SHERPA
(new Solutions for Hydropower plants to Enhance operational Range, Performance and improve environmental impAct)
SHERPA project will develop and validate innovative technologies for refurbishing current hydropower plants (HPPs), namely:
- Additive Manufacturing for metallic patches and coatings to minimize damage and enhance resistance to cavitation,
- new strategies to adapt rotational speed depending on the flow range,
- advanced air injection systems to improve water quality and efficiency;
- new runner designs adapted to E-flows increasing performance.
Modelling, simulation, and monitoring tools will assess the new solutions of the in terms of energy output, flexible operation, cost-effectiveness, and impact on biodiversity. The goal is to expand and/or adapt the operational range of the HPP to include lower flows, without this harming their lifetime, economic viability, and environmental and social impact.
EPRI Europe contribution to the project
EPRI Europe leads Work Package 4: Innovative approaches for water quality enhancement and biodiversity impact minimization. Within this WP EEU will characterize and evaluate the different available technologies to improve water oxygen content in hydropower plants, and understand each technology impact on water quality as well as additional benefits like cavitation reduction. EPRI Europe will then develop an Aeration System Optimization Framework, to allow project owners to optimize the implementation of aeration technologies, even in combined settings, from a technoeconomic and environmental perspective. Additionally, in Work Package 6, EPRI Europe will leverage an industry recognized tool developed by EPRI, Hydropower Flexibility Framework, to optimize hydropower generation scheduling, with special focus on combining environmental requirements for minimum flow with grid services support under low flow conditions.
EPRI Related Programs
