More than 500 GW of hydropower installations are in the pipeline worldwide, but this is far short of what is required to limit dangerous global warming.

This leaves a 300 GW gap in what is required from hydropower by 2050 to limit global warming to 2°C, and a gap of over 600 GW in what is required to limit warming to 1.5°C and achieve net zero emissions.

This is the conclusion of a major new report, ‘Hydropower 2050: Identifying the next 850+ GW towards 2050’, by researchers from the International Hydropower Association (IHA), published at the World Hydropower Congress.

Find the Congress programme here.

The report assesses pathways to net zero modelled by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), against current and future planned hydropower capacity.

Read the press release: Report identifies 300 GW gap in hydropower needed to limit global warming‍