%0 Journal Article
%@ 1748-9326
%A van Vliet, M.
%A Sheffield, J.
%A Wiberg, D.
%A Wood, E.F.
%D 2016
%F iiasa:14245
%I Institute of Physics Publishing (IOP)
%J Environmental Research Letters
%K drought; global; hydropower; thermoelectric power; water resources; water temperature
%N 12
%P e124021
%R doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/12/124021
%T Impacts of recent drought and warm years on water resources and electricity supply worldwide
%U https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/14245/
%V 11
%X Recent droughts and heatwaves showed the vulnerability of the electricity sector to surface water constraints with reduced potentials for thermoelectric power and hydropower generation in different regions. Here we use a global hydrological-electricity modelling framework to quantify the impacts of recent drought and warm years on hydropower and thermoelectric power usable capacity worldwide. Our coupled modelling framework consists of a hydrological model, stream temperature model, hydropower and thermoelectric power models, and was applied with data of a large selection of hydropower and thermoelectric power plants worldwide. Our results show that hydropower utilisation rates were on average reduced by 5.2% and thermoelectric power by 3.8% during the drought years compared to the long-term average for 1981-2010. Statistically significant (p < 0.01) impacts on both hydropower and thermoelectric power usable capacity were found during major drought years, e.g. 2003 in Europe (-6.6% in hydropower and -4.7% in thermoelectric power) and 2007 in Eastern North America (-6.1% in hydropower and -9.0% in thermoelectric power). Our hydrological-electricity modelling framework has potential for studying the linkages between water and electricity supply under climate variability and change, contributing to the quantification of the 'water-energy nexus'.