POWER September 2023 - 5

SPEAKING OF POWER
Accelerating Sustainable
Hydropower Development
Around the World
Aaron Larson
T
he hydropower industry has placed a
keen focus on sustainability in recent
years. " The San José Declaration on
Sustainable Hydropower, " a landmark declaration
issued on Sept. 24, 2021, by the
hydropower sector at the conclusion of
the 2021 World Hydropower Congress, is
one example of the emphasis placed on
sustainability. The fundamental principle
stated in the document is: " Sustainable
hydropower is a clean, green, modern
and affordable solution to climate change.
Going forward, the only acceptable hydropower
is sustainable hydropower. "
I've previously written about some of
the environmental impacts that have led
people to rally against hydropower (see
" The Hydropower Industry's Sustainability
Conundrum " in the March 2021 issue
of POWER). However, the industry has
addressed many of those issues in the
San José Declaration.
The San José Declaration
Among the measures espoused in the
San José Declaration, named in honor of
the capital of Costa Rica, which hosted
the 2021 World Hydropower Congress in
partnership with Instituto Costarricense
de Electricidad (ICE), are that all river- and
water-based infrastructure should deliver
net-positive benefits to project-affected
communities and the wider environment
to merit construction and continued operation.
It says non-powered dams should
be assessed for potential retrofitting with
hydropower capacity, while dams that no
longer provide benefits to society, have
safety issues that cannot be cost-effectively
mitigated, or have disproportionate
environmental impacts that cannot be effectively
addressed, should be assessed
for potential decommissioning.
Another key provision in the document
is that new hydropower projects should
not be allowed in World Heritage Sites.
The World Heritage List was created
through the United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization's
World Heritage Convention. The list includes
" places on Earth that are of outstanding
universal value to humanity, "
September 2023 | POWER
and as such, have been inscribed on the
list " to be protected for future generations
to appreciate and enjoy. " There are
1,157 properties on the World Heritage
List as of early August 2023.
The San José Declaration says there is
no excuse for unsustainable hydropower
development projects to go ahead today.
" The preparation, implementation and
operation of hydropower should be delivered
in accordance with international
good practice as defined by the Hydropower
Sustainability Standard, " it says.
The Bali Statement
The World Hydropower Congress, which
is organized by the International Hydropower
Association (IHA) biannually, will
be hosted this year in partnership with
the Government of the Republic of Indonesia
and the state electricity provider
PLN. It will take place Oct. 31 through
Nov. 2. In anticipation of the event, the
IHA is facilitating " a wide-ranging public
consultation to identify the principles,
commitments, and recommendations
needed to supercharge sustainable hydropower's
contribution to the energy
transition. " This work will culminate in
" The Bali Statement on Powering Sustainable
Growth, " expected to be issued
at the conclusion of the gathering.
On July 27, IHA CEO Eddie Rich participated
in a webinar to present a draft of the
Bali Statement. The goal of the session
was to field questions and gather feedback
on the draft to ensure a wide range of
stakeholder perspectives are considered
in the final version. As presented, the fundamental
principle in the draft document
was: " Sustainable development requires
reliable and affordable renewable energy.
Water powered the industrial revolution of
the past; water will power the sustainable
growth of the future. "
While the key word in the San José
Declaration was undoubtedly " sustainable, "
and the IHA surely feels that's still
of utmost importance, the key word in
the Bali Statement may be " development. "
In his presentation, Rich said,
" We really are focusing on some other
aspects in this Congress, and particularly
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the role of hydropower in driving-empowering-sustainable
growth. It's part
of water management. It's part of affordable,
modern, sustainable energy for all,
but it's also part of driving the economy. "
Rich noted that there is plenty of untapped
hydropower potential. " Don't
let anyone ever tell us that there is not
enough hydropower to power the future, "
he stressed while showing a world
map with 1,923 GW of remaining potential
spread quite evenly around the globe.
" [There's] plenty to keep us on track for
net-zero as long as we build it, " Rich said.
Hitting Targets
The difficulty comes in building it. According
to the IHA's 2023 World Hydropower
Outlook report, issued in June, the scale
of hydro deployment required to achieve
net-zero goals by 2050 is quite large.
The report says the International Energy
Agency and International Renewable Energy
Agency both estimate that the most
cost-effective, achievable global net-zero
energy system will require about twice
as much hydropower by 2050 as there
is today, that is, between 2,500 GW and
3,000 GW including pumped-storage hydropower.
To get there, more than 45 GW/
year must be deployed around the world.
However, the project pipeline is well short
of that figure. In fact, the IHA says there's
more than a 700-GW gap at present.
" The only country in the world which
is really on track with hydropower development
in line with net-zero targets
is China, " Rich said. " They've built more
than two-thirds of the world's hydropower
development in the last decade. "
The three recommendations the IHA
offered to help accelerate progress are
for governments to incentivize development
through financial and market
mechanisms, streamline permitting and
licensing, and embed hydropower sustainability
practices in regulations.
" We can't imagine a route to net-zero
without sustainable hydropower, and we
need to remind the whole world of that, "
said Rich. ■
-Aaron Larson is POWER's
executive editor.
5
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POWER September 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of POWER September 2023
