The Hydropower RAPID Toolkit uses an OpenEI wiki-based platform that makes permitting information easily accessible from one location. (Photo by Sarah Wagoner / NREL 38642)
Take a team of hydropower experts from the Energy Department and its national laboratories, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Add close collaboration with federal and state regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and other hydropower industry stakeholders. Top it off with a wiki-based platform of an easy-to-access hydropower permitting and regulatory roadmap that covers everything from small and large conventional hydropower to run-of-river hydropower, in-conduit, and pumped-storage projects information. What do you get? The U.S. Department of Energy Hydropower Regulatory and Permitting Information Desktop (RAPID) Toolkit.
Navigating the complex system of federal and state regulations to secure project approvals can be one of the biggest hurdles hydropower developers face. The Hydropower RAPID Toolkit makes permitting information easily accessible from one online location—now available to hydropower project developers, permitting agency personnel, and the public. Using an Open Energy Information (OpenEI) wiki-based platform, the Hydropower RAPID Toolkit displays a clickable map where users can explore all of the federal, state, and local permitting processes and regulations associated with hydropower project development.
The Hydropower RAPID Toolkit:
- Features links to permit applications, processes, manuals, and related information;
- Presents information on federal and state permits and regulatory approvals required for the development of hydropower projects;
- Provides best practices to help navigate the regulatory process;
- Helps reduce the permitting timeline by facilitating communication among all project stakeholders—project developers, permitting agency personnel at all jurisdiction levels, and the public;
- Helps lower total project costs and investor risk by clarifying the permitting process, which encourages future hydropower development.
For more information about the Hydropower RAPID Toolkit and how it can support deployment of hydropower projects, please visit here.