Small Hydropower Technical Guidelines now available in Portuguese for regional trainings

The Small Hydropower Technical Guidelines of UNIDO are now available in Portuguese and will be used for trainings in lusophone members of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC). The  guidelines are currently under review by the ISO Technical Committee ISO/TC339 and some chapters were already published as official ISO standards.

The GN-SEC efforts respond particularly to the capacity constraints of African members of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). Most of the countries have adopted ambitious plans to further expand the renewable energy penetration in the electricity sector. However, in many cases the further expansion of small hydropower capacities and installations is hindered by a lack of quality infrastructure and qualified personal. Hands-on practical training materials, which meet international quality standards is scarce and hardly available in Portuguese.

The translation of the guidelines was supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project “Strategic program to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency investments in the electricity sector of São Tomé and Príncipe". It is also supported by the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) programme, which is coordinated by UNIDO in partnership with various economic communities. The facilitation of joint learning and knowledge exchange between the Portuguese speaking countries, particularly in Africa, is an important focus of the network. 

The guidelines can be accessed here.