About

Established out of a passion for small hydropower

This platform supports the global movement toward smarter, cleaner energy by promoting the development of small and hidden hydropower sites. Created alongside the book Smart Hydropower – Unlocking Hidden Energy in Water Infrastructure, the site serves as a living library and collaborative hub for developers, engineers, researchers, and educators.

We hope you will share in this passion.

Mission

To make information, tools, and technology accessible for identifying, developing, and optimizing small-scale hydropower opportunities.
This initiative was born out of a passion for water, innovation, and sustainable development. We invite you to explore, share, and contribute as we uncover and activate the power hidden in our water systems.

Vision

To empower communities, engineers, and policymakers to harness hidden hydropower for sustainable development, energy access, and environmental stewardship.

Prof Armando Carravetta

Armando is a Professor of Hydraulics and Director of the Hydro Energy Laboratory (HELab) at CeSMA, Federico II University. He teaches Basic Hydraulics in Civil Engineering and Water System Efficiency in Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on pumps, turbines, and PATs, emphasizing water network energy efficiency and non-Newtonian flow. As chair of UNI CT-32, he contributes to Italian standards for pumps and small turbines and represents Italy in Europump’s WG Lot-28 on eco-design standards. His consultancy includes major Italian utilities (ENI, ACEA, HERA) and various pump manufacturers.

Prof Marco van Dijk

Marco is an associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP) and a Principal Researcher for Water Research Commission research projects and a registered professional engineer. He graduated from the University of Pretoria with a bachelor degree in Civil Engineering and also obtained BEng(Hons), MEng and PhD degrees. He has been at UP for almost 25 years and has been involved in numerous research projects on development of hydropower in South Africa. He compiled technical reports, journal publications and presented at numerous conferences around the world in this field.

Prof Helena Ramos

Helena is a Full Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico—IST—of the Engineering Faculty of the University of Lisbon, and is an effective member of CERIS. She got her MSc degree in 1987, her PhD in 1995, and her Habilitation degree in 2005. She belongs to the World’s Top 2% of Scientists, from Stanford University, and was ranked in the Top Engineering and Technology Scientists list published by Research.com. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Water and has been a member of the editorial board of several other journals. Her expertise includes hydraulic transients, hydropower and pumping systems, renewable hybrid solutions with pumped storage, water-energy nexus, and energy and hydraulic efficiency. She has more than 400 publication actions, has received four awards from scientific societies, and has been a member/collaborator of several international scientific committees, namely IAHR, SEREA, IWEH, SURGE NET, APRH, BHRGroup, and WREC.