U.S. hydropower generation could rise as climate change alters the nation’s water resources, according to a new, federally funded study.
The study, recently published in Environmental Research Letters, predicted that annual hydropower generation would increase by 5 percent by 2039 and 10 percent by 2059, compared with the historical baseline (1980-2019). But that increase would not be evenly spread throughout the year: The West, for example, could see hydropower generation decrease during the summer even as it booms during the winter.
Hydropower availability and energy demand could get out of sync, researchers said, requiring water managers and grid operators to rethink how dams are used.
“Climate change has a lot of influence,” said Nathalie Voisin, co-author of the study and a chief scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. “In general, it’s influenced the generation [of hydropower]. It’s influenced how hydropower is going to be used and when it’s going to be used.”
