On 25th May 2010, the International Center on Small Hydro Power (ICSHP) hosted a Workshop on Small Hydro Power at the Shanghai Expo. The half day event was part of UNIDO’s “Greening Industries, Greening Cities” week and was held in the UN Pavilion.

Around 150 people attended the workshop, a highly successful event that enabled face-to-face dialogue between representatives of government agencies, international organizations and businesses. The schedule for the morning is shown below.

Chaired by Prof. LIU Heng, Director General of ICSHP
10:30-10:40 Welcome Speech by Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto
Deputy to the Director General, UNIDO
10:40-10:50 Speech by Mr. Hu Siyi
Vice Minister, Ministry of Water Resources (MWR)
10:50-11:10 Keynote Speech: SHP’s New Missions
Presentation by Tian Zhongxing
DG of Rural Hydropower and Electrification Bureau of MWR
11:10-11:25 SHP and Promoting Better Lives Through Green Energy Application
Presentation by Prof. LIU Heng, Director General of IC-SHP
11:40-11:55 Case Study: SHP Greening Chenzhou City Development
Presentation by Xiang Lili, Mayor of Chenzhou City
11:55-12:30 Panel Discussion & Wrap Up
Xing Yuanyue, Deputy Director, Hydropower Bureau of Rural
Electrification of MWR
Cheng Xialei, Director General, Hangzhou Regional Center for
Small Hydro Power
Wang Hangwei, Board President, Zhejiang Jinlun
Electromechanical Co. Ltd
Xiang Lili, Mayor of Chenzhou City

Following the opening of the event by Professor Liu, Director General of ICSHP, the workshop was honoured to have Mr. Yoshiteru Uramoto, Deputy Director General of UNIDO, make a welcome speech. He talked about his personal experience of seeing SHP in action in Africa, emphasizing that it means a lot to small communities there. He went on to outline the benefits of SHP as an affordable, clean technology that has minimal environmental impact and brings economic development and employment opportunities while improving local living standards. He noted that since the inception of ICSHP in 1994, UNIDO has kept a close relationship with the Center, and wishes to continue work with ICSHP on triangular cooperation strategies on SHP in developing countries, particularly in Africa. Finally, Mr. Uramoto gave UNIDO’s sincere thanks to the Ministry of Water Resources for its support.

Mr. Uramoto’s speech was followed by Mr. Hu Siyi, Vice Minister of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources (MWR). He gave an overview of the importance of SHP development in China, particularly in contributing to greenhouse gas reduction targets and for rural electrification and rural economic development. He also noted the international role of ICSHP and the positive feedback for its Lighting Up Rural Africa (LURA) project, through which the Chinese government aims to develop 100 SHP plants in Africa. Mr. Hu also emphasized that the Ministry of Water Resources will continue to support SHP development and the work of ICSHP.

The keynote speech was given by Mr. Tian Zhongxing, Director General of the Rural Hydropower and Electrification Bureau of MWR. He elaborated on the relationship between SHP and the green industry, noting that China’s hydropower sector is influential across the world. After highlighting the benefits of SHP he outlined that some key shifts are also needed for the sector. With these in mind, Mr. Tian Zhongxing stated that the Chinese government aims to refurbish 20,000 old hydropower stations, while improving planning, designated resources and policies. They will involve small farmers with SHP development to ensure that it works well for their interests.

Professor Liu of ICSHP then gave a speech on how SHP promotes better lives, giving some examples of the job opportunities and local industry boosts that the SHP sector has created in regions within China. He explained how SHP helps life poor people out of poverty, by improving the living standards for rural people, as well as enhancing the ecological environment and creating tourism opportunities. The Mayor of Chenzhou City, Mr. Xiang Lili, then outlined the case of SHP in Chenzhou, stating that SHP has become a local economic pillar and that the Chenzhou Power Company is now internationally listed. He emphasized that SHP relies on contribution and support from the relevant stakeholders.

The final session of the morning was a panel discussion where questions were opened to the floor. The topics discussed included China’s policies on old SHP plant refurbishment, for which the government provides funds for improvements and upgrading, and the future of independent SHP grids. A strong point of interest was how the synergies between Chinese and international standards can be improved.

Finally, Professor Liu thanked everyone for attending and for making the morning’s workshop a great success.

Download World Expo Special Edition here.