Thermoelectric generation requires large amounts of water for cooling. Recent warm periods have led to curtailments in generation, highlighting concerns about security of supply. Here we assess EU-wide climate impacts for 1,326 individual thermoelectric plants and 818 water basins in 2020 and 2030. We show that, despite policy goals and a decrease in electricity-related water withdrawal, the number of regions experiencing some reduction in power availability due to water stress rises from 47 basins to 54 basins between 2014 and 2030, with further plants planned for construction in stressed basins. We examine the reasons for these pressures by including water demand for other uses. The majority of vulnerable basins lie in the Mediterranean region, with further basins in France, Germany and Poland. We investigate four adaptations, finding that increased future seawater cooling eases some pressures. This highlights the need for an integrated, basin-level approach in energy and water policy.

热电发电需要大量的水来冷却。最近的温暖时期导致了发电量的减少，突显出人们对供应安全的担忧。在这里，我们评估了2020年和2030年全欧盟对1,326家热电厂和818个流域的气候影响。我们显示，尽管制定了政策目标并减少了与电力有关的取水量，但由于电力供应减少的地区数量有所减少在2014年至2030年期间，水压力从47个盆地增加到54个盆地，并计划在压力盆地建造更多的植物。我们通过包括其他用途的用水需求来研究造成这些压力的原因。大多数脆弱盆地位于地中海地区，其他盆地位于法国，德国和波兰。我们研究了四种改编，发现未来海水冷却的增加减轻了一些压力。这突出显示了在能源和水政策方面需要采取一种综合的，流域层面的方法。