Innovative Solution

Hydropower, sustainability assessment, renewable energy, LIFE

technical

Hydro4LIFE is a European Commission-funded project to assist the implementation of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol in the European Union. The project is coordinated by IHA and will run from 01 September 2010 to 01 September 2013.  The support given to the Protocol by the European Commission is evidence of the international community’s belief in the Protocol as the world’s leading tool to assess the sustainability of hydropower.

Action 3 of Hydro4LIFE is a project website detailing the project’s objectives, actions, progress and results. It is also intended to be used as a basis for capacity building/training and outreach/awareness raising about the Protocol and its ability to advance sustainable hydropower. The website is also a critical hosting platform for the Hydro4LIFE database, which captures the results of Protocol assessments.

Action 4 of Hydro4LIFE is a database acting as a repository for Protocol assessment results. It will collate, categorise and make available for analysis Protocol site assessment results, and allow for comparative analysis against site regulatory compliance, specifically, the Water Framework Directive.

Action 8 of Hydro4LIFE – Protocol applications and capacity building/training – is the foundation upon which the remainder of the Hydro4LIFE project is built. It comprises building capacity around the Protocol; holding a series of preparatory and post Protocol assessment meetings and workshops; applying the Protocol in the field; using feedback from applying the Protocol in the field to develop a capacity building/training toolkit and, holding a series of meetings with stakeholders and regulators/policy makers on the project.

Action 9 of Hydro4LIFE is an analysis of the result of Protocol application in the field, including against regulatory compliance. Once a substantial dataset of Protocol assessment results is created and stored in the Hydro4LIFE database, it is intended that these results will be analysed.

The website and database are global tools, accessible from anywhere in the world and is hosted in the United Kingdom. Protocol applications and training/capacity building will occur at numerous sites within the European Union; activities have already occurred within the UK and Germany, and are scheduled to occur in France and Portugal.

IHA initiated the project and has been supported by the LIFE programme, the main European Commission programme for the environment. Contractors delivered the website and database to ensure that it is clear, fit-for-purpose and meets the needs of the project.

Numerous stakeholders are involved with the implementation assessments and training, including trained environmental auditors, EU regulators/policy-makers, hydropower operators/developers, hydropower equipment suppliers, and other government and non-governmental organisations. All stakeholders involved are committed to ensuring the Protocol is applied widely and following best practice across the European Union, and is supported by high quality training materials.

The website is complete and active. The database is currently being finalised and is due to be active early 2012. A number of training workshops and Protocol assessments are planned for 2012. No analysis has been undertaken at this point. Analysis will commence when a significant amount of data has been collected in the database.

Prior to the development of the Protocol, there was no global or regional consensus about what hydropower sustainability performance meant in practice. Disparate approaches were employed at local, national, and regional levels. The development of the Protocol as a globally applicable assessment tool has enabled this consensus to occur.

The key challenge is ensuring that the important stakeholders, including project operators/developers, finance institutions, governments, civil society and project affected communities know about the Protocol, how it works and how it can improve the sustainability of hydropower through evidence-based and rigorous analysis. The website is a critical tool in sharing the Protocol as widely as possible.

The Water Framework Directive requires all water bodies within the EU to have Good Ecological Status, or Good Ecological Potential by 2015. Although there are opportunities for these requirements to be relaxed slightly in terms of timescale and water quality, it is a concern that the Directive does not consider the broader sustainability requirements of infrastructure projects. Analysis of Hydro4LIFE will compare assessment of overall project sustainability with compliance with the Water Framework Directive to allow a balanced perspective to be gained.

The website and database has a number of intended aspects, including acting as an information and knowledge sharing platform, to act as a repository for assessment results, to serve as a resource tool for the general public or other actors interested in hydropower sustainability, and to serve as the public face of the LIFE project.

Use of the Protocol and training will have a significant impact as it will enable hydropower sustainability to be assessed in a concrete, practical manner. The solution will have a long-term, tangible impact, by ensuring that project strengths and weaknesses are addressed, that those involved in regulating hydropower are aware of the cutting edge methods available for assessing sustainability.

Analysis of the data will compare assessment of overall project sustainability with compliance with the Water Framework Directive. If projects achieve a high sustainability assessment score, but fail to meet Directive objectives it could indicate that the Directive is excessively focused on biological indicators. It is thought that the results of analysis could provide important guidance in balancing the Directive with broader sustainability outcomes.

IHA is looking to achieve high levels of web traffic (on average, 1000 visitors per month, with 3000 page views). The volume of web traffic received is being regularly monitored by Google Analytics. Qualitatively, we expect that the website will receive a high level of recognition among key actors within hydropower and will be seen as the ‘go-to’ site for hydropower sustainability.

IHA expects to receive positive feedback from assessors and the general public about the database, particularly in terms of ease of use and relevance.

IHA is monitoring assessments via the Hydro4LIFE database as well as via the official LIFE reporting requirements. Over time, IHA would expect to see the Protocol widely recognised as the most effective tool for assessing the sustainability of hydropower, based on a substantial database of assessment results.

The expected changes that would occur as a result of analysis are that a decision is made whether wording changes to the Protocol are required, or potentially to the terms and conditions for use. IHA will also be using the project analysis to make recommendations to key institutions such as the European Commission regarding the Protocol’s fit with existing regulatory requirements such as the Water Framework Directive.

The website is intended to reach all potential audiences of Hydro4LIFE. Accordingly, it has significant potential as it could grow to become a key global site in awareness about hydropower sustainability in general and the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol in particular.

The database is housed on the globally-accessible website. It is critical however that those with a hydropower facility within their field of influence engage with IHA to ensure Protocol assessments are conducted so that the database results are comprehensive.

IHA is looking for more sustainability partners to commit to applying the Protocol within their sphere of influence, both within the European Union and elsewhere. Any regulator or policy-maker interested in the sustainability of proposed or existing hydropower facilities within their jurisdiction should be interested in this solution, as it allows a comprehensive, clearly articulated assessment of sustainability to take place.

All users of the Protocol will be interested in the analysis work, as it will provide observation and critique of the effectiveness of the Protocol to both make practical changes at a project level, but also in terms of regulatory frameworks. It is intended to occur on an on-going, periodical basis at critical points in the Protocol’s lifecycle. It is important that data is captured on Protocol assessments to ensure this is possible.

The website and database are supported by the European Commission’s LIFE project. It is also the key repository of information about the Sustainability Partners of IHA.

Several training/capacity building workshops have been held to date, including with experience of social and environmental auditors to road-test the Protocol’s training materials. Protocol applications will begin in 2012 and numerous meetings with stakeholders, including EU regulators and policy-makers have already occurred. This solution has been replicated outside of the European Union, with sustainability partners in countries as diverse as Malaysia, Australia, Canada and Brazil.

Cameron Ironside,

Programme Director

International Hydropower Association

9 Sutton Court Road,

Sutton,

SM1 4SZ,

UK.

Email: ci@hydropower.org.

Phone: +44 (0)20 8652 5220.

Visit www.hydrosustainability.org to download Protocol Documents, see Governance arrangements and get further details of activities surrounding the Protocol and Hydro4LIFE.