ReHydro held its first ever open webinar in collaboration with D-HYDROFLEX on March 18th, bringing together around 80 participants from across the hydropower community for an hour and a quarter of study findings, input from operators who placed these findings in the broader context of day-to-day hydropower operations, and live discussions. A promising start to what will become a regular format!
Understanding why modernisation decisions are made or not made is a prerequisite for making ReHydro’s work genuinely useful to hydropower plant operators and owners. In April 2025, we set out to answer this question: we conducted a study across Europe asking the question “what is actually driving the modernisation of ageing hydropower fleets, and what is holding it back”? A year later, we could now present the answers
Quentin Boucher from SUPERGRID walked attendees through the findings from our survey, as well as the project’s broader analysis of how flexibility needs, market and policy developments, licensing processes, and environmental requirements are shaping upgrade decisions across the continent. This was complemented by the results of a similar study conducted by the D-HYDROFLEX project, a parallel EU-funded initiative focused on digital solutions for hydropower, presented by Katerina Drivakou. Discovering synergies and divergences between the two studies in the following live discussions was a particular highlight of the session.
Following the presentation of the study findings, Jérôme Auguste from EDF and Even Tjørhom from Lyse joined the panel discussion from the hydropower operators’ perspective and contextualised ReHydro’s and D-HYDROFLEX’ findings within the practical realities of operating hydropower assets. Their contribution broadened the scope of the webinar substantially, and kicked off the FAQ closing the webinar.
Participants ranged from students to established industry professionals and experts, and the questions and input from the audience enriched the discussion throughout. Project coordinator Atle Harby moderated the session.
For those who missed it or were unable to attend due to time zone differences, the full recording is freely available on ReHydro’s YouTube channel. Subscribe there to be notified of future recordings, and follow our LinkedIn and newsletter to be notified of future webinars well in advance- the next one is already being planned for September!