Synthesis · Research agenda
Planning the energy transition through a water lens
Electricity choices shape water demand, while water availability shapes which power systems remain reliable. My research agenda connects those two directions under a changing climate.
Read the public introduction →What changes when water enters energy planning from the start?
Energy models often represent fuels, technologies, costs, and emissions in detail. Water constraints can be much coarser, even though hydropower depends on river flow and thermal generation can depend on cooling water. The central research question is how to represent those constraints at a scale that is both credible and useful for long-term decisions.
02 / Connections
Four links in one decision
- 01
Climate
Rainfall, heat, drought, and floods alter the timing, temperature, and availability of water.
- 02
Water
River basins connect upstream storage, ecosystems, communities, and infrastructure.
- 03
Energy
Hydropower and thermal generation translate water conditions into operational constraints.
- 04
People
Reliability, access, competing uses, and environmental needs determine whether a pathway is resilient.
The evidence base grows across scales
Plant records reveal operational trade-offs at Ruzizi I. Basin studies examine future water availability and the way reservoirs alter the propagation of climate extremes. The next step is to carry that evidence into country-scale energy-system analysis without losing the hydrological detail that matters.
04 / Decisions
Four questions for a water-aware energy pathway
- 01
How much water does each technology require, and in which season?
- 02
How reliable is that supply under climate variability and change?
- 03
Who and what else depends on the same river basin or source?
- 04
Can technology choice, location, or operation reduce the pressure?
05 / Scope
What this page represents
This is a synthesis of a developing research programme, not the result of one model or publication. The linked studies provide pieces of evidence at plant and basin scales. Country-scale energy–water conclusions will depend on harmonised datasets, explicit uncertainty analysis, and transparent choices about spatial and temporal resolution.
Further reading
An accessible introduction
Why the energy transition is also a water challenge. This article introduces the essential connections before the technical studies.