UPM Biofore Magazine 1-2018

TEXT Anne Hänninen   PHOTOGRAPHY UPM Energy, Jorma Piironen; Natural Resources Institute Finland, Kuurnan Voima

Fish-friendly hydropower Hydropower is clean and renewable, but harnessing energy from running water can disrupt aquatic ecosystems. New solutions are being tested to help restore fish stocks.

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opulation growth and urbanisation are pushing global demand for electricity. Climate change meanwhile offers a stark reminder of our planet’s fragile balance and dwindling resources. The need for

generating electricity that comes with an added advantage: it is rapidly adjustable. “For instance when a large appliance is started in an industrial facility, the power demand suddenly increases by dozens of megawatts. Hydropower plants are able to meet this sudden peak in demand in a matter of minutes.” Happier spawning grounds Power plants often get the blame for the degradation of ecosystems in rivers and other water systems, but there are other reasons as well. “Many waterways have been cleared for log floating, for example,” notes Senior Fishery Officer Jouni Tammi from the Natural Resources Department of the FinnishMinistry of Agriculture and Forestry. There is no debating, however, that hydropower plants have had a significant effect onmigratory fish stocks, as they create obstructions that prevent fish from returning to their home stream for spawning. In certain locations, stocks have collapsed to an endangered level.

low-emission electricity is growing rapidly, and Finland is one of many countries transitioning towards emission-free power generation. The problemwith solar and wind power, however, is that the weather has a direct impact on availability. “If Finland is covered by heavy clouds, solar energy cannot be harvested. And you can never know if the wind will pick up speed in fifteen or thirty minutes. This makes energy production less predictable, especially in the short term,” explains Jyrki Uusitalo , Development Manager at Finland’s national transmission grid operator Fingrid. While the sun and wind can be unpredictable, hydropower is an emission-free, renewable method of

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