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融入市场，为能源利益相关者带来了重大机遇和挑战。尽管采取了所有的能源效率措施，但由于供暖、制冷、运输和许多工业部门的脱碳，2050年对脱碳电力的总体需求将明显高于今天，这只能通过高效和智能的电气化来实现。水电是支持欧洲通往脱碳能源系统和实现可再生能源发电全球领导地位的关键技术。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，水电减少了欧盟对化石进口的依赖，并为流域社会带来了多种额外利益，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，为现代电力市场中更高效、更可持续、更具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、数字孪生、人工智能算法、混合建模（电力到氢气）、云边缘计算和图像处理对现有水力发电厂进行数字化“改造”。该项目的核心支柱将是：（一）数字化，（即，用于水电站大坝和机械、天气和流量预报、网络弹性的数字孪生模型），（ii）灵活性，（即，与氢、存储和VPP操作的协调）和（iii）可持续性，（即，生物多样性问题）。验证将在覆盖欧洲不同地理区域的EDF（法国）、TEE（波兰）、PPC（希腊）、TASGA（西班牙）和INTEX（罗马尼亚）的真实的水电站中进行。

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.