Click on the gear to learn about that part of the Hydropower Vision Roadmap or navigate the site using the menu at the top of the screen.
HYDROPOWER'S FUTURE
About the Roadmap: To create a modern vision of conventional and pumped storage hydropower, the reimagined Hydropower Vision Roadmap brought together leaders and representatives across hydropower sectors to identify goals aligned with the constantly evolving landscape for hydropower and the sectors it impacts. The Roadmap lays out the specific activities identified by the hydropower community to achieve those goals.
PARTNERS & CONTACTS
The reimagined Hydropower Vision Roadmap was a community-focused effort, led by a team with representatives from major stakeholders within the hydropower community. The leadership team, partners, and participants from federal agencies, national laboratories, non-profit organizations, and industry all helped inform and guide the Roadmap development.
GOALS
The reimagined Roadmap charts a path to a modern vision for Hydropower. Developed with input from the hydropower community, the Roadmap highlights the goals and activities key to achieving the shared vision by 2050.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
Goals and activities in the Advanced Technology area are driven by supporting flexible energy generation through the design and demonstration of innovative and resilient hydropower components, structures, and systems.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS
Goals and activities in the Sustainable Development and Operations are driven by integrating environmental stewardship, responsible water management, cultural resource preservation, and ecosystem protection and restoration into the development and operation of facilities and watersheds that produce hydropower.
IMPROVED VALUATION
Goals and activities in the Improved Valuation area are driven by recognizing and compensating the full set of services and values provided by hydropower and pumped storage, encompassing power and non-power services within all investment and operational contexts.
OPTIMIZED REGULATORY PROCESSES
Goals and activities in the Optimized Regulatory Process area are driven by ensuring an efficient and predictable regulatory process that supports environmental stewardship, responsible water management, and public safety.
COLLABORATION, EDUCATION, & OUTREACH
Goals and activities in the Enhanced Collaboration, Education, and Outreach area are driven by sustaining public welfare, environmental stewardship, and renewable integration through an engaged community network and ready workforce.
Hydropower is one of the oldest renewable energy technologies and provides approximately 28% of U.S. renewable generation. It contributes a variety of power and non-power services including grid resilience, water management, and recreation. As the energy landscape evolves, there are historical and contemporary environmental and societal challenges that need to be addressed. A holistic view of hydropower and its community is needed to ensure a sustainable, clean energy future. The Hydropower Vision Roadmap outlines the goals and activities needed to chart the path forward.
With the release of the Hydropower Vision report in 2016, the Department of Energy made a commitment to the hydropower community to make the Vision report a living document. To uphold that commitment, we recently reimagined the Hydropower Vision Roadmap with the support of the hydropower community.
The reimagined Roadmap is divided into the same five areas as the original Vision—Advanced Technology, Sustainable Development and Operations, Improved Valuation, Optimized Regulatory Processes, and Enhanced, Collaboration, Education, and Outreach. In each area, hydropower leaders and technical experts from all hydropower sectors engaged in discussions about the goals for a modern vision of hydropower and the activities needed to achieve them.
This website is the culmination of that collaborative, community effort to outline where hydropower is now and where we would like to be by 2050. But our work is not over. Join us as we celebrate the release of the reimagined Hydropower Vision Roadmap and continue to mark progress toward its goals.