Recently, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) released the Technical Guidelines for the Development of Small Hydropower Plants-Part 1: Vocabulary (IWA 33-1) and the Technical Guidelines for the Development of Small Hydropower Plants-Part 2: Site Selection Planning (IWA 33-2) (download link: https://www.iso.org/obp). IWA 33 was co-hosted by the Standardization Administration of the People’s Republic of China (SAC) and Austrian Standards Institute (ASI).

The above two guidelines are successful practices of the preparation of ISO standards based on the Technical Guidelines for the Development of Small Hydropower Plants jointly issued by the International Network on Small Hydro Power （INSHP）and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Through the ISO platform, it will further facilitate the application of technical guidelines in small hydropower development worldwide.

In April 2019, the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China, the SAC and the UNIDO signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in collaboratively promoting international standards for small hydropower in Beijing, and the compilation of international standards for small hydropower undertaken by our center was included in item 34 of the list of outcomes of the Second “Belt and Road” International Cooperation Summit Forum.