4) Construction of causal diagrams to represents the concerns and expectations of stakeholders, based on two case studies. Globally, our results call for a systematic, early and comprehensive assessment of hydropower impacts, including multiple temporal and spatial scales

Disputed dams: Mapping the divergent stakeholder perspectives, expectations, and concerns over hydropower development in Iceland and SwitzerlandDisputed dams: Mapping the divergent stakeholder perspectives, expectations, and concerns over hydropower development in Iceland and Switzerland

Publisher's version (útgefin grein)The evaluation of the stakeholders’ perception of new hydropower projects is essential for assessing public acceptance, ensuring local involvement, and identifying feasible and desirable changes towards sustainable development. This study uses the concept of causal diagrams (CD) to identify the individual perspectives of stakeholders of two new hydropower projects, one in Switzerland (Val d’Ambra project) and one in Iceland (Hvammvirkjun project). For this purpose, semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders were conducted, which were then categorized into 5 interest groups. Using the software Atlas.ti, we identified and sequenced the perceived causality of impact pathways of the two projects. The results are exposed in two series of 10 topical causal networks, and two aggregated diagrams. For each case, CDs expose the complexity of multi-sequenced causalities between elements of a very heterogeneous nature, as expected and reported by stakeholders. This approach enables the identification of inter- and intra-group conflicting perspectives, and perceived uncertainties, concerning both subjectives matters along with much more tangible and predictable aspects. Our method enables the identification of areas where further research or better transfer of information between stakeholders is required. It also exposes how hydropower impacts can differ in time and space, when in one case study, intracommunity tensions and conflicts were identified at the earliest project stage, along with psychological distress of some local residents. Based on the presented CD, we conclude that this method can facilitate communication and problem-solving in complex social-environmental situations amid multiple stakeholder categories, which heterogeneity should not be underestimated.Peer Reviewed (ritrýnd grein

Hydropower investment profitability under different water fee systems

The goal of this paper is to assess the profitability of investment in hydropower (HP) under three water fee systems: No-fee; Fixed-fee system, which is based on theoretical power combined with annual hydrological conditions (current system); Semi-flexible or fixed and variable fee system, with 50% based on fixed system and 50 % based on fluctuating electricity prices; Profit-based imposition system, which is based on the profit made by companies

Sustainability assessment of hydropower: using causal diagram to seize the importance of impact pathways

Major factor in the electricity production, the number of hydropower plants is still steadily growing worldwide. Besides, such facilities entail a whole range of effects. A sound and in-depth assessment of all the impacts arising from each new project is required. While sustainability assessment tools provide relevant instruments in this aim, as they enable the evaluation of aspects from various kinds, interrelations between the latter are frequently overlooked. Based on the available literature, we use the concept of the causal diagram to structure and represent hydropower impacts in a generic form through causal networks. We develop and present a series of ten causal diagrams, each focusing on one specific topic. Strongly interrelated, the diagrams highlight the close ties existing between the multiple aspects of hydropower and enable a clear understanding of such links. A plain grasp of the impact pathways is essential to gain a holistic and comprehensive perspective of the consequences ensuing from the implementation of hydropower facilities. This step is also crucial in identifying relevant and concrete measures to mitigate undesirable impacts. All in all, such causal diagrams are meant to be used as guidance and supportive tools by decision makers and concerned stakeholders

Framework for Decision-Making Process in Granting Rights to Use Hydropower in the European Context

The European electricity landscape is facing an ambivalent situation between: (1) common market platforms; and (2) national and subnational jurisdictions, which impose their specific rules on energy sectors. This particularly affects hydropower, as the latter faces inequalities in the procedures needed for the attribution of water rights. Besides jurisdictional disparities, the European Union requires this attribution to follow competitive processes and the integration of sustainable development goals for energy projects, while other countries connected to the European grid such as Switzerland and Norway still know different procedures and requirements. Therefore, this article addresses concerns regarding the lack of harmonization of water regimes in Europe. Imposing a common jurisdiction to countries connected to the European grid would be politically very challenging. Our approach overcomes this challenge by proposing a process adaptable to specific local rules and allows a comparison of water rights attribution procedures. In this frame, we propose a nine-step process, based on three goals: (1) to enhance competitive access by ensuring the highest rent transfer related to water rights; (2) to prioritize projects closer to sustainability goals; and (3) to ensure the efficiency of the process itself

Ionic Liquid Crystals Based on Loop-Shaped Copper(I) Complexes

International audienceThis paper describes the synthesis and characterization of liquid crystals based on loop-shaped cationic copper(I) complexes of a multidentate ligand. Their synthesis involves the one-pot reaction of an alkyloxy-decorated pyridine-aldehyde unit with a diamine (2,2'-(ethylenedioxy)bis(ethylamine)) spacer to form in situ a pyridine-imine quadridentate-N4-donor ligand, L, which is able to chelate a copper(I) center associated with various noncoordinating anions. All of these compounds were characterized by NMR, IR, and electronic absorption spectroscopy, and more particularly by X-ray diffraction and mass spectroscopy, enabling unambiguous assignment of the [ML]+ mononuclear nature of the cationic components. The presence of six flexible alkyloxy chains at each end of the ligand associated with the rigidity of the core complex causes induction of a liquid crystal state with a columnar self-organized architecture, where the columns are packed in a hexagonal two-dimensional network

The future of Swiss hydropower a review on drivers and uncertainties

Swiss Hydropower (HP) is currently facing a wide range of challenges that have initiated a debate about future prospects and its role within the envisioned energy transition. Building on this debate, this paper provides an overview of the status and prospects of Swiss HP by identifying and evaluating the different drivers and uncertainties that Swiss HP faces. Based on a review and the perceptions held by some of the main Swiss HP stakeholders the two main topics that need to be addressed are the market driven impacts and the political, legal and social aspects. While the market dynamics cannot directly be influenced by Swiss companies or authorities, the regulatory framework can and needs to be adjusted. However, this requires a comprehensive stakeholder process and is at least a medium-term process