3587 Technical workshop proceedings – Managing water stress for the energy industry in transition

Overview:

The Energy Institute (EI) Environmental Management Group (EMG) workshop aimed to enhance understanding of water stress risks in the energy sector, find solutions to support the energy transition, and advise the EI on where and how it can best support managing water risks. The workshop was attended by a range of experienced participants representing a number of differing organisations and sectors across the energy and water industry. Participants discussed methods for identifying and evaluating water-related risks, addressing knowledge gaps, and determining future actions, including potential support from external entities like regulators, policy makers and technical associations.

The workshop identified four broad areas that integrated the issues:

1. Infrastructure: examining resilience and adaptation strategies for water-related infrastructure.

2. Operations: addressing operational water demands and exploring innovative water management techniques.

3. Regulation: understanding regulatory gaps and aligning industry practices with evolving standards.

4. Technology: identifying technological innovations for sustainable water use and minimising environmental impacts.

These proceedings have been prepared as a non-verbatim record of the workshop. They describe:

• the basis and objectives for the workshop;
• the methodology used;
• the common issues identified by workshop participants, and
• recommendations for the EI to explore further.