Europe’s hydropower community has launched a coordinated push for greater recognition and funding under the EU’s forthcoming Framework Programme 10 (FP10), arguing that the continent’s largest source of stored renewable energy is being underutilised at a critical moment for energy security and industrial competitiveness.

In a joint position paper, EERA Joint Programme Hydropower and ETIP HYDROPOWER warn that while Europe accelerates wind and solar deployment, insufficient attention is being paid to the flexibility and long-duration storage needed to stabilise an increasingly electrified system. The paper, Hydropower for a Resilient, Secure, and Competitive Europe, calls for a targeted increase in FP10 research and innovation (R&I) funding and the creation of a dedicated SET Plan Implementation Working Group on Hydropower.

A strategic technology for a volatile era

The authors argue that hydropower – including reservoir, run-of-river and pumped storage – uniquely combines dispatchable low-carbon generation, large-scale storage and water management functions. European hydropower reservoirs currently hold hundreds of terawatt-hours of stored energy, with pumped storage capacity standing at around 46GW in the EU, forming what the paper describes as the “backbone” of long-duration storage.

With intermittent renewables expanding rapidly, hydropower’s ability to provide balancing services from milliseconds to seasonal timescales is becoming increasingly valuable. Multiple analyses point to a need to at least double, potentially quadruple, storage capacity by 2050, in line with the 2025 Paris Pledge on pumped storage.

The position paper frames hydropower not only as an energy asset but as a pillar of strategic autonomy. As a domestically anchored technology with established European supply chains and relatively low exposure to critical raw materials, hydropower is presented as a hedge against geopolitical and commodity price volatility.

Funding gap despite system value

Despite these advantages, hydropower has historically received a small share of EU R&I support. Between 1995 and 2015, it accounted for just 1% of total renewable energy technology funding under successive Framework Programmes. Although annual support has increased under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe to around €10–17m per year, this remains 10 to 20 times lower than funding levels for wind and solar PV, the authors note.

The sector argues that this funding imbalance comes at a time of intensifying global competition, particularly from Asia, and a tightening skills pipeline across European OEM, EPC and SME value chains. Without stronger European-level R&I backing, the paper warns, Europe risks eroding its industrial leadership in hydropower technologies.

Ten priority R&I themes for FP10

To align hydropower with EU energy and climate objectives, the paper outlines ten thematic R&I priorities spanning the full technology readiness spectrum. These include:

  • Adapting hydropower operations to compound climate extremes such as droughts and floods.
  • Converting existing storage plants into pumped storage facilities to expand flexibility.
  • Enhancing regional grid resilience through small pumped storage and kinetic hydropower.
  • Developing “sediment-smart” reservoir management to protect water quality and storage capacity.
  • Harmonising environmental flow methodologies to balance biodiversity protection with energy production.
  • Modernising construction and manufacturing through digital twins, advanced materials and modular systems.
  • Creating robust business models that properly value hydropower’s flexibility services in decarbonised markets.
  • Advancing fish protection technologies and AI-based ecological monitoring.
  • Improving high-dynamics operational control and predictive maintenance tools.
  • Establishing consistent greenhouse gas accounting methodologies for hydropower assets.

Each recommendation is linked to specific indicative EU contributions and target technology readiness levels, signalling a structured attempt to position hydropower as a mature but innovation-driven contributor to Europe’s net-zero ambitions.

Water resilience and biodiversity at the core

The paper also emphasises hydropower’s role beyond electricity. Multi-purpose reservoirs contribute to drought buffering, flood control, irrigation, navigation and drinking water supply, aligning with the European Water Resilience agenda. At the same time, the sector acknowledges environmental concerns and calls for targeted R&I to scale up fish-friendly turbines, sediment management solutions and adaptive environmental flow regimes.

By integrating digitalisation, AI-based monitoring and nature-positive design, the authors argue that modern hydropower can comply with the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 and the Water Framework Directive while strengthening climate adaptation efforts.

A call for institutional alignment

Central to the proposal is the establishment of a dedicated SET Plan Implementation Working Group on Hydropower, intended to better align research, innovation and industrial deployment under FP10. The sector believes such a structure would provide strategic coherence and ensure that hydropower’s system-level contributions are fully reflected in EU funding priorities.

As Brussels prepares the architecture of FP10, the hydropower community is positioning itself not as a legacy technology seeking support, but as a foundational enabler of a flexible, secure and competitive European energy system. Whether policymakers agree that hydropower deserves a more prominent place in the EU’s next research framework will become clearer as FP10 negotiations advance.