Ember: EU hybridisation could unlock 25GW solar PV and wind without new grids
PV Tech Premium speaks with Ember's Elisabeth Cremona on the 25GW of hydropower hybridisation potential across seven EU countries.
PV Tech5 min read18 views
A new report concludes that hydropower installations in Austria, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Spain—which collectively make up 93GW of the European Union’s total 131GW hydropower capacity—have the potential to accommodate additional renewable energy generation by hybridising facilities behind their current grid connection points.
Ember states that this extra 25GW of capacity would equal 18% of the roughly 138GW of wind and solar installations forecast to be added across those seven countries between 2026 and 2030. Because these projects would utilise existing grid connection points, that renewable capacity could be integrated without the need for extra grid capacity or additional interventions on the electricity network.
PV Tech Premium interviewed Elisabeth Cremona, Ember’s energy infrastructures lead and the principal author of the report, to examine its main conclusions and what they could mean for the future of Europe’s renewable energy industry.
“With almost 700 GW of wind and solar blocked in the queue across 10 EU countries alone, solutions that allow renewables to bypass grid connection queues are crucial,” Cremona says.
“Not only could hybrid projects ‘jump the queue’ – if regulations are developed well – but they could also come online faster because they don’t need to wait for the delivery of necessary grid reinforcements. Hybridisation could speed up multiple parts of the connection process – both the application and the grid connection itself. This is especially important as several countries have zero availability on their grid to connect new capacity – particularly Austria, Bulgaria, Portugal and Romania.”
The study is published at a time when Europe’s electricity grids are coming under growing strain as renewable energy deployment accelerates alongside increasing electrification across the continent.
According to Ember’s analysis, by 2030 there will be a mismatch exceeding 120GW between available grid capacity and the level of renewable expansion expected. Existing network limitations are already slowing the connection of new renewable energy projects while also influencing investment decisions.
“The long-term objective is to build a grid that supports Europe’s strategic goals in the most cost-efficient way possible. This necessitates making the most out of the infrastructure that exists, as well as what will be built in the future. Hybridisation is one way to deliver on that. For this reason, it will remain part of the portfolio of solutions that will be employed well into the future, particularly as Europe seeks to keep network costs down,” the Ember analyst adds.
The report maintains that although continued expansion of transmission infrastructure remains necessary, making better use of existing grid assets provides an immediate pathway to sustain renewable energy deployment in markets where grid capacity has become a limiting factor.
Hybrid energy projects place more than one generation technology behind a shared grid connection point, enabling operators to extract greater value from existing infrastructure while ensuring power injections remain within established grid limits.
The assessment indicates that hydropower plants are especially suitable candidates for hybridisation because they generally operate significantly below the maximum capacity available through their existing grid connections.
Reservoir and pumped-storage hydropower facilities identified as suitable for hybridisation currently achieve an average capacity factor of 19%, meaning a considerable amount of grid connection capacity remains unused. Incorporating solar generation would raise average utilisation to 36%, while integrating wind would increase it to 31%. At certain sites, the addition of both wind and solar could boost utilisation of the existing grid infrastructure to more than three times its current level.
The report further explains that run-of-river hydropower stations, which currently record an average capacity factor of 29%, could raise utilisation to 47% by incorporating solar generation and to 42% by adding wind power.
“Looking solely at hybridising hydropower plants illustrates the large potential for renewable deployment behind existing grid connections. It could cover 18% of the 2026-2030 renewables pipeline across seven countries,” Cremona emphasises.
The analysis also points out that hydropower output is generally concentrated during the morning and evening periods when electricity demand peaks. This operating pattern complements solar generation, which produces the majority of its electricity during the middle hours of the day.
Ember’s findings show that the proportion of planned renewable energy capacity that could be accommodated through hydropower hybridisation varies substantially among the seven countries included in the assessment.
That proportion extends from as much as 77% in Austria to only 7% in Bulgaria, illustrating the differing levels of suitable hydropower infrastructure available in each country for integrating additional renewable generation.
Hydropower facilities located within environmentally protected areas were excluded from the report’s evaluation. After applying this restriction, approximately 28% of the large-scale hydropower capacity across the seven countries qualifies as suitable for hybridisation, with eligibility ranging from 6% in Bulgaria to 41% in both Austria and Italy.
“I would expect the biggest near-term solar deployment through hybridisation to be in Portugal and Spain – two countries where the enabling regulatory framework is already in place. Hybrid projects can proceed even where regulation is absent, but the process is likely to be more complicated and lengthier,” she highlights.
Despite the significant technical opportunities identified, Ember says that most European Union member states have yet to develop comprehensive regulatory frameworks to support hybrid energy projects.
Among the seven countries examined, Portugal and Spain are the only two that have introduced dedicated regulatory systems specifically intended to facilitate hybrid projects. Portugal implemented its framework in 2020, while Spain followed in 2022. Since then, both countries have simplified permitting procedures, reduced administrative hurdles and introduced measures aimed at speeding up hybridisation.
Spain permits hybrid developments to avoid the “first-come, first-served” process for securing grid connections and cuts the financial guarantees required for hybrid connection applications by 50%. In both Spain and Portugal, environmental screening requirements are also waived for hybridisation projects that remain within the existing footprint of current generation facilities.
“Where specific regulation on hybrid projects is absent, project developers have to grapple with grid connection rights, capacity allocation and permitting rules that were designed for single-technology projects. Establishing national legislation that enables hybridisation is a quick and no-regrets way to get more renewables online faster while reducing grid investment needs. Portugal and Spain provide the foundation for such policies,” she notes.
In other parts of Europe, hybrid developments are still moving forward even without dedicated legislation. The report points to operational projects already functioning in France and highlights Bulgaria’s state-owned utility NEK, which is transforming hydropower assets into battery-integrated hybrid facilities while also evaluating floating solar developments at existing dam sites.
“Hydro is not a special case – just an illustration of the potential for hybridisation particularly given the relatively low capacity factor of these plants in Europe,” Cremona adds.
“The same logic works anywhere there’s spare capacity behind a connection point. Hybridisation can happen at the start of a new project – intentionally building a site with one or two generators and storage – or as an add-on to an existing facility. Regarding the latter, repowering offers an important opportunity for project developers to consider hybridisation, particularly in the coming years during which large gigawatts of Europe’s wind fleet is likely to start undergoing repowering.”
The report recommends that governments across Europe introduce dedicated legislation covering hybrid energy projects while also simplifying permitting processes and grid connection procedures in order to speed up renewable energy deployment.
It further urges the European Union to develop guidance for hybrid projects at the bloc level, arguing that harmonised regulations would improve regulatory certainty and encourage investment across multiple Member States.
