European Regulations | River Management | Hydropower

Web Conference

The international event will bring together experts from leading operators, manufacturers and suppliers, authorities, scientists as well as related stakeholders to discuss important issues in the field of ecology and environment in hydropower.

Environmental protection and preservation of nature are a crucial global challenge for the entire society as well as for the hydropower sector.

Following the successful first event in 2021, the upcoming vgbe Expert Event River Ecology and Environment will take place on 1 and 2 June 2022 as online-event (both days in the afternoon). Similar to the previous event, a European-wide view will focus on all important ecological and environmental aspects related to hydropower.

Session 1: European R&I on Hydropower
Hydropower, with its mature and proven technology faces various challenges and opportunities alike, such as refurbishment, flexible operation/grid balancing and sustainability. Here R&I strategies require continuous efforts to maintain the European hydropower research and industry value chains. In this session, possibilities and results of R&I on hydropower will be presented.

Session 2: European framework and regulation in Hydropower
Different European frameworks and regulations, such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60 / EC) or the EU Taxonomy, impose requirements to be met by hydropower operators. In this session, experiences with these different frameworks and regulations will be presented.

Session 3: Sediment management strategies and approaches for operating with  hydropeaking
Management of sedimentations, which can have negative impacts on the safety of dams and may reduce energy production, storage, discharge capacity and flood attenuation capabilities, as well as hydropeaking, the artificial increase and decrease of water levels in rivers, require appropriate management techniques that improve maintain operations of dams and hydroelectric facilities. Scientists and operators report from approaches of  optimal ecological operation.

Session 4: Lessons learned from fish migration and monitoring systems
The development of techniques for fish protection and fish migration is an important prerequisite for maintaining and expanding hydropower. Harm to migrating fish along the various hiking trails must be prevented or reduced and at the same time the continuity down the river must be ensured. Leading operators report on their practical experiences with measures taken so far.