From the Editor’s Desk |
hydropower in the year ahead
Charting the course for
A 4 | December 2025 |
www.waterpowermagazine.com
s we look toward the coming year, the hydropower and dam construction industries stand at the intersection of innovation, climate urgency, and global development needs. With the world demanding cleaner,
more reliable, and more resilient energy systems, hydropower is once again stepping into the limelight, not just as an established renewable technology, but as a central player in shaping the future energy landscape.
What’s driving this resurgence? Simply put: reliability and versatility. As the world doubles down on net-zero targets, we’re realising that solar and wind alone can’t carry the load. Hydropower’s ability to balance the grid, store energy, and provide stability during peak demand makes it an invaluable partner for intermittent renewables. Expect pumped storage to continue its rise as countries search for large-scale, long-duration energy storage solutions, and not just in traditional hydropower markets. Even regions without deep reservoir histories are exploring creative models, including modular and closed-loop systems. One of the biggest shifts we’ll likely see in 2026 is how digital hydropower becomes. Artificial intelligence, once a tech-industry buzzword, is now entering the powerhouse control room. AI is helping with everything from predictive maintenance and sediment monitoring to flood forecasting and real-time turbine optimisation. Digital twins are being used to test equipment performance, predict failures, and improve safety. The age of “smart dams” is officially here.
But it’s not just about shiny new tech. Much of the world’s hydropower fleet is aging, and modernisation is likely to be high on the agenda. Refurbishment projects are increasingly seen as low-risk, high- impact investments. Operators are looking to squeeze more efficiency and lifespan out of existing assets by upgrading turbines, adding automation, and implementing environmental improvements,
such as better fish passage systems and sediment solutions. Upgrading is often cheaper, faster, and more sustainable than building new. Climate change is reshaping how we plan, design, and operate projects. Extreme weather, shifting rainfall patterns, and longer droughts mean water management is becoming just as important as power generation. We’re already watching multipurpose projects gain traction, dams built not just to generate electricity, but to support flood control, water supply, navigation, and ecosystem restoration. There’s growing interest in how hydropower can support emerging industries, such as green hydrogen. In regions with abundant hydropower, we’re seeing early-stage partnerships between dam operators, hydrogen developers, and governments. Floating solar is also on the rise. It will be interesting to see how this all develops. And then there’s financing. Yes, hydropower is capital-intensive, but it’s also long-lived, low-carbon, and increasingly climate-resilient. The next year we could see more creative financing tools, stronger policy support, and deeper involvement from climate funds, especially for projects in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America, where energy access and water security go hand in hand.
In the year ahead, I personally think collaboration will be our industry’s greatest asset. Engineers, policymakers, financiers, and environmental experts must come together to shape solutions that are technologically advanced, economically viable, and socially responsible.
Carrieann Stocks
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45
