Hydropower, a strategic channel for our reindustrialization (Tribune) comments

The coronavirus crisis highlights the economic and societal vulnerability that generates an unseated globalization.What applies to health equipment also applies to electrical equipment, including hydroelectricity.A reaction is essential before our country is once again the victim of a lack of anticipation.

The dangers of deindustrialisation

Since it was struck by the pandemic, France has struggled to stock up on medical equipment that meets its needs.We discover how much, for a strategic sector like health, it is important to keep the skills and the means of providing basic necessities in time.Insisting more about this widely shared observation is useless.

Hence the delivery to the foreground of the revival in France of an industry overly abandoned to the financial market games for several decades, with the consequence of a continuous reduction in staff and skills.Recalling our industry is, moreover, strengthening Europe.

Especially for a strategic sector like that of electricity ...

Electricity is undeniably strategic.Hospitals depend on it as well as many economic or individual activities.Imagine for a moment what a life punctuated by frequent cuts would be punctuated and calls for individual diesel generators to compensate for network failure.Unimaginable?Yet many countries in the South undergo these conditions.

Even in the United States, sellers of generators or electric batteries encourage the wealthiest to equip themselves in anticipation of the failures of the electricity network.Do we want to take this path to us?Obviously, no, for reasons of security, well-being and equity.

Not yet, in view of the expected role of electricity to combat global warming, especially in France with a CO 2 emission rate per kilowatt hour in the world.But is the worst impossible?

... whose network is challenged by an energy transition to intermittent sources

The State has decided in its multi -year Energy (PPE) programming, which has just been published to bring nuclear production to 50% and to complete it with wind and solar productions which are intermittent energies that must be managed.We announced in a 2015 publication that this would lead to the balancing of the electricity network difficult.

This prognosis was made this year during the containment period.In a recent article, France Strategy notes that with a drop in consumption of almost 20%, “the crisis increases the relative share of intermittent renewable energies in electricity production, which increases the volatility of product volumes […]and requires the presence of more flexible means on the network. ”

Precursor sign In the summer of 2019, the United Kingdom underwent a long general cut.Germany has not yet had to suffer from it thanks to its central position in the European network which has made it possible to regulate its intermittent production.And France Strategy concludes, "The consequences of the fall in activity on electricity consumption invite to re -examine the robustness of French and European systems for production, transport and distribution of electricity."[Fs].

This request is confirmed by a recent study [VGB] which shows that the power guaranteed by the European wind farm does not exceed 5% of the installed power.In the case of France provided for by the PPE for 2028, the wind farm will have a power guarantee of 2 GW while the electricity consumption can reach 100 GW in a point.

Pototable means are necessary for the safety of the electricity network, is crucial that French and European energy strategies cannot ignore.

Hydroelectricity, a non -carbon source provides an answer to the stake of flexibility and storage

When looking for flexible means to increase the robustness of the network, hydroelectricity occupies a special place.With 25.4 GW of power installed in France, it can adjust its nominal power on demand faster than most controllable energies.

It offers the first means of storage of electricity, by far the largest and the best performance, thanks to the STEP pumping stations and the reserves of the dams.

In all likelihood, by 2050, the STEPs will represent half of this storage capacity thanks to their maturity, their lifespan and their low cost per kWh.In addition, hydroelectricity has the rate of energy return (energy ratio produced to that spent for the highest installation life cycle), thus offering optimal energy use.

According to the IPCC, it is also, all the means of production, the least emitting greenhouse gases during the life cycle, a beautiful asset against global warming.[EE] Hydroelectricity is therefore a strategic sector for the success of the energy transition in France, in Europe and in the world.

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Building such facilities will become a necessity, or France and the aura have the know-how

France is the first producer of EU hydroelectricity.The region will have contributed to it for almost half by bringing together a set of skills, know -how and unique achievements.It brings together the strength and diversity of university actors, research laboratories, engineering and industries and trains thousands of providers.Its role in strengthening the robustness of the electricity sector is obvious.

Does France have many industrial sectors allowing it to occupy first place in the European Union?

And in a sector where global demand is increasing?Indeed, according to the latest IAI forecasts for 2040, in response to growing electricity demand for development, hydroelectric production, which represents 15% of the total, would increase by 1.7% per year 2.Hydroelectricity providing skills and industrial fabric open to a growing market, let us cultivate this advantage in a reindustrialisation strategy.

This advantage is based on the diversity of services offered by this sector among which:

• The place occupied by the hydro in the electric mix in France: it has been the first of renewable energies in French electricity production for over a century;As such, it is essential to respond to the challenge of strengthening the network facing intermittentness and the need for storage.

• The tradition of export to Asia, Latin America and Africa: Africa, South is Asian and Latin America have a strong potential for the development of new hydroelectric infrastructure, smaller ones for local needs for the largest forfood for national networks;Committed to the international competition around tenders, regional actors, Grenoble in particular, have acquired notoriety and confidence by the success of works built over decades.

• The needs for rehabilitation of the developments in Europe: the youth or the rehabilitation of the facilities meets the already mentioned need for flexible and storage piloting;It also aims at the preservation of the water potential made even more critical with global warming and endeavors to preserve biodiversity.

• The unused potential of small hydraulics: very variable depending on the country, its exploitation in France would make it possible to exploit an unused potential of 7 TWh of annual production, while preserving biodiversity, thanks to a number of innovations.Decentralized energy form, it can also help storage thanks to Mini-STEP.

• Hydroelectricity conditions the vitality and development of mountain territories: producing and exporting electricity from mountains, it structures their economy, in particular by contributing to the financing of other employment sectors (industry, snow sports and aquatic and aquatic and aquaticTourism) and strengthens the attractiveness of the region: crop irrigation, tourism, sports and leisure, among others.

• Hydroelectricity at the service of maritime regions: France has an unrivaled experience in tide energy, thanks to the Rance factory.It also has a unique potential for pumping and turbinage on the edge of the cliff which would help regulate the productions of maritime wind farms.

The contribution of hydraulics to the service of sustainable development and inevitable adaptation to climate change: when hydroelectricity is inserted on a large river like the Rhône or the Rhine, it acts by developing other uses of the river: transportRiver, irrigation, drinking water and tourism.Both in France and in the other European countries, the hydroelectric sector sees opening before it a space of new developments linked to the territories.

All these services will be all the more accessible as the innovation cards will be well played, first of all:

• Turbines with variable speed and high yield: in response to the growing share of intermittent productions, research and industry create new generations of turbines capable of varying their nominal power or turbo-poops for STEPs, which keep the yield.high (90%) specific to hydroelectricity.This need to respond to major scientific and technological challenges for which national actors are placed at the best world level.

• Enernet: Innovations include power electronics and Enernet (energy internet) which will ensure hybridization with intermittent sources;Sensors and software is developed for the collection and processing of data basins data in order to better provide the water resources.

• Composite materials: The development of new composite materials aims to extend the lifespan of forced behaviors and infrastructure.With the techniques of collecting and processing data on works, these materials contribute to more agile maintenance which ensures the high level of safety of the installations.

• Respect for the environment: research in progress to better understand the ecosystems of rivers and rivers make it possible to adapt the works to the needs of species.The new turbines at very low rotation speed allow fish to cross them without damage.Elsewhere, fish passes facilitate the bypass of the works.

Better oxygenated certain deductions will improve their environment.These will be some of the benefits of rehabilitation of works and the development of the potential of small hydraulics, made in compliance with European environmental standards.

It is only a few examples of the innovations in progress which clearly show that hydroelectricity is a mature and innovative technique that best adapts to the needs of its time.Thus the European Union expects the hydroelectricity which it contributes to the integration of solar and wind energies.For this purpose, a large tender program will be launched by the Commission as part of the Hydropower Europe forum.

The teaching, research and industry triptych, born in Grenoble with the white coal, assures the region a formidable asset for innovation and industrial development.By responding to European calls for tenders, preparing the energy transition guaranteeing the future of humanity, it is a source of industrial development and creator of jobs anchored in the territories.

Organizational innovation based on a strong and lasting federative structure

By creating Hydro21 20 years ago, regional players showed an organizational innovation that brings together industrialists, SMEs and orders.Thus, the Focushydro scientific meetings and the Businesshydro salons bring the opportunity to weave and maintain the links between the actors each year.

But in response to new challenges, you have to aim further and stronger!• Unify the profession and work on a network throughout the value chain to adapt as quickly as possible to the needs of the company

• Work on an industrial hydroelectricity strategy integrating all the dimensions necessary for its success: skills, industrial assets, contributions to energy transition and export

• Create working groups around technological, environmental, legal or financial locks

• Dialogue with the European Union to support the "green deal", employment, industry and research

• Find new solutions of the energy transition with political decision -makers across the region • Promote our strengths and support our offer in export tenders within national and European networks based onFrench or European funds

This is what the federative and lasting organization of the actors must respond that this text calls for its wishes.

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