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In 2016, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released the first-ever “Vision for Hydropower” to set the stage for hydropower’s future. The report detailed the untapped potential of hydropower and cited new opportunities for growth over the coming decades.
In particular, the report included a roadmap of goals and activities in a variety of areas: technology advancement, sustainable development, market actions, regulatory improvements, and stakeholder collaboration.
Fast forward 6 years.
Much has changed since 2016. It’s time to reimagine the Hydropower Vision Roadmap … to identify the activities needed to meet our goals for 2050.
WHY ADJUSTMENT TO THE ROADMAP IS NEEDED
Much of the work to develop the original Hydropower Vision Roadmap took place in 2014 and 2015. It is clear the world has changed significantly since then. Over the past 7 to 8 years, we have seen an explosion of variable renewable growth, significant market changes in the regions across the United States, shifts in water availability, challenges in grid instability, and a host of new issues, including some which were not acknowledged in the original Hydropower Vision Roadmap.
The Hydropower Vision Roadmap was developed in collaboration with a host of stakeholders from the hydro community. Over the past 24 months, DOE and the national labs have taken on an effort to update the Hydropower Vision Roadmap and address these vast changes. The Hydropower Foundation has helped to facilitate this effort.
As with the original Hydropower Vision Roadmap, a broad group of stakeholders – visionaries – have provided input on the reimagining process. This process has taken a hard look at all the action areas outlined in the report to adjust the goals and offer new insights about what needs to be done to prepare hydro for the role it will play by 2050.
OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE INPUT
Now it is your turn.
The ‘visionaries’ have completed the groundwork toward laying the foundation for hydro’s future. We now turn to the broader industry and stakeholder community to do their parts.
At the upcoming Clean Currents Conference + Tradeshow, DOE will host a workshop to get your input on the work that has been done to reimagine the Hydropower Vision Roadmap and the actions needed to support hydropower’s future role.
The workshop, entitled “Hydropower Vision: Join the U.S. Department of Energy in Reimagining the Roadmap,” is Tuesday, October 18, and takes place at 3:00 p.m. PST in room B7 at the convention center.
We will present on our progress, including the reimagined goals, and give you an opportunity to offer additional input through break-out discussions. The objective is for workshop participants to identify and prioritize the activities and next steps to advance the Vision for Hydropower in 2050.
All registrants of Clean Currents are welcome to attend — there is no additional charge.
Attending and participating gives you a direct voice in this process and a chance to get to know some of the ‘visionaries’ that have offered their time to reimagine hydro’s future.
For more information, contact Linda Church Ciocci at linda@hydrofoundation.org or Alison Colotelo at alison.colotelo@pnnl.gov.
