Many rivers are fragmented by hydropower plants. I Photo: Jörn Gessner
"The European Fish Hazard Index is intended to support the sustainable modernisation of hydropower plants and to help objectively assess the legitimacy and profitability of individual plants," says IGB scientist Ruben van Treeck, lead author of the study.
More than half of Europe's small hydropower plants are in need of modernisation
An objective assessment tool is urgently needed: the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that a significant proportion of all hydropower plants worldwide will soon need upgrading and modernization – about 65% and 50% of small hydropower plants in Western and Eastern Europe, respectively, are over 40 years old.
Index is suitable for most types of plants found in Europe
The European Fish Hazard Index was developed as part of the EU H2020 project FIThydro. It is the European adaptation of the assessment index for the mortality risk of fish at hydropower plants, which was recently developed in cooperation between IGB and the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN). The European Fish Hazard Index can be applied to a wide range of plant types. It has implemented an inventory of 168 fish species native to European waters, classified according to their mortality risk. The EFHI supports the planning of protective measures by mapping their impact in a transparent hazard score. In doing so, the EFHI takes into account locally relevant ecosystem or fish protection objectives and applicable European regulations, such as the Habitats Directive, the Water Framework Directive, or the Eel Regulation.
"We hope that widespread use of the European Fish Hazard Index will systematically reveal potentially serious negative impacts of hydropower and thus effectively support efforts to protect Europe's rivers," sums up study leader Dr Christian Wolter from IGB. This is particularly important because Europe's rivers are among the most fragmented in the world.
Read the article in Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments >
