WSHPDR_2013_Final_Report-updated_version

4.4 Western Europe
European Small Hydropower Association, Stream Map
Introduction to the region
Western Europe includes nine countries, seven of which
use small hydropower (excluding Monaco and
Liechtenstein). The dominant climate is continental and
temperate, with a maritime climate on the coast.
In order for the European countries to achieve their
renewable energy targets by 2020, including the
integration of large amount of wind power to the
European electricity transmission system, new
infrastructure is crucial. Based on the European Union
Third Energy Package and the conclusions of the
European Council in February 2011, an internal
harmonized electricity market should be completed by
2014. The regulators of Belgium, France, Germany,
Luxemburg and the Netherlands are part of the Central
West Electricity (CWE) regional initiative led by the
French Regulatory Commission for Energy, while
Austria’s regulator leads the Central Eastern (CEE)
regional initiative. 1 The aim of all European regional
initiatives is a continuous intraday trading system across
Europe.
Table 1
Overview of countries in Western Europe
Country
Total
population
(million)
Rural
population
(%)
National
electricity access
(%)
Electrical
capacity
(MW)
Electricity
generation
(GWh/year)
Hydropower
capacity
(MW)
Hydropower
generation
(GWh/year)
Austria ah 8.22 32 100 21 400.0 71 075 12 665.00 42 990
Belgium abgh 10.44 3 100 15 802.0 91 000 107.00 300
France ah 65.95 15 100 123 500.0 550 300 21 300.00 68 000
Germany ach 81.15 26 100 172 400.0 612 000 4350.00 19 147
Luxembourg adh 0.51 15 100 1 655.3 4 538 39.54 102
Netherlands aeh 16.81 17 100 26 600.0 118 138 37.60 109
Switzerland afh 8.00 26 100 17 885.0 63 723 12 297.00 37 450
Total 191.08 - - 379 242.3 1 510 774 50 796.14 168 098
Sources:
a. International Journal on Hydropower & Dams 2
b. Belgian Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation 3
c. Bundesnetzagentur 4
d. Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation 5
e. Tennet 6
f. Swiss Bundesamt fuer Energie 7
g. European Commission 8
h. Photius 9
Small hydropower definition
Among the different countries, various small
hydropower definitions are applied (table 2).
Table 2
Classification of small hydropower in Western Europe
Country
Small
(MW)
Mini
(MW)
Micro
(kW)
Pico
(kW)
Austria a up to 10
Austria 2-10 0.6-2.0 5-500 up to 50
Belgium ..
France b < 12 or < 10 0.5-2.0 up to 500
Germany a up to 1
Germany c up to 5
Luxembourg d 1-6 Up to 1
Netherlands b up to 15
Switzerland c 1-10 0.1-1.0
Sources:
a. Platform Water Management in the Alps 10
b. Agence locale des Énergies et du Climat 11
c. European Small Hydropower Association 12
d. International Energy Agency and Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development 13
Regional overview
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands and Switzerland are the seven countries
that use small hydropower. Small hydropower support
mechanisms exist in all countries through tradable
green certificates (Belgium), investment support or
subsidies (the Netherlands, and for Austria from 2010
onwards), and feed-in tariffs (Austria, France, Germany,
Luxembourg, Switzerland). The Water Framework
Directive is being implemented in all European Union
Member States (only Switzerland is not part of the
European Union).
The total installed small hydropower capacity (defined
as up to 10 MW) is around 6,000 MW in Western
Europe. France has the highest installed small
hydropower capacity, followed by Germany, Austria and
Switzerland.
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