| Permitting and regulation are necessary to ensure hydropower projects comply with statutory requirements and meet multiple stakeholder priorities that consider the range of other important water uses. However, the process to acquire a license for an individual development project is uncertain at best, impacting the length and cost of project development. This project was completed in October 2021 with issuance of a report that provides analysis of the hydropower regulatory process including licensing costs, timelines, and developer risks associated with hydropower licensing. A link to this report can be found here: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/79242.pdf with report timeline and cost data found here: https://hydrosource.ornl.gov/dataset/hydropower-licensing-timeline-and-cost-dataset |
