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Climate simulations consistently show an increase in European near-surface air temperature by the late 21st century, although projections for near-surface wind speeds and irradiance differ between models, and are accompanied by large natural variability. These factors make it difficult to estimate the effects of physical climate change on power system planning. Here, the impact of climate change on future European power systems is estimated. We show for the first time how a set of divergent future power system scenarios lead to marked differences in Europe's total energy balance (demand-net-renewable supply) by 2050, which dominate over the uncertainty associated with climate change (∼50% and ∼5% respectively). However, within any given power system scenario, national power systems may be subject to considerable impacts from climate change, particularly for seasonal differences between renewable resources (e.g., wind power may be impacted by ∼20% or more). There is little agreement between climate models in terms of the spatio-temporal pattern of these impacts, and even in the direction of change for wind and solar. More thorough consideration of climate uncertainty is therefore needed, as it is likely to be of great importance for robust future power system planning and design. • Future climate affects European power systems simulated with EURO-CORDEX models. • Significant climate uncertainty in key power system properties (demand, renewables). • Climate uncertainty exacerbated in renewable-intensive power system scenarios. • Spatio-temporal and multi-model aggregation masks complex patterns of change. • Better understanding of climate uncertainty in power system design is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving carbon-neutrality is increasing the demand of renewable electricity which is raising the competition for land and associated acquisition costs. Installation of floating photovoltaic (FPV) on existing hydropower reservoirs offers one solution to limited land availability while providing solar electricity, leveraging water bodies, and reducing water evaporation losses. This work assesses the potential electricity output of FPVs at regional and national levels on 337 hydropower reservoirs in the EU27 considering four scenarios and two types of floaters. Evaporation, water losses and water savings due to FPVs installation are also estimated using climatic parameters for the year 2018. The reservoirs' total water losses are estimated at 9380 mcm. The installation of FPVs of equal installed capacity as the hydropower plants, has the potential to generate 42.31 TWh covering 2.3% of the total reservoir area. In this case, up to 557 mcm could be saved by installing FPV. The FPVs' multiple benefits and the potential offered by existing hydropower reservoirs are compatible with the EU's goals for net zero emissions and more autonomy from imported fossil fuels and energy transformation. • Potential FPV elect. generation corresponds to 20%–87%, of the total EU solar PV. • Using only 2.3% of total hydropower reservoir areas could produce 42.3 TWh/yr. • Using <15% of EU's reservoir area, FPV output ∼50% of the hydropower generation. • A 10% reservoir area coverage with FPV results in 1717.8 mcm annual water savings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of variable renewable energy sources to generate electricity introduces a dependency on meteorological factors into power systems. With the renewables share growing globally, often driven by political pressures, the reliability and efficiency of power systems are increasingly affected by this dependency. In this paper, we investigate the impact of the natural variability of meteorological parameters on the European power system in 2030. We specifically focus on (1) analysing the main European weather patterns affecting renewable energy production and (2) understanding the co-variability of this production among European countries. The identification of a set of patterns in the behaviour of key power system operation indicators allows us to analyse the relationship between large-scale weather regimes and daily power system operations in a 2030 European energy context. Regarding renewable generation, analysis of the co-variability shows that European power systems tend to form two clusters, in each of which all the regions tend to show a positive correlation among themselves and a negative correlation with the other cluster. Our analysis of the most important large-scale weather regimes shows that during cyclonic patterns, the carbon intensity of all the European power systems is lower than normal, while the opposite happens during blocking regimes., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 De Felice et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)