The Future of Swiss Hydropower : Realities, Options and Open Questions

The NRP70 project ‘The Future of Swiss Hydropower: An Integrated Economic Assessment of Chances, Threats and Solutions’ (HP Future) addresses the challenges Swiss Hydropower faces in the changing electricity market environment. In particular it aims to answer four main research questions:1. What are short-term operational options for Swiss HP to cope with the volatile market situation?2. What are long-term investment options for Swiss HP and how can uncertainty be accounted?3. What are the regional impacts from a comprehensive sustainability perspective?4. What are the effects of different water fee reform options?The project started in fall 2014 and lasted until December 2018. This final report provides a summary on the main findings and recommendations for decision makers