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The National Hydropower Association (NHA) announces availability of a new online search tool, the Waterpower Research Portal, known as WaRP. More than 240 research projects – both ongoing and completed – are housed in the portal, with plans to add many more submissions. A powerful search feature allows users to search for and sort the projects by technology applications, and then by category within an application. 

Part of the genesis of this tool was to solve a significant gap that exists in the waterpower industry to track and access the latest in scientific findings. While industry, universities, government national labs, and NGOs continue to make noteworthy advancements in waterpower research, there was no centralized place to search for this information. 

Why It Matters 

“We’ve all experienced how daunting it is to quickly find research projects relevant to a specific industry sector or topic,” said Jose Zayas, senior vice president, innovation and partnerships, at independent power producer Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, and immediate past chair of NHA’s Waterpower Innovation Council. “This portal is the platform that can be used to make searching easier and to increase awareness of the great work being done across industry, government, academia, and NGO communities.” 

WaRP is intended to be a “living” database, with regular updates and additions. The vision is the portal becomes the “go-to” place for industry, stakeholders, government, and academia to easily find ongoing and completed research. 

Importantly, the portal can be useful to research investigators and funders, as they seek to identify gaps within research as well as areas where additional research is needed. NHA expects the tool may also facilitate collaboration across entities that may not typically join forces.  

“NHA is the voice of the North American waterpower industry – as such, it’s important to us to lead the effort in providing a publicly available, free source of information,” said Malcolm Woolf, president and CEO of NHA. “By providing this searchable database of ongoing research projects, we expect to see better awareness of R&D activities, more collaboration and sharing among industry, government, and academia, and more progress in identifying additional research needs.”   

Deep Dive 

The more than 245 pieces of research currently housed within the portal were submitted by 17 industry, government, NGO and educational entities. Each entry provides the research project name, short description, entities involved, lead researcher, status of the project, and a link to more details. 

Each project is categorized into a technology application: conventional hydro, marine energy, physical and cyber security, pumped storage, or small or non conventional hydro.  

Furthermore, each project has been assigned a broad research category, from the following list, as well as a more granular research sub-category. 

• Dam or Weir
• Environmental and Sustainability
• Interconnect Integration and Markets
• Powerhouse Equipment
• Regulatory Management Process
• Technology
• Water Conveyance

What’s Next

The portal is a living tool, with expectations to grow exponentially as additional research is contributed over time.  Speaking of contributions …! Make submissions by completing the submission form on the WaRP portal.