INTERNATIONAL HYDROPOWER ASSOCIATION LIMITED

Their core work

The International Hydropower Association (IHA) is the global membership body for the hydropower industry, representing operators, developers, and technology providers worldwide. Their core work covers industry advocacy, performance benchmarking, sustainability standards, and knowledge dissemination across the hydropower value chain. In H2020 projects, they act as the sector voice that bridges scientific research with industry practice — shaping technology roadmaps and helping demonstrate that hydropower can play an active role in balancing modern power grids. They bring unmatched access to a global network of hydropower operators, which makes them a valuable partner for projects needing real-world validation, industry uptake, or dissemination to the professional community.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 engagement (2018) was strategic and community-building in nature — HYDROPOWER-EUROPE centred on research priorities, innovation frameworks, and producing a sector-wide technology roadmap. By 2019 they moved into a technically deeper Innovation Action (XFLEX HYDRO), where the focus shifted to concrete operational challenges: grid balancing, variable-speed machinery, maintenance intervals, and digitalisation. The trajectory is clear: from defining what the industry should research, to actively participating in proving it works.

IHA is moving from a purely strategic, advocacy-oriented role toward active participation in technical innovation projects — particularly where hydropower intersects with energy system flexibility and smart grid integration, a trend that is likely to deepen as grid balancing needs grow across Europe.

How they like to work

IHA consistently joins as a participant rather than coordinator, which reflects its role as a sector-wide convener rather than a technical project lead. Their value in a consortium is industry reach, stakeholder access, and dissemination capacity — not direct R&D execution. With 30 unique partners across 8 countries in just two projects, they operate in genuinely broad, multi-national consortia, suggesting they are sought out precisely because they can connect project outputs to an international professional audience.

IHA has built a consortium network of 30 unique partners spanning 8 countries through only two projects — an unusually wide reach for such a small H2020 portfolio, reflecting their position as the central industry association in the European and global hydropower space. Their network is international by design, not just European.

What sets them apart

IHA is the only truly global hydropower industry association in the H2020 programme, which gives it a different value proposition from universities or engineering firms: access to real plant operators, international policy contacts, and a ready-made dissemination channel to tens of thousands of hydropower professionals. For a consortium targeting industry uptake or regulatory impact, IHA is the front door to the sector. No other H2020 partner can simultaneously represent hydropower operators in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Highlights from their portfolio

• XFLEX HYDRO
  The largest-funded project in IHA's portfolio (over EUR 1M), it demonstrated variable-speed hydropower and digital plant management as tools for active grid balancing — directly relevant to Europe's renewable integration challenge.
• HYDROPOWER-EUROPE
  A sector-shaping coordination action where IHA helped define the European hydropower research agenda and technology roadmap, positioning the industry as a research partner rather than just an energy producer.