The 10th HYDROPOWER FOR TODAY FORUM with the theme of “Green Hydropower Promoting Rural Sustainable Development” was successfully held in Hangzhou from May 22 to 23, 2024.
Mr. Li Liangsheng, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, P. R. China, Mr. Gunther Beger, Managing Director of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Ms. Chileshe Kapwepwe, Honorary Chairman of the International Network on Small Hydro Power (INSHP) and Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Mr. Subba, Vice Chancellor of the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), and Ms. Lu Weili, Deputy Secretary-General of Zhejiang Provincial People's Government, attended the opening ceremony of the forum and delivered speeches. Ms. Dima Al-Khatib, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation delivered a video speech to express congratulations on the successful opening of the forum, and presented a future vision for the sustainable development of green hydropower to empower rural revitalization. It is highly praised that China achieved in hydropower development and international cooperation projects, and all foreign guests expressed the hope for further deepening the cooperation with China in policy exchange, technical R&D, personnel training and other fields, to jointly promote the sustainable economic and social development. The opening ceremony of the forum was presided over by Mr. Xu Dezhi, Chairman of the 8th Coordinating Committee of INSHP and Deputy Director General (DG level) of the Department of Rural Water and Hydropower, Ministry of Water Resources, P. R. China.
This forum consists of 1 keynote speech and 3 sessions, including “Value Realization and Investment and Financing of Hydropower Ecological Products”, “New Technology and Application of Small Hydro Power” and “Standardization Promotes Rural Sustainable Development”. Based on their professional fields, 19 senior experts from China and other countries have conducted in-depth discussions on diversifying financing channels for hydropower, implementing green transformation and modernization of small hydro power, accelerating the establishment of green credit system, strengthening hydropower standardization and other major issues to promote the sustainable development of local economy. Meanwhile, they shared a large number of practical cases, thus consolidating the foundation of cooperation and providing valuable reference for the high-quality development of global hydropower.
In addition, the “Case Studies of International Cooperation in Hydropower (2024)” and Hello, Green Small Hydro Power picture books for the popularization of science were released, showing the remarkable achievements made by China’s hydropower in international cooperation in recent years, and popularizing the knowledge on small hydro power to the public. Moreover, these achievements reflect China’s responsibility in international cooperation for hydropower development and demonstrate the value of global partnership.
On the morning of May 23, the 10th HYDROPOWER FOR TODAY FORUM completed all the agenda and concluded successfully. At the closing ceremony, Mr. Xu Dezhi, Chairman of the 8th Coordinating Committee of INSHP and Deputy Director General (DG level) of the Department of Rural Water and Hydropower, Ministry of Water Resources, P. R. China, made a concluding speech. Mr. Fan Peishun, Director of the Chenzhou Base of International Center on Small Hydro Power, and Mr. Ijachi Peter EGA, Assistant Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON), delivered speeches on behalf of Chinese and foreign delegates. At the closing ceremony, Hangzhou Declaration was released, representing the consensus on promoting the development of global hydropower industry. Hangzhou Declaration serves as an initiative to continuously strengthen international exchanges, reform hydropower development and management models, vigorously spread advanced technologies, and enhance South-South and triangular cooperation and also clarifies the trend for future international cooperation. The closing ceremony was presided over by Mr. Xu Jincai, Director General of the INSHP and International Center on Small Hydro Power.
During the forum, three side meetings including the Coordinating Committee (CC) meeting of INSHP, the second plenary meeting of the International Standardization Organization Small Hydro Power Technical Committee (ISO/TC 339), and the international expert consultation meeting on the group standard Technical specifications for the complementary control system of small hydro power with wind power and solar power were held.
The 10th HYDROPOWER FOR TODAY FORUM is hosted by the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, organized by the International Center on Small Hydro Power, International Network on Small Hydro Power and PowerChina Huadong Engineering Corporation Limited, co-organized by the National Research Institute for Rural Electrification, the Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Hydropower Engineering Technology Research Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, International Standard Talent Training Base for Water Conservancy, Hydropower and Water Resources of the Ministry of Water Resources, and Zhejiang Institute of Standardization and greatly supported by China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, Global South-South Development Center Project, APEC Sustainable Energy Center, Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society, China Society for Hydropower Engineering and other organizations (institutions). About 150 guests, including about 50 foreign guests from more than 20 countries and international organizations, attended this forum.
