D-HYDROFLEX - Digital solutions for improving the sustainability performance and FLEXibility potential of HYDROpower assets

欧洲能源系统正在经历一场重大变革：脱碳、供应安全、可再生能源的部署及其与市场的整合，为能源利益相关者带来了重大机遇和挑战。尽管在提高能源效率方面做出了种种努力，但到2050年，由于供暖、制冷、运输和许多工业部门的脱碳，对脱碳电力的总体需求将明显高于今天，而这只能通过高效和智能的电气化来实现。水电是支持欧洲实现脱碳能源系统和实现可再生能源发电全球领先地位的关键技术。它是一种可再生和高度可持续的电力资源，可以为欧洲电力系统提供稳定性和宝贵的灵活性。此外，水电减少了欧盟对进口化石燃料的依赖，并为流域社会带来了许多额外的好处，如支持灌溉、供水和防洪。D HYDROFLEX项目将推动水电数字技术的卓越研究，为在现代电力市场上建设更高效、更可持续、更有竞争力的水电站铺平道路。D-HYDROFLEX将开发一个工具包，用于基于传感器、数字双胞胎、人工智能算法、混合建模（电力到氢）、云边缘计算和图像处理对现有水电站进行数字化“改造”。该项目的核心支柱将是：(i)数字化（即水电站大坝和机械的数字孪生，天气和流量预报，网络弹性），（ii）灵活性（即与氢气，储存和VPP操作的协调）和（iii）可持续性（即生物多样性环境问题）。验证将在EDF（法国）、TEE（波兰）、PPC（希腊）、TASGA（西班牙）和INTEX（罗马尼亚）的实际水电站进行，覆盖欧洲不同的地理区域。

The European energy system is undergoing a significant transformation: decarbonization, security of supply, deployment of renewables and their integration into the market, generating significant opportunities and challenges for energy stakeholders. Despite all energy efficiency efforts, overall demand for decarbonized electricity is set to be significantly higher in 2050 than today due to the decarbonization of the heating, cooling, transport and many industrial sectors, which can only be achieved via efficient and smart electrification. Hydropower is a key technology in supporting the European pathway to a decarbonized energy system and to achieve global leadership in renewable energy generation. It consists a renewable and highly sustainable electricity resource and can supply the European power system with stability and valuable flexibility. In addition, hydropower reduces EU’s dependency on fossil imports and renders multiple extra benefits for society in the river basins such as support to irrigation, water supply and flood control. The D HYDROFLEX project will advance excellence in research on digital technology for hydropower paving the way towards more efficient, more sustainable, and more competitive hydropower plants in modern power markets. D-HYDROFLEX will develop a toolkit for digitally ‘renovating’ the existing hydroelectric power plants based on sensors, digital twins, AI algorithms, hybridization modelling (power-to-hydrogen), cloud-edge computing and image processing. The core pillars of the project will be: (i) digitalization, (i.e., digital twins for hydro dams and machinery, weather and flow forecasts, cyber-resilience), (ii) flexibility, (i.e., coordination with hydrogen, storage and VPP operation) and (iii) sustainability, (i.e., biodiversity environmental issues). Validation will take place in real hydro plants of EDF (France), TEE (Poland), PPC (Greece), TASGA (Spain) and INTEX (Romania), covering different geographical areas of Europe.