Connecting research on the water demand of power plants with mitigation strategies for energy-based water use is an important step to ensure global water and energy security, and thus provide more sustainable use of both. Here, we assess the water footprint of 13,863 thermal power plants units with a total active capacity of 4,182 GW worldwide and give an estimate of the current water demand for power production at four different levels—global, regional, country and river. Furthermore, we provide a projection for the energy transition period towards a net zero greenhouse gas emissions economy by 2050. In particular, we show that by following a ‘Best Policies Scenario’ the water consumption of global power plants can be decreased by about 98%, and water withdrawal by 95% by 2050. Therefore, the suggested pathway provides one potential solution to the problem of water depletion that results from the water-energy nexus.

将有关发电厂需水量的研究与基于能源的水的缓解策略相结合，是确保全球水和能源安全，从而提供两者的更可持续利用的重要一步。在这里，我们评估了全球共有13,863座火力发电厂的水足迹，全球总活跃容量为4,182 GW，并估算了全球，地区，国家和河流四个不同级别的当前电力生产用水需求。此外，我们提供了到2050年实现净温室气体零排放的能源过渡期的预测。特别是，我们表明，按照“最佳政策方案”，全球发电厂的用水量可减少约98％ ，到2050年取水量将达到95％。因此，