Climate Vulnerability and Risk for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) in Colombia: A Methodological Proposal for Analysis

The paper argues that while small hydropower plants (SHP) are vital for Colombia's energy transition and decentralization, they are increasingly threatened by climate-driven water instability. It identifies a gap in risk assessment research, which has historically focused on large reservoirs, and introduces a flexible framework based on sensitivity, adaptive capacity, and hazard indicators to guide climate adaptation for SHPs nationwide.

• Small hydropower plants (SHP) currently account for 5.2 percent of Colombia's energy mix, and their capacity is projected to more than double in the future, supporting energy security and clean energy access for the 65 percent of the territory located outside the interconnected power grid.
• The SHP sector is threatened by climate risks, specifically droughts and irregular rainfall, which disrupt water regulation ecosystem services and impact the stability and availability of river flows.
• Existing research on climatic and hydroclimatic risks for hydropower in Colombia is skewed toward large reservoirs because of regulatory frameworks and policies that encourage investment in those larger projects, leaving a shortage of case studies on the vulnerability of the local and distributed SHP model.
• The proposed methodology for assessing climate vulnerability and risk uses water resources as the primary element of exposure and evaluates risks through indicators of hazard, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Climate Vulnerability and Risk for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) in Colombia: A Methodological Proposal for Analysis. https://www.wri.org/research/climate-vulnerability-and-risk-small-hydropower-plants-shp-colombia-methodological

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Climate Vulnerability and Risk for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) in Colombia: A Methodological Proposal for Analysis. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/climate-vulnerability-and-risk-small-hydropower-plants-shp-colombia-methodological.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Climate Vulnerability and Risk for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) in Colombia: A Methodological Proposal for Analysis |url=https://www.wri.org/research/climate-vulnerability-and-risk-small-hydropower-plants-shp-colombia-methodological |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendclimate, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Climate Vulnerability and Risk for Small Hydropower Plants (SHP) in Colombia: A Methodological Proposal for Analysis}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/climate-vulnerability-and-risk-small-hydropower-plants-shp-colombia-methodological}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }