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Water consumed by power plants is transferred virtually from producers to consumers on the electric grid. This network of virtual transfers varies spatially and temporally on a sub-annual scale. In this study, we focused on cooling water consumed by thermoelectric power plants and water evaporated from hydropower reservoirs. We analyzed blue and grey virtual water flows between balancing authorities in the United States electric grid from 2016 to 2021. Transfers were calculated using thermoelectric water consumption volumes reported in Form EIA-923, power plant data from Form EIA-860, water consumption factors from literature, and electricity transfer data from Form EIA-930. The results indicate that virtual water transfers follow seasonal trends. Virtual blue water transfers are dominated by evaporation from hydropower reservoirs in high evaporation regions and peak around November. Virtual grey watertransfers reach a maximum peak during the summer months and a smaller peak during the winter. Notable virtual blue water transfers occur between Arizona and California as well as surrounding regions in the Southwest. Virtual grey water transfers are greatest in the Eastern United States where older, once-through cooling systems are still in operation. Understanding the spatial and temporal transfer of water resources has important policy, water management, and equity implications for understanding burden shifts between regions.
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Hydroclimate risk to electricity balancing throughout the U.S
Although hydropower produces a relatively small portion of the electricity we use in the United States, it is a flexible and dispatchable resource that serves various critical functions for managing the electricity grid. Climate-induced changes to water availability will affect future hydropower production, and such changes could impact how the areas where the supply and demand of electricity are balanced, called balancing authority areas, are able to meet decarbonization goals. We calculate hydroclimate risk to hydropower at the balancing authority scale, which is previously underexplored in the literature and has real implications for decarbonization and resilience-building. Our results show that, by 2050, most balancing authority areas could experience significant changes in water availability in areas where they have hydropower. Balancing areas facing the greatest changes are located in diverse geographic areas, not just the Western and Northwestern United States, and vary in hydropower generation capacity. The range of projected changes experienced within each balancing area could exacerbate or offset existing hydropower generation deficits. As power producers and managers undertake increasing regional cooperation to account for introducing more variable renewable energy into the grid, analysis of risk at this regional scale will become increasingly salient.
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- PAR ID:
- 10563518
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Science
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability
- Volume:
- 4
- Issue:
- 4
- ISSN:
- 2634-4505
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 045006
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1088/2634-4505/ad92a5
