The Energy Water Nexus project assessed how water-related constraints, driven by climate change, could affect the design of a Net Zero energy system by 2050 and the impact this could have on energy networks.

The project is NIA funded and was commissioned by National Grid Electricity Transmission (NGET) and National Gas Transmission (NGT). It was delivered by Energy Systems Catapult, supported by HR Wallingford and PSC Consulting.

Key findings:

  1. If access to estuarine and coastal water is limited, then freshwater resource constraints will result in the deployment of additional renewable capacity and more expensive but less water-intensive cooling methods for thermal generation.
  2. Increased thermal generation capacity on the coast and estuaries, if this is possible, it may result in a more resilient whole energy system, but it is likely to increase operational and stability challenges for the electricity network.
  3. Water-related constraints also impact other energy networks including hydrogen and district heat networks, although the impacts vary with specific network and water assumptions.

Building on this project, future energy system planning should incorporate better consideration of water constraints and their impacts on the energy system and its networks.

For more details of National Grid Electricity Transmission’s innovation portfolio please click here.

Energy Water Nexus - Executive summary

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Energy Water Nexus - Final report

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Technical annexes

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Technical Annexe 1: Energy assumptions spreadsheet (Report)

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Technical Annexe 1: Energy assumptions spreadsheet (Excel Spreadsheet)

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Technical Annexe 2: Detailed report on whole system analysis

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Technical Annexe 3: Additional whole system analysis results charts

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Technical Annexe 4: Detailed report on network impact analysis

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Technical Annexe 5: Water and Energy Interactions, Risks and Innovations (Report)

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Technical Annexe 5: Water and energy interactions (Excel Spreadsheet)

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