The Hydropower Sustainability Alliance (HSA) has launched HydroSelect – a new decision-making tool designed to help developers, governments, and investors identify the most promising and sustainable hydropower project concepts at the earliest stages of development.
The new tool is expected to transform how early-stage decisions are made in the hydropower sector, by helping users evaluate multiple project options before significant resources are committed. HydroSelect allows developers to assess potential benefits and risks from an environmental, social and governance (ESG) perspective, ensuring that only the most viable and responsible projects are pursued.
Too often, developers commit to a site without fully understanding the risks, only to face costly delays, community opposition, or environmental barriers later on. HydroSelect helps to avoid situations like this. It brings sustainability to the front of the decision-making process, enabling smarter and more responsible planning.
Alain Kilajian, Deputy Executive Director of the Hydropower Sustainability Alliance
HydroSelect is designed for use by a wide range of stakeholders, including public and private developers, utilities, government planners, financial institutions and civil society groups. It supports better alignment between energy needs and project design by encouraging the consideration of a broader suite of locations, rather than defaulting to legacy project sites.
The tool is structured around a simple, three-part process that guides users through assessing energy needs, reviewing potential project concepts, and ranking them according to sustainability-related criteria. This includes environmental and social risks, potential for public acceptance, and likelihood of securing permits and financing.
The launch follows a global public consultation on HydroSelect in 2024, which gathered feedback from members of the Hydropower Sustainability Council’s four stakeholder chambers, including representatives from government, industry, financial institutions and NGOs.