Picking up steam during the lockdown? Europe's thermoelectric water footprint during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract:

During March 2020, Europe turned into a hotspot of the COVID-19 pandemic, with immediate socio-economic consequences. Many European countries implemented unprecedented lockdown-like measures to limit the transmission of COVID-19. Schools were closed, flights drastically reduced, and many businesses were temporarily suspended. As these measures were implemented, an overall reduction in electricity demand was reported in Europe and its individual countries, e.g., in Italy, one of the most severely affected countries. In this work, we analyze how the large-scale, drastic change in electricity demand due to the COVID-19 lockdowns impacted the electricity-water nexus in the European electricity grid. Our overall goal is to better understand the impact that large-scale behavior and technological changes have on the electricity-related consumption of water resources. We first calculate how changes in electricity demand registered in Europe during the COVID-19 lockdowns impacted water resources due to the potential change of blue water use in thermoelectric power plant operations. Second, we analyze how virtual water transfers related with electricity changed between the European countries most heavily affected by COVID-19 cases in Spring 2020. We perform our water footprint and virtual water calculations using sub-hourly electricity load, generation, and trade data published by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). Our findings demonstrate that the combined effect of COVID-19 lockdowns and changing electricity generation mix on water consumption was primarily reflected in decreasing domestic water footprint of thermoelectric power plant operations (-1.77 × 10⁶ m³/day) and virtual water trade in the interconnected European electricity network. Our analysis can support technological and behavior change recommendation for the transformation of water, energy, and human networks in the Anthropocene.