To limit the scope, and tailor to the available resources and expertise, the work will focus on technological and environmental solutions for intakes and outlets, tunnel systems, powerhouse arrangements and pump-turbine submergence.

The main focus will be on the tailrace system for pump storage plants, to address current developments in the industry and known knowledge gaps. By focusing the efforts around this limited scope, higher quality can be obtained, and it will be possible to draw synergies between the different participating research disciplines. However, parts of the research will also focus more on the upstream intake, headrace systems and conventional hydropower plants.   

Target outcomes shall primarily be new technical design and solutions for new hydropower plants, including fish friendly designs of pumping intakes for pump storage plants, design of power house arrangement for pump storage plants that allows for incorporation of new technology such as full-size frequency converters and battery packs, recommendations for necessary pump-turbine submergence, design of tailrace tunnel system arrangements that can correspond to the recommended power house arrangements and allow the necessary submergence and fish friendly pumping intakes, and new design tools for tunnel system alignment and evaluation of in-situ rock stresses. Furthermore, it will drive innovation in fish-friendly technology to enhance the safe upstream and downstream passage of fish also in conventional hydropower plants. 

By utilizing case studies, the new technical design and solutions shall be developed. Based on the case-studies, the scientific work will be carried out through theoretical calculations, numerical simulations and physical model tests. Quality assurance and dissemination of the work shall be provided through workshops with industry experts that shall discuss and provide feedback on the developed solutions. The workshops shall also generate consensus-based ranking criteria for best-practice solutions. The work shall be interdisciplinary and review existing design methods for tunnel system and powerhouse cavern and investigate design methods to ascertain minimum required rock stresses (geology), challenge necessary submergence (mechanical/civil), develop new powerhouse arrangements with respect to size and engineering geological perspectives (civil/geology), tailrace tunnel system arrangements and outlet structures (hydraulic/environmental/geology), fish friendly pumping intakes (civil/geology/hydraulic/environmental). By considering all aspects, optimized designs and best practice is sought to be found. The new technical design and solutions shall be discussed in workshops with industry experts and ranked according to consensus-based ranking criteria.

The results shall be best practice recommendations, in addition to specific design concepts for the selected case studies.