Hydropower and marine energy

The development of the French hydropower industry and the operation of hydroelectric schemes were behind the creation of SHF. The “hydropower and marine energies” section aims to support players in the hydropower sector in taking into account all technical aspects and technological innovations, as well as the socio-environmental integration of hydropower installations and projects.
Since 2010, an international HydroES (Hydropower & Environmental Sustainability) symposium has been organized in English, on an annual and then biannual basis. Its aim is to bring together a wide audience of researchers, operators, engineering firms, government agencies and associations to present and discuss all aspects of hydropower, its role and its place in a future marked by major developments in the world of renewable energies.
This section has also recently included marine renewable energies (MRE). The 2013 HydroES symposium in Brest was devoted entirely to MREs, and in 2015 a working group tasked with building a new forward-looking vision of tidal power was launched.

The results of this working group were published in 2019 by the SHF, in the White Paper: “A new look at tidal energy – An opportunity for French territories”.

This White Paper places tidal energy in a context that has changed profoundly since the Rance plant was commissioned in 1967. The SHF sets out its convictions and keys to the success of future projects: global territorial integration, optimized environmental integration, innovation as the driving force behind development, and lucid, transparent economic evaluation.