USA-based show Energy Switch welcomed Debbie Gray, Senior Energy Policy Manager at the International Hydropower Association (IHA), and Malcolm Woolf, President and CEO of the National Hydropower Association (NHA), for a timely discussion on hydropower’s evolving role in modern energy systems.

Hosted by energy scientist Dr. Scott Tinker, the programme on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) brings together experts to unpack critical issues shaping the energy landscape, both regionally in North America and globally.

Watch the full episode here.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Debbie and Malcolm explored the technological applications of hydropower, its multipurpose benefits, and the challenges facing further development, including legal, environmental, and social considerations.

You need something to back it up

Debbie opened the discussion by highlighting hydropower’s versatility. “It’s a proven technology that can provide both baseload energy and – even more importantly – a lot of flexibility to electricity grids,” she said.

“That is ever-more important when we have more and more wind and solar coming onto grids, which are both great energy sources, but they are intermittent. So you need something to back it up when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining.”

Malcolm reinforced hydropower’s essential role in meeting both everyday energy demands and decarbonisation goals: “If you care about streaming the Internet at night, if you care about climate change, if you care about affordable 24/7 power, hydropower really is part of an essential zero-carbon grid.”

A giant water battery

The discussion turned to the different forms of hydropower, from traditional dams to storage solutions. Debbie explained: “You don’t always need a big dam. For example, in run-of-river hydropower, if you have a lot of volume, you can have a very efficient hydropower plant.”

Malcolm highlighted how the role of pumped storage hydropower provides distinct, critical services to the grid.

“It’s a giant water battery,” he said. “The benefit is not only does it create a lot of storage capacity that can run for 10+ hours, the device itself can last for 100 years or more if you maintain it, as opposed to batteries, where you have to replace it periodically.”

“You can increase the output”

Among the practical challenges discussed were ageing infrastructure, inadequate licensing processes, financing barriers, and workforce needs.

Debbie emphasised how the need for modernisation presents opportunities. “When you refurbish a turbine and you take out a runner that was built 50 years ago, you can put in a much more efficient runner,” she said.

“So, with the existing civil infrastructure, you can increase the output of your plant anywhere up to 20%.”

An enormous challenge  

Debbie addressed some of hydropower’s reputational hurdles and misconceptions that persist about the industry today.

“Hydropower has a bit of an image problem,” she said. “Hydropower is part of the solution to climate change, but it’s not the technology that people automatically turn to.

“As well, we have an image problem regarding sustainability, regarding projects that have not necessarily been done very well in the past. So we have to get the message out there that hydropower can be done sustainably, we have the tools to do so.”

She also emphasised the scale of action required to meet global climate targets: “If we are serious about meeting our climate goals, hydropower is going to have to double between now and 2050.

“We are going to have to build as much in the next 25 years as we have built in the past 100 years. So the challenge is enormous.”

We have to start now

Concluding, Malcolm said: “I would love it if your viewers walk away thinking of hydropower as that friendly neighbour, who is reliable and available when you need them.

“The industry is at risk, which makes the grid at risk if we don’t provide parity and support for the existing fleet.”

Debbie wrapped up with a clear call to action: “We need more hydropower and we have to start now, because hydropower takes a long time to build. So we need to get going on that, and we need to have the policies in place to incentivise the building of more hydropower.