The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has announced it will share knowledge on hydropower’s role as a catalyst for sustainable development at the 8th World Water Forum this week in Brazil.
Richard Taylor, Chief Executive of IHA, will present at a session on water security and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development today. The panel is hosted by Itaipu Binacional and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).
The panel will focus on the inter dependency between water and energy, highlighting the importance of integrated planning between the water and energy sectors and the main challenges and opportunities faced by companies and governments.
The World Water Forum in Brasilia comes as almost 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity while 2.1 billion are without safely managed water services.
“Hydropower is part of the solution to the challenge of sustainable development, including the urgent need to provide people in developing countries with affordable, clean energy and water services,” said Taylor. “Hydropower reduces the world’s reliance on fossil fuels, supporting variable renewables through its dispatchable grid services and storage. It provides an effective water management capability to limit the impacts of drought and flooding, while also providing many economic and social benefits including poverty alleviation.”
The panel on 20 March organised by Itaipu Binacional and UN DESA comes after the two organisations signed a Sustainable Water and Energy Solutions partnership initiative earlier this month to find solutions to global energy and water challenges.
During his presentation, Taylor will provide an overview of hydropower capacity, generation and potential worldwide, while discussing the need for a “system-needs approach” to shape future development.
Taylor will discuss hydropower’s utilisation of water to support clean power systems and the need for storage and multiple freshwater services. He will also refer to innovations in hybrid projects and the complementarity of hydropower and other renewable technologies.
The 8th World Water Forum, in Brasilia from 18 to 23 March 2018, brings together representatives of governments, international organisations, business and civil society to discuss issues related to water and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Itaipu Binacional, a member of IHA, manages the Itaipu power plant on the Paraná River. The plant is responsible for supplying 15 per cent of all electricity consumed in Brazil and 82 per cent of Paraguay’s electricity.
