IEA Hydro held 44th ExCo meeting May 1 and published new Communiqué
Posted on: 17 May 2024
IEA Hydro's ExCo members, Task Leaders and other experts met from April 30 to May 3 in Sion, Switzerland, next to some of the Alp's largest hydropower developments. The meeting was hosted at the HES-SO, Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale, the University of Applied Sciences in Western Switzerland. Participants came from all over, ranging from China and Australia to the US and Europe. Hydropower research topics ranging from adding operational flexibility to fish protection were discussed. Alex Beckitt from Hydro Tasmania was elected new Chairman and Cécile Münch from HES-SO, Switzerland, and Dana McCoskey from the US Department of Energy became new Vice Chairs The meeting was followed by site visits to Veytaux and Nant de Drance pumped storage hydropower plants and a half day conference on hydropower challenges in various countries. At the end, a new communiqué was published to highlight some of the most significant conclusions from the meetings and urging for more focus on hydropower deployment to support the energy turnaround and COP28 comittments.