Hydropower Roadmap Workshop

Background

As part of an important workstream on energy technology roadmaps, the International Energy Agency, in a joint effort with the Brazilian government (CEPEL and the Federal Energy and Mines Ministry) and the IEA Hydropower Implementing Agreement, is working on the production of a Hydropower Technology Roadmap. This initiative aims at exploring the key issues that will influence the future development of hydropower worldwide in the next decades.

As part of this initiative, a first Hydropower Roadmap Workshop took place at the IEA Headquarters in Paris on 26-27 May 2011. The goal of the workshop was to allow the dialogue and debate amongst attendees.

International experts from Governments, such as Brazil, China, Mexico, or Norway, multilateral institutions, industry associations, private companies, financial institutions, think tanks, NGOs and other stakeholders participated in the discussions that kick-started this new IEA roadmap.

Work sessions discussed the following items:

• Run-of–river and reservoir hydro systems current status and potentials
• The role of pumped storage
• Sustainability, from environmental, economic and social points of view
• River basin and water management
• The capacity of markets and institutions to provide for the very large amounts of capital to be invested in new installations

A new workshop will take in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 10-11 October, on the way to roadmap publication, scheduled in early 2012.

Presentations:

Leandro Alves - Inter-American Development Bank

Paolo Frankl - Renewable Energy Division - International Energy Agency