Now in its eighth edition, the 2021 Hydropower Status Report is published as the world continues to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report compiled by the International Hydropower Association (IHA) finds that:

• Global installed hydropower capacity rose by 1.6 per cent to 1,330 gigawatts in 2020.

• The sector generated a record 4,370 terawatt hours of clean electricity last year.

• During 2020, projects totalling 21 GW were put into operation, up on 2019’s 15.6 GW.

• Nearly two-thirds of global growth came from China, which saw 13.8 GW of new capacity. Among other countries that added new capacity, only Turkey (2.5 GW) contributed more than 1 GW.

• Major projects completed include the 2.1 GW Lauca facility in Angola, the 1.8 GW Jixi pumped storage facility in China and the Ilisu (1.2 GW) and Lower Kaleköy (0.5 GW) projects in Turkey.

• The single biggest project was Wudongde in China, which put eight of its 12 units online, adding 6.8 GW to the Chinese grid.

• China remains the world leader in respect of total hydropower installed capacity with over 370 GW. Brazil (109 GW), the USA (102 GW), Canada (82 GW) and India (50 GW) make up the rest of the top five.

Read the press release.

Read the Status report in Chinese.

随着世界继续努力应对 Covid-19 大流行，《2021 年水电状况报告》现已发布第八版。

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国际水电协会 (IHA) 编制的报告发现：

• 2020 年，全球水电装机容量增长 1.6%，达到 1,330 吉瓦。

• 该行业去年创造了创纪录的 4,370 太瓦时的清洁电力。

• 2020 年，总计 21 吉瓦的项目投产，高于 2019 年的 15.6 吉瓦。

• 全球近三分之二的增长来自中国，新增产能为 13.8 吉瓦。在增加新产能的其他国家中，只有土耳其（2.5 吉瓦）贡献了超过 1 吉瓦。

• 已完成的主要项目包括安哥拉 2.1 吉瓦的劳卡设施、中国的 1.8 吉瓦鸡西抽水蓄能设施以及土耳其的伊利苏（1.2 吉瓦）和下卡勒柯伊（0.5 吉瓦）项目。

• 最大的一个项目是中国的乌东德，其 12 台机组中的 8 台并网，为中国电网增加了 6.8 吉瓦。

• 中国在水电总装机容量方面仍然处于世界领先地位，超过 370 吉瓦。巴西（109 GW）、美国（102 GW）、加拿大（82 GW）和印度（50 GW）占据了前五名的其余部分。

The How-to Guide on Environmental and Social Assessment and Management will help hydropower stakeholders plan and assess projects strategically, prepare and conduct ESIAs, deal with third-party stakeholders, budget, establish environmental and social management systems, monitor and improve performance, as well as engage with stakeholders throughout the project life cycle.

Find out more about the guide.

Amid rising interest in green hydrogen as a replacement for fossil fuels, the International Hydropower Association is calling for governments and industry to scale up its production by coupling projects with clean hydropower.

Read IHA's new publication, 'The green hydrogen revolution: hydropower's transformative role' now.

Find out more about the report.

This How-to Guide helps hydropower developers and operators conserve river system biodiversity while generating renewable energy.

It details methodologies and technologies that developers and operators can use for basin-level planning, identifying project boundaries and areas of influence, understanding the distribution and value of biodiversity, mitigation and compensation measures, as well as monitoring and reporting, throughout hydropower development and operation.

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Find out more about the guide.

Read IHA’s 2020-2021 Annual Report to learn about our programme priorities and key achievements as part of our ongoing mission to advance sustainable hydropower.

In the past year, we celebrated our 25 year anniversary, launched the International Forum on Pumped Storage Hydropower and announced a new IHA Charter for Sustainable Hydropower, among other activities.

In the report, transformational changes to the association’s membership model are outlined and in addition the 2021 World Hydropower Congress is previewed to potential registrants.

Contents:

• Foreword by Roger Gill and Eddie Rich
• Celebrating 25 years of IHA
• Our membership model is changing
• Charter for sustainable hydropower
• 2020: The year in review
• Programmes
• The year ahead
• Governance
• How to contact IHA

Find out how to conduct sustainability assessments remotely using latest communications and monitoring technology.
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Read more about the guidance.

This How-to Guide helps hydropower developers to achieve good international industry practice in river management throughout a project’s life-cycle.
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This How-to Guide supports hydropower developers to identify, manage and avoid risks associated with resettlement.

It will guide practitioners to design and implement resettlement programmes in accordance with the internationally recognised Hydropower Sustainability Tools.

Learn more about resettlement.

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Now in its seventh edition, the 2020 Hydropower Status Report is published at a time of great global uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report, compiled by IHA and its team of researchers and analysts, finds that:

• Covid-19 has underlined the hydropower sector’s resilience and its critical role in delivering clean, reliable and affordable energy, especially at times of crisis.
• A bold and ambitious green recovery plan involving significant investment in sustainable hydropower will be needed as part of the policy response.
• Total global hydropower installed capacity reached 1,308 gigawatts (GW) in 2019.
• Clean electricity generation from hydropower achieved a record 4,306 terawatt hours (TWh), the single greatest contribution from a renewable energy source.

Learn more: www.hydropower.org/declaration

CHINESE LANGUAGE VERSION

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The Hydropower Sector Climate Resilience Guide offers a methodology for identifying, assessing and managing climate risks to enhance the resilience of hydropower projects.

The guide responds to the need for international industry good practice on how to incorporate climate resilience into hydropower project planning, design and operations.

It seeks to evolve from the default use of historical data and the assumption that hydrological variability will remain the same over the lifetime of a project. The guide also addresses how best to access, use and interpret climate change modelling and observed climate data.

The Hydropower Sector Climate Resilience Guide was developed with the financial and technical support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group and its Korea Green Growth Trust Fund.

News Release - New guide to help hydropower build resilience to climate change

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The 2019 Hydropower Status Report offers insights and trends on the hydropower sector.

This PowerPoint presentation is provided as a free educational resource.

Credit: International Hydropower Association 2019.

This document describes in detail how each of the components of the simple conceptual equation to define the net GHG footprint of reservoir impoundment have been defined and calculated in the G-res tool.

Upon accessing the G-res tool, users are invited to read this guidance document and the G-res tool technical documentation. Please take the time to do so carefully, as many parameters request specific information.

Download the Forum's Terms of Reference here...

This How-to Guide will help practitioners to understand good practice in benefit sharing for hydropower project development and operation.
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The publication supports decision-makers to identify and deliver socio-economic benefits to communities, while assisting companies to avoid business risks and improve project viability.

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This How-to Guide will help operators and developers to sustainably manage the impacts of erosion and sedimentation on a hydropower project.

The publication maps out practical measures that meet good international industry practice across the project life cycle: from early concept through to detailed design, construction, and operation.

This IHA position paper sets out the immediate impacts of the Covid-19 crisis on the hydropower sector.

The paper looks at how developers and operators have responded, and outlines important hydropower-specific recommendations to assist governments and international financial institutions as they develop their economic recovery plans.

For latest news and resources, visit IHA's Covid-19 communications centre:

hydropower.org/covid-19