July 28, 2022, Vancouver, BC, Canada – Knight Piésold is delighted to have reconnected in-person with the hydropower community at HYDROVISION International, the world’s largest gathering of power producers, after the conference’s two-year postponement. Held on July 12–14, 2022 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, hydropower specialists from Knight Piésold’s Denver and Vancouver offices engaged with clients and partners at the tradeshow floor and lent their vast knowledge and experience for three sessions and the conference at large.

Norm Bishop, a senior executive project engineer at Knight Piésold USA, acted as chair for the New Development track, which included sessions that examined major forces that are moving new hydro forward, and served as a member of the conference’s Advisory Committee, which consisted of top professionals who keep a finger on the pulse of the hydropower industry.

In addition, Bishop moderated a panel discussion at “Session 2E: How Do We All Get Along? Life Cycle Costs and Benefits of Different Renewable Generation Sources,” which looked into cost-benefit analyses of different renewable energy sources and how hydropower can be assessed in an energy portfolio. He also contributed to the discussion at “Session 3B: New Pumped Storage Hydropower in the US – Why Not?” on the challenges to developing pumped storage hydro in the US and how to make it more attractive for developers.

James O’Reilly, a senior engineer at Knight Piésold Canada, moderated and was a speaker for “Session 1E: Pumped Storage Projects’ Role in the Green Energy Future,” discussing the future of clean energy and how pumped storage hydro fits in with the rapid deployment of wind, solar, and other renewable technologies as the world moves towards net zero emissions.

This year’s conference involved nearly 220 exhibitors on the tradeshow floor and more than 200 speakers discussing their perspectives on current and future challenges affecting hydropower, covering topics around operations and maintenance, civil works and dam safety, policies and regulations, equipment and technology, market trends and asset strategies, and more.

“There is a renewed interest in pumped storage hydro, conventional hydro, and adding hydro facilities to existing dams,” said Bishop. “At Knight Piésold, we are involved in two major EPC teams where we are developing pumped storage facilities in the US and other EPC teams for large hydropower and water resources projects in North America.”

“We are thrilled to have shared what we have been working on at the conference and more so to have collaborated with the hydropower community in unlocking a clean energy future. We continue to strengthen our EPC partnerships on hydropower developments around the world and are excited to support power producers in developing emerging renewable energy technologies.”