Hydro Aid: Effective Support for Energy and Development

Due to the increasing concerns about climate change, dams are currently experiencing a renaissance, and are being framed as one of the most climate-friendly low-carbon solutions to produce clean energy. The Norwegian Government is directing a major part of aid funds towards activities under the rubric of energy, climate and environment. This project explores effectiveness of hydropower aid in Tanzania and Nepal. It focuses on the processes of aid negotiations and the specific outcomes of hydropower development. Answers to the key questions the project explored include: How have the strategies of donors and recipient countries meshed with respect to hydropower development, and to what extent has aid to hydropower projects been carried out in accordance with the principles set out in the World Commission on Dams? How uncertainty with respect to climate change and associated trends in precipitation patterns and the trade-offs among multiple uses/users have been addressed? And what the benefits in terms of access to energy have been delivered? Khimti Hydroelectricity Project has been taken as a case for this study as this was the first foreign direct investment of Norwegian assistance to Nepal. Norwegian Water Research Institute (NIVA) is providing financial support for this study.