The 2017 World Hydropower got under way at the United Nations Conference Center, Addis Ababa, on Tuesday 9 May. Over three days, the conference aims to chart the course for hydropower development for the next ten years. Here are some of the best moments from the opening day.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn opens the 2017 World Hydropower Congress

H.E. Hailemariam Desalegn, prime minister of Ethiopia, officially opened the congress. Addressing delegates, he said: “Development is unthinkable in the absence of adequate and affordable energy”. Read more about the opening plenary session here.

Liu Zhenya: global energy interconnections and the low-carbon energy transition

Liu Zhenya, chairman of the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), presented the concept of ‘global energy interconnection’ (GEI) as “the inevitable way out for clean and low-carbon energy transition”.

Ken Adams: hydropower cannot be developed in isolation

Ken Adams, president of the International Hydropower Association welcomed delegates to the congress. He said: “Hydropower cannot be done in isolation. My message today is that achieving Sustainable Development Goals will not be possible without breaking barriers and widening the scope of collaboration between all of our institutions."

Rachel Kyte: meeting the ambition of the Paris Agreement

Rachel Kyte, CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All), spoke of the urgency of the current energy challenge. She said: "The challenge of securing sustainable energy for all by 2030 means we have to move forward with speed and scale. We hope that the World Hydropower Congress will spur rapid progress."

Irene Muloni: Hydropower Preparation Support Facility

Irene Muloni, minister of energy and mineral development, Uganda, spoke in a plenary session exploring the Hydropower Preparation Support Facility, an initiative under development to manage the risk profile of hydropower. She said: "There is definitely a need for a facility that can supplement and complement governments' efforts. Very often governments don’t have sufficient funds at their disposal." You can read more about the initiative in this article, extracted from the 2017 World Hydropower Congress Handbook.

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko: aspirations of Africa's Agenda 2063

Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for rural economy and agriculture, spoke in an afternoon plenary session on 'water security for all'. She outlined Africa's Agenda 2063, saying that "the AU Commission is supporting the regional economic communities and member states in the area of policy development, policy harmonisation and facilitating an effective coordination mechanism on global issues to achieve these aspirations."

Mosonyi Award for Excellence in Hydropower: 2017 winners announced

Eduard Wojczynski (formerly Manitoba Hydro) and Anton-Louis Olivier (Renewable Energy Holdings) are two of the winners of the 2017 Mosonyi Award for Excellence in Hydropower, presented at the opening dinner of the congress. Kuang Shangfu of IWHR is also a 2017 recipient. Read more about all of the winners here.

IHA Young Researcher Award presented to three rising talents

Alexandros Korkovelos, Sara Mercier-Blais and Rafael Schmitt are the 2017 winners of the IHA Young Researcher of the Year award, presented at the opening dinner of the congress. You can read more about their work, including the full award submission articles, here.

IHA Blue Planet Prize: Blanda hydropower project, Iceland

In the final award presentation at the opening dinner, the team at Landsvirkjun were presented with the IHA Blue Planet Prize for the Blanda hydropower project. The prize recognises excellence in sustainable development. You can watch a short documentary video about the Blanda project and its application of the Hydropower Sustainahility Assessment Protocol here.

The 2017 World Hydropower Congress is taking place in Addis Ababa on 9–11 May 2017. Find out more here.