Five companies have been selected to share in the $100,000 HYDROVISION Industry Fund, and the awards will be officially presented during the HYDROVISION International 2023 opening keynote.
Clarion Events launched the HYDROVISION Industry Fund to support the health and success of the global hydropower industry. With the goal of giving back to the industry, this fund goes to worthy causes with missions including but not limited to modernization, a sustainable industry workforce, environmental protection, new developments and security.
Several dozen applications were received and reviewed by the HYDROVISION Industry Fund Advisory Committee. Applications were judged on how their project aligns with, and executes on, the fund’s mission to drive a sustainable positive impact on the growth and health of the hydropower industry.
The five winners chosen to receive this funding are:
- Foundation for Water and Energy Education, $10,000: The foundation plans to partner with middle schools in Arizona, Washington state and the United Kingdom to collaboratively explore hydropower. The expected benefits from this funding would include: increased knowledge of the many benefits of hydropower worldwide as well as in the local community; career pathway awareness for jobs related to the hydropower industry; and greater appreciation for hydropower. This education program is designed to encourage additional partners to join in the outreach effort.
- GenH, $40,000: GenH plans to deploy 40 kW of its Adaptive Hydro technology on irrigation district canals in the southwestern United States. This technology can help produce clean energy while solving environmental problems associated with dams. The power generated by these pilot projects will generate power for the grid or be consumed on-site by GenH’s Beyond the Grid applications. The company said its technology can be used to electrify up to 5% of the available technical resource.
- Open Hydro, $20,000: Leaders in the hydropower industry often find it challenging to demonstrate the long-term benefits of hydropower projects, and it requires further climate-related information to maximize opportunities. Open Hydro’s platform calculates and tracks greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs. The platform represents a significant step forward in mobilizing investments to drive the growth of hydropower. With the funds, Open Hydro will spearhead introduction of the platform into the North American hydropower sector. They will conduct a comprehensive outreach campaign, collaborating closely with key industry players.
- Ukrhydroenergo, $10,000: Ukrhydroenergo is the largest hydropower generating company in Ukraine and operates 10 hydropower plants, two of which are pumped storage projects. The Ukrainian hydro utility faces massive rebuilding efforts, reporting before the destruction of the Kakhovksa hydro plant that it had lost more than 2 GW of generating capacity due to shelling by the Russians. The company’s direct loss at that time was estimated at about 1 billion dollars.
- WWS Wasserkraft, $20,000: WWS Wasserkraft’s system is intended to provide a more cost-effective option for upstream and downstream fish passage at dams up to 20 feet high, thus hopefully stopping the removal of some non-powered dams and encouraging more small hydro development. The funds will help verify the potential and advantage of the system and let the company work on laboratory tests.
Attend the opening keynote session on Tuesday, July 11, to learn more about these companies and the projects funded. Additionally, representatives of several of the above companies will be speaking in the conference program. You can find them in the HYDROVISION app.
HYDROVISION International is the world’s largest hydro industry event. In 2022, the event attracted 2,000 global hydropower industry professionals from more than 40 countries. The 2023 event — which will be held July 11-13, 2023, in Charlotte, N.C., U.S. – already has attendees registered from nearly 50 countries.