The conference will consist of two-day technical‑scientific sessions, including the presentation of a Policy brief with the main achievements and guidelines concerning the topics covered.
The sessions included lectures by national and international speakers, roundtables, and debates to promote discussion and participation from key stakeholders and the technical community in general. The debates will focus on new research opportunities and shared challenges that may lead to the development of public policies and stakeholder strategies. During the event, energy production companies, equipment manufacturers, designers, and builders will have the opportunity to present their most significant activities and the main challenges and perspectives for the future.
Theme 1 – Energy transition and renewable energies
The energy transition, centred on renewable energy sources, represents one of the most profound structural transformations of modern socioeconomic systems. Its primary objective is to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, fostering global sustainability. This process has gained global momentum, shaping public policies, corporate strategies, scientific initiatives and innovation efforts focused on renewable energy.
The energy transition has progressed through three convergent and complementary trends: decarbonization, the increasing electrification of industry, transport, and services, and the decentralization of electricity generation, driven by the expansion of small- and medium-scale solar and wind power production.
A key driving factor is the exponential growth in demand for clean energy, propelled by the digital transition. The expansion of artificial intelligence, large-scale data storage, electric mobility, and the electrification of new end-uses requires electricity infrastructure that are robust, flexible, and resilient. In this context, the European Union aims to develop a fully integrated, interconnected, and synchronized system at the European level. This objective highlights the need for coordinated, long-term planning of electric grid infrastructure across Europe, particularly considering the growing challenge of grid congestion and the specific circumstances of regions that remain unconnected or insufficiently interconnected.
The modernization and sustainability of electricity grids therefore play a pivotal role, as they are essential for integrating growing volumes of variable renewable energy, ensuring system stability and resilience, and safeguarding security of supply.
While renewable energy sources are now cost-competitive and play a central role in diversifying the energy mix, strengthening supply security, and generating socioeconomic value, the path forward still faces significant challenges. These include the urgent need for grid modernization, the complexity of financing models, regulatory constraints, the social and territorial acceptance of projects, and the difficulty of decarbonizing hard-to-abate industrial sectors while maintaining economic competitiveness.
In this context, this theme seeks to address a set of challenging and highly relevant questions, namely:
Theme 2 – Storage and System Flexibility
In the context of the energy transition and the increasing integration of renewable energy sources, the shift toward a more distributed electric system, increasingly dependent on non-dispatchable energy sources, introduces new challenges for grid management and operation. Electric system flexibility requires a precise spatial and temporal balance between electricity generation and demand. In addition, flexibility requirements will increase significantly to ensure reliable operation and adequate security of supply in future electric systems characterized by high renewable share, where energy storage will play a fundamental role.
The optimal response for electricity storage lies in the strategic deployment of diverse technologies, with hydroelectric storage being the largest-scale technology in the Portuguese electric system, as it is well suited to local conditions and constitutes one of the most efficient and environmentally sustainable methods.
Hydroelectric projects play a decisive role in the evolution of the energy sector, with significant socioeconomic impacts, and contribute directly to energy independence, regional development, and the decarbonization of the economy.
Beyond direct energy generation, hydroelectric facilities enable storage through pumped-storage systems, make use of energy from wind and solar plants, reinforce grid stability, and allow for more efficient water resource management.
In Portugal and Spain, where distribution networks are interconnected, the hydropower infrastructure is substantial and the potential for renewable energy generation—including solar and wind—is high. As a result, renewable energy sources already represent a significant share of total electricity generation.
Issues associated with hydroelectric projects, along with past experiences, the current state, and prospects of the energy sector, will be addressed across the various sessions of this theme, fostering interaction between regulators, producers, researchers, and industry stakeholders. The goal is to contribute to the discussion of key challenges and relevant questions, namely:
Theme 3 - Modernization and Repowering
Sustainable and safe management of water infrastructure is a central element of water policy in Portugal, requiring integrated strategies that reconcile development, resilience, and the maintenance of existing dams. Within the framework of the "Water that Unites Strategy” (Estratégia Água que Une), which outlines an integrated and multisectoral approach to water management in Portugal up to 2040—focusing on sustainable development, enhanced water security, and climate resilience—the following priorities have been established:
The operation of dams involves significant risks. In Portugal, their monitoring and safety control are governed by the Dam Safety Regulation (RSB). This oversight is particularly important given that, in Portugal, the average age of dams integrated into hydroelectric projects exceeds 50 years, with the oldest structures being over a century old. They were meticulously designed and constructed according to the state-of-the-art knowledge at the time, earning Portuguese dam engineering a well-deserved prestige.
Dams and associated works in hydroelectric schemes have undergone natural aging processes that affect both materials and structures. In general, these effects have been effectively mitigated through timely interventions by infrastructure owners. However, given current knowledge and performance requirements—and within a context marked by aging assets, the need to adapt to more frequent extreme weather events, stricter environmental constraints, repowering demands, increased storage capacity and enhance flow regulation— significant challenges remain that must be clearly identified and addressed.
Management and resilience requirements regarding extreme events, especially for high-hazard structures, require the development of predictive and interpretative behavioural models. These models rely on the continuous acquisition of hydro-climatic data as well as information obtained from structural behaviour monitoring.
The modernization and repowering of existing dams demand the integration of forecasting systems, real-time monitoring, smart sensors, and data acquisition and management platforms. These tools enhance the capacity for risk management and improve the safety of dams and appurtenant works.
Theme 4 – Digitalization and Technological Innovation
Hydroelectric projects, as infrastructures of high complexity, long service life, and particularly demanding safety requirements, are currently at the centre of a profound transformation driven by digitalization and technological innovation. Two of the most promising concepts in this context are BIM (Building Information Modelling) and Digital Twins. These allow for the creation of digital representations of infrastructures, by integrating design, construction, monitoring, and operation, thereby supporting more informed and proactive management of infrastructures.
In this context, the integration of real-time monitoring systems, smart sensors, the Internet of Things (IoT), and data acquisition and management platforms has reinforced the observation of the structural behaviour and their foundations. Technological innovation also extends to inspection and maintenance, using UAVs (drones), autonomous vehicles and advanced techniques such as photogrammetry, laser scanning, and computer vision, reducing operational risks and increasing the coverage and quality of inspections.
In parallel, the development of Big Data analytics and Artificial Intelligence algorithms opens new perspectives for a holistic approach to system operation, ranging from structural components to hydroelectric production forecasting.
Within this framework, the "human-in-the-loop" concept assumes particular importance, ensuring that automated systems and AI-assisted decision processes remain under qualified technical supervision, guaranteeing robustness, transparency, and accountability in infrastructure management.
This context is especially relevant given the energy transition, in which hydroelectric production continues to play a strategic role. This theme aims to provide an opportunity to discuss solutions, methodologies, and case studies that are shaping the technological evolution of this type of infrastructures, namely:
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