Sometimes a little time is needed for being able to show something concrete. In our case this is the installation work of sensors which are needed to achieve some of the objectives that the iAMP-Hydro project has set itself. Thus, in this newsletter you’ll receive general information about the iAMP-Hydro project, and you will be informed about one of the key objectives that have been carried out by the project partners, the sensor installations.

The iAMP-Hydro project is an answer to a development of two different future challenges. On the one hand more and more volatile Renewable Energy Sources (RES) like PV and Wind Energy are installed worldwide. While this is in general a good development, it is known that too much installed capacity of these volatile RES bring electricity grids in certain moments to its limits, either too much, or (very seldom) too few, like the days of 'Dunkelflaute' (dark doldrums) in November 2024 and January 2025. In either of these situations, hydropower has shown that it can provide a significant contribution to grid flexibility and security, as it can modulate generation very rapidly and be stopped and restarted smoothly.

On the other hand the EU electricity sector is already undergoing a fundamental change with the increase of digitalisation. As a result, power systems are more deeply monitored, and artificial intelligence (AI) and big-data are implemented in daily operations. A fully digitalised energy park could best cope with different situations for the electricity sector.
 

However, as can be seen above, the current hydro fleet in the EU is aged, and it is estimated that 50% of the fleet will require upgrade actions by 2030. In particular, modernisation actions related to digitalisation are required in the short to medium term, in order to offer enhanced services, increase grid flexibility, environmental and socio-economic sustainability and to foster the green and digital transitions in Europe.

The iAMP-Hydro project partners have identified specific needs (SN) and challenges that need to be addressed:

iAMP- Hydro will improve the digital operation of existing plants through the development of 6 results which will collectively form iAMP - a novel intelligent Asset Management Platform (result R5 in Fig. 2) encompassing secure open and transparent data sharing protocols (R4) and three novel digital solutions:

The full package of digital solutions will be validated at five real-world existing hydropower plants producing evidence for policy making to support the green and digital transition of hydro (R6).

In this newsletter and in the following ones, we’ll reveal the work on the objectives (achieving the results mentioned above).

Following, Bhaskar Paudel from Trinity College Dublin (Ireland) gives enthusiastic insights about the work on sensor installations in the iAMP-Hydro demonstrations sites:
“We are thrilled to share a major milestone in the iAMP Hydro project! In January 2025, condition monitoring sensors were successfully installed at our validation hydropower plants in Greece—Makrochori (10 MW) and Asomata (108 MW)."
 

This was followed by installations in February 2025 at our Spanish demo sites: Bermejales (2.1 MW), La Vega (2.4 MW), and Berchules (0.9 MW). These efforts were carried out in close collaboration with our dedicated demo site partners – Cuerva, PPC Renewables and PPC, along with the team from Trinity College Dublin, who played a key role in defining sensor specifications.
 

With installations now complete, we eagerly anticipate the next phase—data acquisition. This data will be crucial for advancing research in predictive maintenance and optimisation of plant operations, particularly through the development of deep learning algorithms. By leveraging artificial intelligence, we aim to enhance fault detection, reduce downtime, and improve the efficiency of European hydropower plants.
 

Stay tuned as we dive deeper into data analysis, shaping the future of smart hydropower operations! In the meantime, take a look at some snapshots from our recent fieldwork.

Visit our website www.iamp-hydro.eu to follow the journey for a digitalised sustainable future that serves us all.
 

Don’t miss any important achievements in the future.