At the EU Green Week 2021, HYDROPOWER EUROPE organises a Partner Event raising the issue of how to avoid potential pollution sources and mitigate environmental impacts through innovative measures.

Around this question, the roundtable will openly discuss the challenges regarding potential pollution in a narrower sense and environmental as well as social-economic impacts in a wider sense.

Looking at pollution in a narrow sense, one may recognize that this is not the main problem and challenge for hydropower deployment. Nevertheless, potential pollution sources have to be avoided in a hydropower project from the design to construction to operation to refurbishment and finally decommissioning by the timely implementation of protection and mitigation measures.

The objective of the roundtable is also to make a contribution to improving the quality and the continuity of European rivers and to shed light on good practice that should serve as the basic standard for hydropower deployment.

The roundtable discussion shall bring together NGO representatives, academia, major utilities, policymakers, and the wider audience including consumers and future entrepreneurs working on a transition towards a clean energy society.

The outcomes of the roundtable discussion will also provide a rich source of ideas and suggestions for the Hydropower Europe Forum to consider when finalizing its main documents, which comprise the Research and Innovation Agenda and Strategic Industry Roadmap for hydropower in Europe.

Provisional Agenda:

The roundtable is planned for the 8th of June 2021 from 2 pm – 4.15 pm CET.
1. Setting the scene – Hydropower: from pollution to impact? – 5 min
Mark Morris, HYDROPOWER EUROPE

2. Keynote speech: Potential sources of pollution and main environmental impacts during the lifetime cycle of a hydropower plant: examples to manage them - 20 min
Claire Descourtieux, Head of the environment department, EDF Hydro Engineering Centre

3. Short experts statements as a triggering input for the roundtable discussion: How to avoid potential pollution sources and mitigate environmental impacts by innovative measures and concepts? – 30 min
Facilitated by HYDROPOWER EUROPE FORUM

4. Roundtable discussion with all participants – 75 min
Moderated by Anton Schleiss & Jean-Jacques Fry, Coordinators of HYDROPOWER EUROPE

5. Closing remarks – 10 min
HYDROPOWER EUROPE

REGISTER HERE: https://hydropower-europe.eu/upcoming-events/european-green-week-2021/