HYDROGRID has been selected by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to implement its hydropower optimisation platform as part of a smart-hydro digitalisation project covering assets in Honduras and Costa Rica.
The project is supported by Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica (ENEE) and Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). It will deploy HYDROGRID’s digital tools to improve water management, production planning, and maintenance scheduling across multiple hydropower plants.
The deployment includes HYDROGRID Insight, which provides inflow and reservoir forecasting, production planning, long-term generation planning, and opportunity cost calculations to support maintenance decisions. According to the project partners, the objective is to increase generation availability and operational efficiency through data-driven planning.
“This pilot is about more than technology. It’s about building smarter systems that strengthen hydropower’s role in sustainable development. By integrating digital tools into planning and operations, Empresa Nacional de Energía Eléctrica and Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad can improve efficiency, reduce waste, and deliver reliable clean energy to millions,” said Arturo Alarcón, Energy Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank.
According to the partners, the digitalisation effort will focus on three operational priorities: improving inflow utilisation through forecasting, aligning maintenance activities with lower-value production periods by estimating revenue impacts, and strengthening long-term operational planning using integrated decision-support tools.
HYDROGRID Chief Executive Officer Janice Goodenough said the project demonstrates how digital technologies can be applied at scale in the hydropower sector. “We’re proud to collaborate with IDB on a project that demonstrates how digitalization can transform hydropower performance. Combining robust infrastructure with advanced analytics unlocks efficiency gains and supports long-term sustainability goals,” she said.
HYDROGRID said its software platform is designed to support hydropower operators with integrated water management and production planning. The company reports that its tools can help reduce water spill, increase energy production by up to 10 percent, and improve revenue per megawatt-hour by an average of 15 percent. The platform is currently used by utilities and independent power producers in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia.
