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IWP&DC: Would you agree that sustainable hydropower is the cornerstone upon which the IHA was built, and how has this changed since?
Eddie Rich: Yes. As the global voice for sustainable hydropower, IHA members commit the very bold statement for an industry organisation that “going forward, the only acceptable hydropower is sustainable hydropower”. We therefore represent the progressive end of the sector and hold our members to high standards and require them to demonstrate that commitment.
The International Hydropower Association (IHA) was founded on 16 November 1995. In the quarter of a century since, the hydropower sector has seen tremendous growth – doubling in size from 625GW to more than 1300GW today.
With this growth has come greater recognition that hydropower projects can and should be delivered according to fundamental principles of sustainability – working with sensitivity to nature and bringing benefits to society.
Over the years, IHA has played a leading role in bringing together stakeholders to share perspectives and build and share knowledge about international good practice in hydropower development.
What are the key characteristics of a sustainable hydropower project?
IHA has played a leading role in the development of what constitutes good and best practice in hydropower development; encompassed by the Hydropower Sustainability Standard, a global certification scheme managed by the Hydropower Sustainability Alliance, aligned with World Bank and IFC performance standards and supported by the Climate Bonds Initiative through hydropower sector-specific criteria. The Standard covers 12 topics including water quality, biodiversity, resettlement, the impact on indigenous communities and climate resilience.
The Hydropower Sustainability Standard is used for certifying the sustainability performance of hydropower projects around the world. Through our partnership with the Hydropower Sustainability Alliance, we provide access to training, guidance and sustainable hydropower assessors to developers looking to create new and modernise hydropower facilities.
This is not just about doing the right thing. It is about access to finance, more streamlined licensing and permitting and delivering projects with less risk. Alignment and certification against the Standard is good business.
What can policymakers do to incentivise sustainable hydropower?
Many market and policy frameworks do not adequately incentivise investment in greenfield developments. Services that hydropower provides, particularly pumped storage hydropower, are not fully recognised nor adequately remunerated. This is despite the services provided by pumped storage facilities being vital in integrating variable renewables into power grids.
The market will not deliver the doubling of hydropower alone. It needs to be designed to reward flexibility and storage. Investors need to be assured that they will get a timely return on high upfront capital costs, and a streamlined license approvals system.
These changes to the market are critical; because replacing hydropower with burning coal would result in more than four billion metric tonnes of additional greenhouse gases being emitted annually. Global emissions from fossil fuels and industry would be at least 10% higher. Using hydropower instead of coal avoids around 150 million tonnes of air polluting particulates, 60 million tonnes of sulphur dioxide and eight million tonnes of nitrogen oxide from being emitted annually (IHA analysis).
What is a notable IHA achievement in the past year?
A crucial step forward was the launch of the Global Alliance for Pumped Storage (GAPS) during COP29 in Azerbaijan. IHA brought together an alliance of 30 national government and international institution leaders including: Australia, Brazil, the European Commission, Indonesia, Spain and the United States, to address the urgent need for energy storage. GAPS has been set up to advance the deployment of pumped storage, the essential element to supporting renewable energy and ensuring energy security in an era of rapid transition to wind and solar power.
We are calling on governments and non-state actors to not only support the global energy storage target and the COP29 pledge for 1500GW of storage capacity by 2030 – but to go further with targets into 2050.
Although each country’s targets and aims may differ depending on circumstances, the overarching need to triple renewables and double hydropower remains globally. The International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), who are both participants in GAPS; estimate that the most cost effective, achievable global net zero energy system will require around twice as much hydropower by 2050 as there is today. That is between 2,500 GW and 3,000 GW, including an increasing proportion of pumped storage.
Therefore, hydropower should be seen as a key element of this change worldwide, as long as they align to sustainability guidelines – as set out in the San Jose Declaration and supported by the Hydropower Sustainability Standard.
If anybody is still in doubt about the importance of sustainable hydropower, what would you say to them?
Aside from the generation of reliable, secure, clean, renewable energy, hydropower is among the best ways to mitigate droughts. IHA estimates that through the water storage function of its reservoirs, the hydropower industry prevents more than US$130bn in annual GDP losses from drought incidents.
To mitigate against drought and floods we need more hydropower, not less. With volatile weather conditions becoming more frequent, water management and multi-purpose reservoirs will be more important than ever in the future. Hydropower is the answer. While coal and nuclear use up vast volumes of water, hydropower can use the same drop repeatedly.
Only a small minority of the world’s dams are built for hydropower, with the majority of dams built for irrigation, water supply, flood control and other purposes. In the US, it is estimated that about 3% of around 80,000 dams are fitted with hydropower. Globally, nearly 40% of hydropower dams provide multiple non-energy services, including flood control and irrigation.
For example, referring to the US again, the top three uses of federally owned hydropower reservoirs, accounting for approximately 50% of installed capacity, are recreation, flood control and irrigation.
Many hydropower dams are used for multiple purposes beyond electricity generation, providing infrastructure to supply clean water for homes, industry and agriculture, as well as recreation and transportation services.
Hydropower projects can be used to regulate and store water to mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events such as floods and drought, which are on the rise due to climate change.