{"id":12191,"date":"2025-08-28T13:50:53","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T17:50:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=12191"},"modified":"2026-06-29T11:40:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T15:40:04","slug":"the-hidden-water-power-of-the-alps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/the-hidden-water-power-of-the-alps\/12191\/","title":{"rendered":"550 hydropower plants give the Alps 2,900 GWh of annual output but ecologists warn of river damage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The highest and youngest mountain range in Europe is the Alps. It is well-known for housing unique wildlife, boasting a biodiversity of more than 30,000 species of animals and plants. More than 120 million visitors are attracted to the Alps annually, but now, it will be famous for something else. The hidden water power of the Alps has been uncovered, unleashing <strong>2,900 GWh of annual output<\/strong>. This hidden power is celebrated by many, but it is also no stranger to widespread criticism. Are the results truly worth it?<\/p>\n<h2>Powering the Alps with renewable energy sources<\/h2>\n<p>The entire world has been turning to renewable energy sources as alternatives to burning fossil fuels for power production. This approach is part of a greater global goal to achieve <strong>zero carbon emissions by 2050<\/strong> in an attempt to mitigate the effects of climate change. The Alps region, which stretches across France, Switzerland, Italy, and Austria, must adhere to this global mission, as these European countries have all agreed to the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n<p>Powering the Alps with renewable energy sources, such as hydropower, is <strong>arguably advantageous to the region.<\/strong> The Alps are highly at risk for climate change due to the unique biodiversity and sensitive ecosystems, which is why renewable energy sources are vital to protect the environment. According to EUREC, powering the Alps with renewables also includes these advantages:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Energy poverty\n<ul>\n<li>The dense population has a high power consumption, and renewables will help address this energy poverty and improve local community well-being<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Renewable energy abundance\n<ul>\n<li>The Alps are rich in natural resources for renewable energy<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Infrastructure development\n<ul>\n<li>Expanding renewable energy infrastructure can close energy gaps and help lower fossil fuels and nuclear power reliance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Uncovering the hidden water power of the Alps<\/h2>\n<p>Italy is one of the countries that is significantly reliant on the Alps&#8217; hydropower. According to Enel Green Power, two of <strong>Italy&#8217;s noteworthy hydroplants<\/strong> include:<\/p>\n<div class=\"zMgcWd dSKvsb\" data-il=\"\">\n<div data-crb-p=\"\">\n<div class=\"xFTqob\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Gur8Ad\">Luigi Einaudi plant:\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Gur8Ad\"><span data-huuid=\"6106439928581661404\">Italy&#8217;s biggest Alpine hydropower plant, which utilizes a system of underground reservoirs and pipelines<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div data-crb-p=\"\">\n<div class=\"xFTqob\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Gur8Ad\">Edolo plant:\n<ul>\n<li class=\"Gur8Ad\">Known for its high-altitude drop<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Other well-known Alpine hydropower plants<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Grande Dixence\n<ul>\n<li>Switzerland<\/li>\n<li>Highest gravity dam in the world with the Bieudron power station<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Emosson Dam\n<ul>\n<li>France\/Switzerland<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"Gur8Ad\"><span data-huuid=\"6106439928581663816\">A<\/span><span data-huuid=\"6106439928581661165\"> large Franco-Swiss plant with views of the Mont Blanc massif<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>According to the Alpine Convention, the Alps have approximately 550 hydropower plants with over 10 MW and an <a href=\"https:\/\/wwf.panda.org\/discover\/knowledge_hub\/where_we_work\/alps\/problems\/freshwater\/hydropower\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">annual output of 2,900 GWh<\/a>. It may not be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/china-unveils-impulse-project\/11734\/\">as big as China&#8217;s unveiled Impulse Project<\/a>, but it is still significant.<\/p>\n<h2>Not everyone is in favour of this power solution<\/h2>\n<p>According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, these <strong>hydropower plants are disadvantageous<\/strong> for these reasons:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Impacts ecological integrity of Alpine rivers and lakes<\/li>\n<li>Widespread diversion of rivers and streams and reservoir construction destroy natural habitats<\/li>\n<li>Interrupts migration passageways<\/li>\n<li>Causes flooding which decrease benthos biomass<\/li>\n<li>Not all hydropower is clean, as they utilize cheap coal or nuclear power to pump water to reservoirs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>An NGO committed to protection and sustainable Alpine development, CIPRA, has drawn up<strong> suggestions for hydropower use<\/strong>:<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Energy should be saved for the long term instead of producing additional kWhs<\/li>\n<li>Current plants should be upgraded and redundant ones removed before constructing new ones<\/li>\n<li>Protection of the last freshwater pearls by not using intact rivers, river sections, and mountain streams<\/li>\n<li>Small hydropower should only be used locally in remote areas<\/li>\n<li>Hydropower usage knowledge and cooperation must be expanded<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Hydropower plays <strong>a crucial role<\/strong> in providing sustainable, clean energy to European regions, and will significantly lower the global carbon footprint. Water could be &#8216;the new green&#8217;. However, as with any renewable energy production project, careful management, maintenance, research and transparency is necessary to ensure that the surrounding ecosystems and communities do not suffer unnecessarily without cause. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/america-is-turning-its-water-into-energy\/9963\/\">America will also be turning its water into energy in a futuristic way<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The highest and youngest mountain range in Europe is the Alps. It is well-known for housing unique wildlife, boasting a biodiversity of more than 30,000 species of animals and plants. More than 120 million visitors are attracted to the Alps annually, but now, it will be famous for something else. The hidden water power of &#8230; <a title=\"550 hydropower plants give the Alps 2,900 GWh of annual output but ecologists warn of river damage\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/the-hidden-water-power-of-the-alps\/12191\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about 550 hydropower plants give the Alps 2,900 GWh of annual output but ecologists warn of river damage\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":12192,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"water power,hydropower","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"A mountain range will be famous for an entire new reason. The hidden water power of the Alps has been uncovered by Europe, unleashing 2,900 GW of power.\u00a0","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}