The International Hydropower Association (IHA) has released a first set of official reports made using its Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol, which evaluates hydroelectric projects and their operators in a number of criteria.

Israeli hydrokinetic developer Eco Wave Power and the Chinese government have signed an agreement promoting economic trade and collaboration between the two parties.

Austrian utility Verbund Hydro Power AG has selected Alstom to renovate two generators in its Kaprun Hauptstufe hydroelectric plant.

Capital investment and trading conglomerate Mitsui & Co. has announced it will acquire about 20% equity of ESBR Participacoes S.A., owner of Brazil's 3,750-MW Jirau hydroelectric project, per an agreement with GDF Suez.

Hydrokinetic developer Tidal Lagoon Power Limited is eyeing Colwyn Bay in north Wales as a prospective site for a new 1 GW ocean power project, HydroWorld.com has learned.

Renewable power trader Climex has agreed to sell marine energy generated by Tocardo Tidal Turbines through its green energy trading platforms.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to a US$72.3 million loan to the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal that will help finance the 140-MW Tanahun hydroelectric project.

The town of Saint-Etienne has awarded BRL Exploitation a contract for monitoring and operation of the Lavalette Dam hydropower project.

Utility company SSE plc has confirmed it will proceed in constructing the 7.5-MW Glasa hydroelectric plant, HydroWorld.com has learned.

An enterprise license agreement signed by Electricite de France (EDF) and software developer Ventyx will allow for the deployment of Ventyx's enterprise asset management (EAM) program across at hydropower projects across France.

Scottish Renewables is celebrating the 70th anniversary of Scotland's Hydro-Electric Development of 1943 with a special event to be held in Perth on May 8.

By Richard K. Fisher, Jiri Koutnik, Lars Meier, Verne Loose, Klaus Engels and Thomas Beyer Pumped-storage development in Europe has been taking off as power producers seek to complement wind and solar energy sources. By contrast, the abundance of natural gas and differences in politics and infrastructure have slowed similar development in the USA.

An assessment of the potential for Europe to develop additional hydro pumped storage has revealed that there are opportunities to increase the region's pumped storage capacity by a factor of 10.

A CZK$94.5 million (US$4.76 million) contract has been awarded to CKD Blansko Engineering a.s. to refurbish a turbine-generator unit at the 40-MW Kamyk plant in the Czech Republic.