Small hydropower plants over time: maintaining infrastructure, passing on knowledge, and cultivating networks

Website: https://projects.unifr.ch/maintaining-relations/en/

The four-year research project funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation focuses on decentralized energy infrastructures in the Swiss Alps and the Peruvian Andes. Our goal is to understand how small hydropower plant operators – whether village communities, cooperatives, families, or individuals – are able to maintain their facilities over decades.

Using selected case studies, we examine:

• How is the knowledge required for operation passed on?
• How have ownership structures, power dynamics, and social relationships surrounding small hydropower evolved?
• What political, legal, and cultural mechanisms contribute to the long-term preservation of these infrastructures?
• What role do kinship, neighborhood ties, professional, religious, and other forms of collective bonds play?

With our project, we aim to highlight the importance of social aspects for a sustainable energy future.