Hasselt’s Hydropower Stations Strain to Meet Energy Demands

Hasselt (Eurotoday): The Flemish Waterway installed hydroelectric stations on the Albert Canal to maintain shipping during droughts. Engineer Paul Coussement noted low output, with Hasselt station generating only 440 MW last year.

In the summer of 2022, shipping faced challenges due to drought, prompting the Flemish Waterway to install pumping and hydroelectric stations at locks on the Albert Canal. These stations help move water back to higher areas when levels drop, ensuring ships can still pass. The stations not only pump water but also generate green electricity, enough to power around 1,500 homes. A local engineer, Paul Coussement, noticed that the electricity counters at some stations often showed no activity for months and tracked this data over a year, creating a graph from his observations.

How can Hasselt’s hydroelectric station improve its low 440 MW energy output?

The hydroelectric power station in Hasselt, which started operating in 2018, has produced 6,103 MW of energy so far. This is only about 14% of what it could make. Last year was very rainy, but the station still didn’t perform well, generating just 440 MW in the past eleven months. This amount of energy can only support around 130 families, far fewer than the 1,500 that was expected. The low output is partly because the water levels in the Albert Canal need to be kept stable for shipping, and the station is also being prepared for remote operation.

Flemish Waterway helps pump water back during dry times and makes some green energy. Engineer Paul Coussement says if it worked all the time, it could create over 8,600 MWh of electricity each year, earning about 433,000 euros for one setup. But he says it might take at least 17 years to pay back the costs, longer than the 10 years the Waterway says. Since starting, four hydroelectric stations have made enough energy to power around 1,000 families for five years. The stations in Diepenbeek and Hasselt produce a lot of energy, but with costs around 7 million euros each, it could take up to 75 years to pay back based on what they make.