International Hydropower Association announces certification of first ever project against Hydropower Sustainability Standard

Ashok Khosla, Chair of the Hydropower Sustainability Governance Council and Sustainable Development Expert, said: “I cannot commend Pamir Energy enough for the Sebzor Hydropower project becoming the world’s first project certified against the Hydropower Sustainability Standard.

Their tenacity and dedication to implementing good sustainability practices has paid off. We look forward to seeing their continued leadership in sustainable hydropower development, as they work towards applying the same standards across all their operations.”

Pamir Energy is already taking steps to exceed good practice in all 12 topics to achieve further certification at Gold level.

Amrikhon Raimov, General Director of Pamir Energy, added: “We are proud to be leading the way in sustainable hydropower development in Tajikistan and beyond. As part of our efforts in continuing to achieve the highest standards of sustainability, we are now already working towards obtaining the Gold certification against the Hydropower Sustainability Standard.

“Sebzor is just the beginning of our journey to provide clean, reliable, and affordable energy while protecting the environment and supporting the communities we serve.”

The assessment of Sebzor, a hydropower project in Tajikistan, was made possible in part thanks to the support of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and its Hydropower ESG (HESG) Assessment Fund. Sebzor was one of the first recipients of this fund, which aims to promote sustainable hydropower development by supporting the assessment of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities.

Daniel Menebhi, Program Manager at SECO, stated: “Sebzor is a good example of why we created the HESG fund. We want to make sustainability assessments accessible to hydropower projects and help them identify their gaps and work towards closing them. This should also help developers get access to finance including through green bonds. SECO supports the Hydropower Sustainability Standard because hydropower has an important role to play in the energy transition and by applying the Standard the sustainability of hydropower investments is improved.”

João Costa IHA’s Head of Sustainability, commented: “We are thrilled to be celebrating Sebzor’s accomplishment becoming the world’s first project to be certified against the Hydropower Sustainability Standard. With more than 30 projects currently in the assessment pipeline, we look forward to acknowledging many more in the years to come.”

This world first was celebrated at an event jointly hosted by the International Hydropower Association, ITAIPU Binacional, the Executive Committee for the International Fund for saving the Aral Sea, the Aga Khan Foundation and the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Tajikistan with Minister H.E. Daler Jum’a Shofaqir attending.

The event focused on exploring the interface between water, energy and the environment and how they can provide benefits to water, agriculture and the environment sectors with an emphasis on collaboration between countries.

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