The European Union aims to become carbon-neutral by 2050. To achieve this ambitious goal, it must focus on decarbonizing the energy system, which is responsible for 75 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Several measures have been taken to encourage greater use of renewables, especially nonprogrammable ones, but their typically intermittent production increases the need for balancing services to stabilize the grid and ensure security of supply to end users.

In this energy landscape, the hydropower sector is experiencing a resurgence. With its generation flexibility and storage capacity, it can provide the services needed by the grid and contribute to the production of clean energy.

After all, hydroelectric power is still the most important source of renewable energy in Italy. In order to play an active role in the energy transition process, this sector needs to consolidate its strengths but, above all, it needs to improve critical aspects related to aging infrastructure and impacts on river ecosystems.

For years, RSE has been committed to analyzing the research and development needs of the hydropower sector, promoting innovative analytical methods to study safety issues and supporting the social acceptability of these infrastructures. This commitment takes the form of participation in national, European, and international working groups that enable collaboration and information sharing with operators, academia, and institutions. Several topics were analyzed in 2022: social acceptability in the Valle d’Aosta and Piedmont Regions; the problems of gravity relieved and spur dams; predictive monitoring to diagnose structural anomalies; and penstock safety.

In the benchmark workshop organized by ICOLD, different numerical methods were compared to predict the behavior of dams over time, analyze problems related to alkali-aggregate reaction and filtration problems in earthfill dams.

Technical and scientific activities help to investigate and propose solutions that contribute to improving the safety of hydropower infrastructure. Communication activities help raise awareness of the role of these facilities in the socioeconomic and environmental context.