CONNECTED & FLOWING

The report advocates for a shift in the role of hydropower within global energy grids, moving away from high-impact dams toward a mix of wind, solar, storage, and low-impact hydropower. It demonstrates through modeling in Chile and Uganda that protecting free-flowing rivers and national parks has minimal impact on system costs. The document highlights the Mekong River basin as a critical area where strategic planning could prevent the loss of migratory fish biomass and delta sediment. It concludes that achieving this vision requires system-scale planning, regulatory reform, and redirected financial flows from multilateral development banks and institutional investors.

• The global technical potential for utility-scale, low-impact wind and solar power—specifically on converted lands such as rooftops, degraded land, and agricultural areas—is 17 times the renewable energy targets committed to under the Paris Agreement.
• The cost of solar photovoltaic electricity fell by 73% between 2010 and 2017, with average costs for solar and wind now approaching US$0.05/kWh, which is comparable to the average costs of hydropower and the low end of fossil fuel costs.
• Hydropower investment has declined since 2013, with 19 GW installed in 2017, which is less than half the level seen in 2013. This downturn is driven by factors including high-profile project cancellations, hydrological risks, cost overruns, and social resistance.
• Modeling for Chile and Uganda shows that implementing low-impact constraints—such as protecting free-flowing rivers in Chile or rivers within national parks in Uganda—results in system costs that are only 0% to 2% higher than business-as-usual scenarios.
• In the Mekong River basin, continuing the current hydropower trajectory could result in the loss of nearly 50% of migratory fish biomass and a reduction in sediment flows that could leave more than half of the delta underwater by the end of the century.
• Strategic system planning could significantly reduce the environmental impact of hydropower; for example, shifting from business-as-usual to a lower level of global development combined with optimized planning could reduce river fragmentation impacts by nearly 90%.
• The role of hydropower is shifting from primary generation to providing ancillary services, such as storage and flexibility, which are essential for integrating intermittent renewables like wind and solar into the grid.
• Upgrading existing hydropower infrastructure offers significant potential; retrofitting older dams could add between 134 TWh/year and 402 TWh/year to global electricity generation without requiring new river structures.
• The Mekong region possesses substantial low-impact renewable potential, with Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam having a combined 1,630 TWh of potential from wind and solar, including 30,000 GWh from floating solar on reservoirs.
• The report identifies a need for 'upstream' planning and the creation of project preparation facilities to identify low-impact, bankable projects, reducing risks for developers and financial institutions.

APA

Opperman, J., Dalton, J., Welling, R., Hartmann, J., Lambrides, M., Carvallo, J. P., Chapin, E., Weber, C., Goichot, M., Hepp, J., Thieme, M., Antonelli, F., Denruyter, J.-P., Orr, S., Qiu, Y., Senga, R., Wang, S., Newsock, A., Baruch-Mordo, S., ... Grill, G. (2019). CONNECTED & FLOWING. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1710/connected_and_flowing__wwf_tnc_report__5.pdf

Chicago

Opperman, Jeff, James Dalton, Rebecca Welling, Joerg Hartmann, Mark Lambrides, Juan Pablo Carvallo, Emily Chapin, et al. CONNECTED & FLOWING. WWF International, 2019. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1710/connected_and_flowing__wwf_tnc_report__5.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Opperman |first1=Jeff |last2=Dalton |first2=James |last3=Welling |first3=Rebecca |last4=Hartmann |first4=Joerg |last5=Lambrides |first5=Mark |last6=Carvallo |first6=Juan Pablo |last7=Chapin |first7=Emily |last8=Weber |first8=Chris |last9=Goichot |first9=Marc |display-authors=etal |title=CONNECTED & FLOWING |publisher=WWF International |date=2019 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1710/connected_and_flowing__wwf_tnc_report__5.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{opperman2019connected, author = {Opperman, Jeff and Dalton, James and Welling, Rebecca and Hartmann, Joerg and Lambrides, Mark and Carvallo, Juan Pablo and Chapin, Emily and Weber, Chris and Goichot, Marc and Hepp, Jill and Thieme, Michele and Antonelli, Francesca and Denruyter, Jean-Philippe and Orr, Stuart and Qiu, Ying and Senga, Rafael and Wang, Shannon and Newsock, Amy and Baruch-Mordo, Sharon and Kiesecker, Joe and Gastelumendi, Jorge and Higgins, Jonathan and Atwell, Brooke and Raepple, Justus and Eyler, Brian and Weatherby, Courtney and Kammen, Daniel and Farrall, Isa and Schmitt, Rafael and Harou, Julien and Wang, Alex and Zarfl, Christiane and Grill, Günther}, title = {{CONNECTED \& FLOWING}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2019}, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/1710/connected_and_flowing__wwf_tnc_report__5.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }