WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

Regional overview and potential
All 10 countries of the region use small hydropower with
a wide range of contribution to their national grids. Both
Norway and Sweden experience the highest small
hydropower capacities in Northern Europe and both are
heavily dependent on (large) hydropower as a source of
energy. Their small hydropower contribution is small.
Despite this, Sweden has no plans to further develop the
number of small hydropower plants; instead, Sweden is
aiming to upgrade its current plants. Conversely
Norway’s motivation to further develop small
hydropower is suppressed by drawbacks in procuring
grid connections and obtaining licences for the various
stages of implementation.
Finland has over achieved its 2020 renewable targets
and has a mature small hydropower sector. Recently,
financial support for new plants has been withdrawn,
leading to a significant decline in the development of
new plants.
Denmark’s self-sufficient energy approach by the use of
renewable technology is commendable. Due to the
mature nature of the renewable energy sector of the
country, the hydropower potential has been fully
developed with further development suppressed by lack
of developable sites. In Estonia, strong dependence on
thermal energy and a lack of legal motivation for
renewable energy has hindered the interest in small
hydropower, but nevertheless Estonia aims to increase
its use of small hydropower by 2020.
Lithuania is reliant on electricity imports to supplement
its energy demand. So it has a strong incentive to
support renewable energy, including the use of small
hydropower, in order to attain greater self-sufficiency
by 2020. Large hydropower dominates the energy sector
of Latvia but at the same time there is public support for
the use and future development of small hydropower
plants.
The United Kingdom is using small hydropower to help
meet its targets set for 2020, but the realization of small
hydropower is slowed down by strong public concern
for perceived environmental concerns related to
hydropower.
Ireland has the opportunity to convert abandoned old
mills into small hydropower sites. However many of
these sites are in non-favourable locations.
Nevertheless, there is a large amount of untapped small
hydropower potential and a general acceptance of the
technology. Iceland benefits from precipitation
favourable for small hydropower and a mature and
developed hydropower sector. However, the awareness
of small hydropower is at a minimum due to the more
significant attention paid to the development of large
hydro schemes.
The total installed small hydropower capacity is
currently more than 3,643 MW in Northern Europe.
Norway and Sweden lead with over 1,000 MW each, in
contrast to low lying countries such as Denmark, Estonia
and Lithuania that have the lowest hydropower
capacities in the order of 10-30 MW each. Finland and
the United Kingdom are in the middle with a potential of
200-300 MW each (table 3).
Data on the technically feasible potential of remaining
small hydropower capacity was not available for any
country except for Norway which has a remaining
potential of about 200 GWh/year. The small
hydropower potential that could be economically
feasible with some plans laid down in each country is
estimated to be about 141 MW, with over half of this
located in the United Kingdom (table 3).
The European Small Hydropower Association (ESHA)
Stream Map i reports a need for State administrations to
compile the figures on their small hydropower
potentials and to keep them up to date, since the
National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs) do
not always provide figures on the number of
hydropower facilities (large, small or micro), which are
intended to be constructed by the Member States in the
coming years. 8
Table 3
Small hydropower up to 10 MW in Northern Europe
Country
Potential
(MW)
Plann
ed
(MW)
Installed
capacity
(MW)
Annual
generation
(GWh)
Denmark 9.3 0 9.3 28
Estonia 9.0 1 8.0 30
Finland 305.0 3 302.0 1 314
Iceland at least 25.0 .. 25.0 169
Ireland 60.0 18 42.0 160
Latvia 35.0 9 26.0 69
Lithuania 40.0 11 29.0 93
Norway at least 1 778.0 .. 1 778.0 7 600
Sweden 1 230.0 36 1 194.0 4 571
United
Kingdom
350.0 80 230.0 800
Total 3 841.3 158 3 643.3 14 834
Sources: See country reports and Stream Map 8
There are different challenges for the development of
small hydropower across the region; for example in
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