Hydropower took center stage at this year’s ENLIT EUROPE, where a dedicated session in the Generation Hub "Hydropower Projects & Innovation: From showpiece pump storage projects to modernisation" which highlighted the sector’s crucial role in Europe’s evolving energy landscape.

Representing ETIP HYDROPOWER, Prof. Anton Schleiss delivered a keynote presentation titled Hydropower flexibility and storage as a catalyst for a successful energy transition. He began with an overview of ETIP HYDROPOWER’s mission and activities, emphasizing the platform’s work to drive innovation and collaboration across the hydropower community.

Prof. Schleiss underscored how recent events (notably the 2022 energy crisis and the 2025 blackout in Spain) have demonstrated the indispensable role of hydropower in ensuring Europe’s secure and resilient electricity supply. He stressed that the modernisation and extension of existing hydropower plants, along with the development of new pumped-storage facilities, are becoming increasingly attractive and necessary investments to meet flexibility and storage needs.

Drawing on insights from ETIP HYDROPOWER’s Working Group on Flexibility, Prof. Schleiss referenced the group’s White Paper and explanatory video, which together illustrate how hydropower can act as a cornerstone of Europe’s clean and reliable energy transition.

The session, chaired and moderated by Myrto Tripathi, General Director of Terrawater Institute, featured additional perspectives from leading industry figures. Izaskun Rica Ugarte, Hydropower Electrical Engineering Manager at Iberdrola, discussed advances in pumped-storage hydropower, while Emilie-Marie Mercier, R&D European Projects Director at EDF, presented Hydropower for a Competitive Europe: The Value of EU Funding and R&I, highlighting the importance of research, innovation, and European cooperation in maintaining hydropower’s competitiveness.