Europe must factor in the high levels of water used for cooling purposes in its thermal and nuclear power stations when it draws up its new 2030 climate and energy policy next week.

A new research report by the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) suggests that European nuclear, coal and gas plants in Europe are  using 4.5 billion m³ of water a year, equivalent to that of 82 million EU citizens - the same as the population of Germany.

Energy production represents 44% of the EU’s total water use: more than any other activity. The balance is used by agriculture (24%), the public water supply (21%) and industry (11%).

The EWEA is calling on European heads of state and government meeting on 20-21 March to discuss a 2030 climate and energy policy to take the research findings into account and take steps to address the high levels water used in energy production.

The report - Saving Water with Wind Energy - says the water-intensive power plants are contributing to Europe's water scarcity - with more frequent droughts and the reduction of water resources in the south and east of Europe in the future, there will be an increasing need to minimise the power sector’s water consumption. In energy production almost all cooling water is restored to a water body at a higher temperature while in agriculture the amount is just a third.

The Association has set out a series of policy recommendations suggesting that the EU could drastically reduce water consumption from the electricity sector in three ways:

Promote higher water efficiency standards and take water efficiency into account when designing future energy policies

The water efficiency of power plants should be taken into account in energy and climate policies. The European Commission should assess, when preparing proposals for a 2030 climate and energy framework, the impacts of energy policies on absolute and per kWh water use. Given the significant impacts of climate change on water resources in many EU Member States, water efficiency will become a key issue for the security of energy systems in the long term. Water availability, efficiency and use should therefore become a part of future assessments of electricity system security.

Set 2030 binding renewable energy targets.

Move away from water-intensive technologies like thermal power plants to technologies such as wind energy which use virtually no water Policy measures favouring water-intensive thermal plants, such as subsidies for fossil fuel or nuclear, should be ended immediately.

To maximise wind energy’s water protection benefits – as well as its other benefits such as fossil fuel import reduction, job creation and CO2 emission reduction – the EU must put in place an ambitious post-2020 EU climate and energy framework including an ambitious binding renewables target for 2030.

Promote adequate pricing of water usage and consumption

Water withdrawal for power plant cooling constitutes a service provided by a given ecosystem – e.g. a river. This service is not always properly priced and therefore is a subsidy, despite the potential negative impacts on the ecosystem.

The ecosystem service constitutes an environmental cost that needs to be taken into account by power plant operators. EWEA recommends that an appropriate pricing system for water usage and water consumption be introduced in countries that do not already have one. The pricing should be proportional to the per-kWh use/consumption of water and take into account regional differences, especially risks of drought.

Ivan Pineda of EWEA commented:

“Water equivalent to over three Olympic size swimming pools is consumed every minute of every day of the year to cool Europe’s nuclear, coal and gas plants. Increasing our use of wind energy will help preserve this precious resource far more effectively than any ban on watering the garden– while saving us money”.

Click here to download Saving Water with Wind Energy