Research on energy storage in water conservancy projects

Why are large-scale water conservancy and hydropower engineering projects important?

Today, large-scale water conservancy and hydropower engineering construction projects have become not only critical infrastructure for renewable energy development, but also strategic projects for the trade-off between economic development and ecological balance in river basins.

How did Water Conservancy and hydropower engineering develop?

Civilization initially developed beside rivers and, as people’s understanding of nature grew and societies matured, the resulting demands led to the development of water conservancy and hydropower engineering projects. The first embankment dam built in ancient Egypt around 2,900 B.C. was an example of early water conservancy engineering.

Can water conservation save energy?

Across all scenarios, securing energy savings through water conservation proves to be cost competitive with at least two of the EE programs—the residential home energy improvement program (HEIP) and the commercial building retro-commissioning (RCx) program.

Are hydropower storage projects sustainable?

As storage becomes more relevant under climate change, adequate assessment is necessary to ensure projects’ sustainability. This study quantifies hydropower global median lifecycle greenhouse emissions at 23 gCO 2 e/kWh using the G-res Tool to estimate the net emission for 480 hydropower storage projects.

Why are hydropower reservoirs important?

As climate disruption will heighten the situation, the importance of water storage and water conservation will continue increasing. Hydropower reservoirs can provide multiple benefits to societal development and growth, especially in contributing to guarantee water and energy security.

Should we invest in natural conservation?

The merits of investing in natural conservation are generally overlooked. For example, only around 3.3% of investments in water conservancy went to soil and water protection and ecological recovery projects in 2010. The future water conservancy needs to encourage nature-respected projects (Wang, 2006).