On September 22, the Institute of Water Problems and Reclamation hosted a National Political Dialogue with the participation of leading experts in the field of water use, water conservation and hydropower.

Free Energy at the Forum became the only representative of companies investing in the development of small hydropower in Ukraine.

The participants of the event were scientists dealing with water use problems, officials of relevant institutions, the guest of honor was the president of the Ukrhydroenergo Association, Semen Potashnyk. Free Energy was the only representative from companies developing small hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine.
The event was opened by the head of the Water Resources Department of the State Water Agency, Olha Lysyuk, who became the main spokesperson for the state sector. During the discussion, the following questions were asked from the FreeEnergy company to the entire audience and to Olga Lysyuk personally:
· The authority of which state body includes the calculation and determination of permissible sanitary water consumption when using small hydroelectric power stations? Or what share of the total water flow can be taken from the river for the needs of the hydroelectric power plant, so as not to disturb the ecological balance?
· What references and regulatory documents regulate the issue of minimum sanitary effluents?
· Who and what responsibility will be borne in case of incorrect determination of the minimum permissible water consumption and other sanitary standards during the construction of the hydroelectric power station?
Questions from the Free Energy company became an occasion for a powerful discussion. Some scientists noted that there are currently no clear answers to these questions, because Ukraine does not yet use systematic approaches, such as in Europe, to studying water security issues.
Olha Lysyuk recommended that the company contact the State Water Agency to get advice on determining the volume of sanitary sewage for a specific project. Scientists and officials agreed that it is necessary to deeply study the issue of water intake during the construction of small hydropower plants in order to prepare reasonable answers for investors.
Professor Serhii Afanasyev, Institute of Hydrobiology, recommended that developers follow the path used in Georgia, Armenia and other countries where relations in the field of ecology and small hydropower are not sufficiently regulated. We are talking about the environmental safety system used by the EBRD: ESIA-quality assessment.
Let's note the speech of candidate of technical sciences, Dmytro Savchuk: "Ways of using anti-flood reservoirs". The scientist's report became an anthem for the protection of small hydropower plants, which breaks all the negative stereotypes inherent in the inhabitants of some regions of the Carpathians. The scientist deals with the problems of anti-flood reservoirs, and has researched hundreds of places in the Carpathian region where it is necessary to build small reservoirs and, accordingly, hydroelectric power plants.
Oleksandra Obodovskyi, Doctor of Geographical Sciences, highlighted the problems of studying the real hydro potential in the report "Assessment of the hydropower potential of the rivers of the Ukrainian Carpathians". The scientist also presented "know-how" - a new device developed and patented by Ukrainian specialists, which significantly improves the efficiency of the MHP.
  The Free Energy company is grateful to the scientists and specialists of the industry for their interesting and useful presentations. It is the dialogue between scientists, officials and investors that can help small hydropower to develop in a scientifically based and effective format. Special thanks to the organizers of the event: Institute of Water Problems and Reclamation, NGO "MAMA-86", GlobalWaterPartnership-Ukraine.