Financing the Future of Hydropower: Unlocking Stalled Capacity and Untapped Resources

Hydropower remains the world's largest source of renewable electricity and provides over 90% of global utility-scale electricity storage capacity through pumped storage. Beyond clean power generation, hydropower plays an increasingly critical role in climate resilience — supporting flood and drought management, water regulation, and energy system flexibility. Yet despite its unique value, hydropower investment has not kept pace with the accelerating deployment of solar and wind.

Global technical hydropower potential stands at approximately 15,000 TWh per year, with around 50% still undeveloped. In Africa alone, only 11% of identified potential has been harnessed. At the same time, over 40% of the world's installed hydropower fleet exceeds 40 years of age, creating substantial refurbishment and modernisation needs. High upfront costs, long development timelines, construction and geological risks, permitting delays, and uncertain revenue streams continue to constrain project bankability — particularly in developing economies where high financing costs, currency risk, and weak offtaker credit profiles compound these challenges.

The Ninth Meeting of the Collaborative Framework on Hydropower will convene IRENA Members, multilateral development banks, development finance institutions, industry representatives, and international organisations to address these barriers and explore possible ways forward. Building on the Framework's previous work on sustainability standards, pumped storage, modernisation, and policy frameworks, the meeting will explore the scale of the global hydropower financing gap, examine the evolving strategic value of hydropower in power systems and climate resilience, and identify the financing and market conditions needed to unlock investment.

Discussions will be structured around two scene-setting presentations and a moderated panel discussion, followed by an open floor for Member interventions and Q&A.

By invitation only.

For additional information, please contact: CFHydropower@irena.org