Piacenza, Italy — 30 November 2025. At the AQUAWATT Forum, a workshop titled “ETIP HYDROPOWER: Shaping the Future of Sustainable Hydropower in Europe” presented the European Technology and Innovation Platform on Hydropower (ETIP HYDROPOWER) to stakeholders from industry, research, and policy.

Hydropower remains a vital component of Europe’s clean energy transition, providing flexible, reliable, and renewable electricity. The workshop underscored how ETIP HYDROPOWER is designed to unify the sector’s voice, promote innovation and sustainability, and align strategic actions with EU climate and energy objectives.

Platform mission and governance

Antonella Frigerio, Vice Director at RSE and Co-Chair of the ETIP HYDROPOWER Governing Board, opened the session by outlining the platform’s mission, structure, and strategic priorities. She emphasised the need to reposition hydropower as a central pillar of the European Green Deal—able to deliver flexibility, storage, and climate resilience. Frigerio also highlighted the importance of Research and Innovation Agendas (RIA) and the Strategic Industrial Roadmap (SIR) to guide future developments, and called for stronger recognition of hydropower within EU policy frameworks.

Sector challenges and recommended actions

Jean-Jacques Fry, representing the ETIP HYDROPOWER Secretariat, identified three priority challenges for scaling hydropower deployment across Europe:

1. further minimising environmental impacts while meeting increasingly stringent EU regulations;
2. improving public and political awareness of hydropower’s role in the energy transition; and
3. enhancing competitiveness by ensuring appropriate remuneration for system and grid services.

To address these, Fry recommended:

• sustained dialogue with the European Commission through an Implementation Working Group on hydropower to advance the SET Plan;
• targeted awareness-raising among citizens and European decision-makers; and
• collaborative research to boost innovation within a sustainable framework, taking inspiration from approaches such as CEATI in North America

Preview of ETIP HYDROPOWER White Papers

The workshop also served as the exclusive preview of the ETIP HYDROPOWER White Papers developed by the platform’s Working Groups:

• WG1 – Flexibility and Storage: Leonardo Nibbi emphasized the urgent need to recognize hydropower’s unique ability to provide long-duration energy storage, especially through pumped storage, fast ramping to maintain grid stability, and black start capabilities. To fully unlock its potential, investments in innovation, fair market conditions, tailored support mechanisms, proper remuneration, and streamlined permitting by Member States are essential.
• WG2 – Biodiversity: Andrea Abbate and Marco Tangi highlighted three primary challenges: (1) enabling fish migration, (2) managing environmental flow and hydropeaking, and (3) understanding sediment dynamics. They emphasised the importance of integrating ecological considerations into hydropower planning and operations, referencing existing standards and regulations while advocating for unified and standardised strategies grounded in holistic, balanced and robust methods to safeguard river ecosystems.

• WG3 – Climate Change: Arianna Trevisiol, starting from climate projections and expected changes on hydrological cycle impacting on hydropower plants production and safety across Europe, highlighted hydropower’s dual function in mitigation and adaptation. Strengthening its resilience and contribution to climate-proof water and energy systems demands modernizing infrastructure, leveraging digital tools, predictive optimization and real-time monitoring to enhance the efficiency of power production and water management, adopting adaptive resource management strategies, fostering multi-actor collaboration to balance water and energy priorities, integrating science-based climate data into strategic planning, and enhancing cross-border cooperation to optimize benefits and mitigate risks.

In addition, a short video on hydropower’s flexibility potential was premiered, showcasing real-world examples of how hydropower assets across Europe are supporting the integration of variable renewables and enhancing system reliability.

World Hydropower Outlook 2025

Matteo Bianciotto of the International Hydropower Association (IHA) presented insights from the World Hydropower Outlook 2025, including:

• Over 24 GW of new hydropower capacity added globally in 2024, including 8.4 GW of pumped storage.
• Hydropower now supplies 14.3% of global electricity, with Europe contributing 680 TWh in 2024.
• A global pipeline of 1,075 GW, with 600 GW in pumped storage development.
• In Europe, a pipeline with around ten times more pumped storage capacity than conventional hydropower, indicating the region is approaching a point where pumped storage could add more capacity than conventional hydropower.

Policy momentum: the Paris Pledge

Bianciotto also introduced the Paris Pledge, a declaration signed by more than 50 European stakeholders calling for:

1. expansion of long-duration energy storage via pumped hydropower;
2. regulatory reforms to streamline permitting and incentivise investment; and
3. recognition of hydropower’s role in climate adaptation and water management.

The pledge was formally presented to the European Commission in Brussels on 11 September 2025, reinforcing the sector’s commitment to a resilient and decarbonised energy system.