Members of the FutureDAMS consortium were active at COP25 in Madrid, running two events.
‘Building Better Dams: the Past, Present and Future of Hydropower’
UK Pavilion, 4 December
This event was convened by the Centre for Sustainable Finance, University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL). Presentations by Julien Harou, University of Manchester, Sanna Markkanen (CISL), and Judith Plummer-Braeckman (CISL) broadcast the recent work on financial analysis and modelling for large hydropower projects in developing countries from the FutureDAMS consortium.
- Read Judith and Sanna’s blog and the Working Paper: Understanding the concepts and terminology of financing sustainable hydropower projects.
- Read the blog from Jamie Skinner and Judit hPlummer Breackman: Who should carry the financial risks in large private sector financed hydropower projects?
The event was well attended and the subsequent discussion centred around the need for better understanding of risk, sustainable hydropower development and sustainable financing options for large energy infrastructure projects in developing countries. It also attracted a good amount of interest on LinkedIn and twitter (using #FutureDAMS) from people who were not able to attend in person.
‘The role of finance in supporting sustainable development in emerging markets – focus on hydropower’
EU Pavilion, 10 December
This late evening panel discussion, chaired by Judith Plummer Braeckman, included presentations from Oscar Mendoza – Endesa Group (Enel Green Power Iberia); Solange Ribeiro – Neoenergia; Peter Hilliges – KfW Development Bank; Sanna Markkanen- CISL and Hector Pollitt – Cambridge Econometrics. The discussion focussed on the role of hydropower in supporting electricity access at scale in developing countries, the relative strengths and weaknesses of small and large hydropower, and the importance of the finance sector to support energy infrastructure projects in developing countries that do not generate stranded assets and the role of hydropower in the future energy mix.
In addition to the events listed above, Judith Plummer Braeckman did an interview on the role of hydropower in present-day and future energy mix for El Plural. Click here to access the full article (in Spanish)
Read our latest hydropower research:
- FutureDAMS working paper: Markkanen and Plummer Braeckman (2019). Financing sustainable hydropower projects in emerging markets: an introduction to concepts and terminology
“…hydropower is likely to play a key role in helping countries across the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to below 2oC. In this new context, it will be increasingly important to understand how to develop socially and environmentally sustainable hydropower projects, and how to finance them.”
- Blog: Understanding the concepts and terminology of financing sustainable hydropower projects.
- IIED Briefing: Sejal Patel, Neha Rai, Clare Shakya (2019). How climate finance can help repurpose hydropower.
“Climate finance investors should consider transition hydropower as a game changer for energy emissions.”
- Presentation: David Hulme, ‘Building better dams: the past, present and future of dams’