The electric power industry requires reliable access to large amounts of water, primarily for cooling. Growing demand for electric power, coupled with growing water demand in agricultural, municipal, residential, commercial, and industrial sectors, could strain water supplies in the future. Facing increasing pressures to improve water conservation and reduce water consumption at power generation stations, the electricity industry is investigating new and innovative technologies. EPRI has developed a broad-based, 10-year research plan to increase water use efficiency and conservation through:

• engineering and economic analysis
• improved dry and hybrid cooling
• reduced water losses from cooling towers
• use of degraded water
• enhanced water resource management and forecasting

Advanced Water-Conserving Cooling Technologies R&D EPRI's advanced cooling technologies R&D supplemental project primarily focuses on technology development and testing, while also providing information on economics, performance optimization, risk management, improved decision-making, and public acceptance.

Read the Full Supplemental Project Notice (PDF 8MB) View Webcast (WMV 8MB) Supplemental Program FAQ (PDF 116KB)

Contact Kent Zammit, Jeff Hamel, Jeff Stallings or Robert Goldstein with additional research ideas or suggestions.

2008 Advanced Cooling Technologies Workshop

EPRI held a workshop in Charlotte on July 8-9, 2008 to examine the critical role water plays in the electricity industry and to discuss a new multi-sector research program that will target water-conserving cooling technologies. The research program will aggregate technical, marketing and sales efforts across the Environment, Generation and Nuclear sectors.

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