IEA was established in 1974 within the framework of OECD to implement an international energy programme. It is based in Paris and 23 of the 25 OECD countries are members.
Its energy cooperation programme includes over 40 multilateral agreements for energy technologies and programmes. One of these is The Implementing Agreement for Hydropower Technologies and Programmes.
An Implementing Agreement is a working group of IEA member countries that have a common interest in a particular technology. Countries that are not members of the IEA can also join. The member Governments can either participate themselves, or designate another organization in their country to represent them. An Implementing Agreement sets up a number of task forces, called "Annexes" in the terms of the Agreement, which work on particular topics within the overall subject of the Agreement.
The objective is to obtain maximum benefits from water resources in terms of renewable electric energy production which does not emit greenhouse gases, while equitably sharing these resources with other users and minimizing adverse environmental impacts on rivers and aquatic life.
The participating countries are:
Canada, Finland, France, Japan, Norway, Peoples Republic of China, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom.
During its first phase (1995-2000) the Hydropower Agreement had task forces on:
The Hydropower Agreement is currently in its second phase (2000-2005) which contains task forces covering:
The upgrading task force was initially led by France, and is now led by Canada. The task force produced a set of reports to recommend best practices related to different aspects of upgrading projects. The focus was on installations with capacities of more than 10 MW. Information from case studies and from the literature can be used to make recommendations on the assessment of potential upgrading projects, on successful approaches taken with past projects, on the quality of energy, and on major organizations active in the field.
The small-scale hydro task force is led by Canada. It will address technological, organizational and regulatory issues related to small-hydro projects. The emphasis will be on projects of more than 50 KW and less than 10 MW installed capacity. The participants will assemble and catalogue information to assist the development of small-hydro projects, and will make it easier to identify and assess new sites for such projects. An international database of potential small-hydro sites will be set up. It will also contain information on programmes and organizations active in the small-hydro field.
Advances in fully automated hydropower installations and reductions in manufacturing costs have made small scale hydropower increasingly attractive. Click here to go to the web-site of the small scale hydropower task force. The following reports have been produced:
The environmental task force has completed a major international study on the environmental and social aspects of hydropower. The study was conducted over a five year period by government regulatory organizations, research organizations, and utilities in six member countries (Canada, Finland, Japan, Norway, Spain and Sweden), and 112 international experts from 16 different countries have participated in meetings and workshops. The study noted that environmental and social impacts of hydropower projects are very different from one project to another. It concluded that in spite of the controversy related to a few projects, hydropower in general presents major environmental advantages because it is the largest contributor to the reduction of greenhouse gases in the electricity sector. The following reports have been produced:
These reports are available from the leader of the task force:
Mr. Sverre Husebye Hydrology Department Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate P.O. Box 5091, Majorstua N-0301 Oslo, NORWAY email: shu@nve.no fax: +(47) 22 95 90 00The availability of well-trained personnel is a key requirement in the hydropower sector. The education and training task force was concentrating on training in operations and maintenance, and planning of hydro power projects. Click here to go to the web-site of the education and training task force. The following reports have been produced, they are all available on the task force web-site:
This new task force is working on documenting the objective facts about hydropower, and communicating this information to various groups interested in hydropower. The work will include a survey of the information requirements of different groups, and will be followed by a plan for meeting these requirements.work programs. One of the first achievements was the production and publication of a white paper on hydropower, jointly with the International Hydropower Association and the Canadian Hydropower Association.
Choose Annex VII from the menu at the left for detailed information concerning Hydropower Competence Network.
This new task force consisting of Canada and Japan will document best practices and successful solutions to the main environmental impacts identified in phase 1. It is intended to collect case studies with a global coverage of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America. Please click here for more information on the Best Practices Task Force.