Hydropower Plant Will Go Offline Thanks to Punishing Drought

According to Bloomberg, water levels at the reservoir that powers the Mequinenza plant hit their lowest totals since 1995 last month. The reservoir is at just 23% capacity, forcing the 380-megawatt plant to shut off for the first time since it was built in 1966. In the last week of October, the plant produced just 27% of its total energy output.

Grid operator Red Electrica Corporacion SA reported that hydropower generation across the country has fallen by more than 50% this year due to the low levels of water in reservoirs. Hydropower provided over 11% of Spain’s total electricity output last year, making it the fourth most important energy source.

The climate crisis that is partially driving the drought is also staving off the worst implications of turning off the plant. Temperatures in Spain have been higher than usual this autumn after a blistering summer, which has meant that the normal spike in demand during the colder months hasn’t happened yet. Still, natural gas output in Spain has increased by 41% through this year, thanks in part to the decline in hydropower.

Low water levels have affected hydropower performance around the world after a summer of intense droughts and heat. In China, factories in Sichuan Province, which gets 80% of its power from hydropower, were forced to shut down this summer thanks to power cuts, while malls and offices had lights, A/C, and elevators turned off. In Norway, which relies heavily on hydropower, low reservoir levels have sent electricity prices soaring. And in California, the ongoing Western drought has also led to low hydropower output at crucial sites like the Hoover Dam on Lake Mead.

It’s not just hydropower: Soaring temperatures and low water levels are affecting other forms of energy in Europe and beyond as the world faces an ongoing energy crisis. In France, warmer rivers meant that officials had to turn down activity at nuclear plants to avoid the risk of overheating. The gaps in both hydropower and nuclear helped to increase demand for coal-fired power around the world this summer as gas prices remained high.

The monthslong drought and high temperatures in Spain have taken a devastating toll on the country. In the summer, a series of intense heatwaves killed nearly 700 people, while fires raged across Spain in July. The drought is also hitting crucial agricultural products like olives hard.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its landmark report last year found that extreme droughts that used to happen around once every ten years are now happening 70% more often. Allowing the planet to warm above 2 degrees Celsius, meanwhile, would make those extreme droughts two to three times more likely.