Global Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Market Outlook, 2031

The global hydropower plant rehabilitation market is a strategically critical infrastructure category experiencing sustained growth as the world's aging hydropower fleet requires modernization to maintain reliability, improve efficiency, and provide the flexibility services needed in decarbonizing electricity systems. More than 50% of global hydropower capacity operates in facilities older than 30 years, while average fleet ages approach 50 years in North America and 45 years in Europe, creating a structural renewal cycle. By 2030, more than 20% of the global hydropower generation units will be more than 55 years old and require refurbishment. The market covers turbine and generator rehabilitation, control and automation upgrades, civil and structural rehabilitation, transformer and electrical equipment replacement, environmental retrofits, and associated engineering services. Hydro R&M as well as life extension and refurbishment programmes can add another 15-25 years of useful life to the hydropower plant. The competitive landscape is moderately fragmented, with the top five players, GE Vernova, ANDRITZ, Voith GmbH, Dongfang Electric, and Harbin Electric, collectively holding a significant share of global revenue. The market's evolution is propelled by the need to extend asset life, improve plant efficiency, and enhance grid stability services from existing hydropower assets.

The global development of hydropower rehabilitation exhibits significant regional imbalances, with Asia-Pacific representing the largest and fastest-growing regional market, driven by China's massive fleet modernization program and India's shift from greenfield to brownfield investment. Europe represents the most mature market, where modernization accounts for approximately 90% of regional hydropower investment, with Norway, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Italy constituting the major share of projects. North America is driven by the cost pressures of retrofitting older turbines and increasing O&M costs, with the United States and Canada operating approximately 100 GW of installed capacity, much of which was built between the 1930s and 1970s.The market is witnessing a transition from single-component replacement to integrated multi-year rehabilitation programs, with digitalization, predictive maintenance, and advanced materials enabling significant efficiency gains. Key obstacles include high initial capital outlay for comprehensive rehabilitation projects, the complexity of executing work in operating plants with limited outage windows, and supply chain constraints for specialty turbine and generator components.

Market Dynamics

Market Drivers • Aging Infrastructure and Asset Life Extension: The most powerful driver across the global hydropower rehabilitation market is the aging profile of the global hydropower fleet, with more than 50% of capacity in facilities older than 30 years and average fleet ages approaching 50 years in North America and 45 years in Europe. Refurbishment programs are essential for extending asset life, maintaining reliability, and avoiding the much higher cost of greenfield development. Hydropower plants usually have a normative operating life of about 30-35 years, after which ageing equipment requires renovation, modernization, uprating and life extension activities. The IEA estimates that by 2030, more than 20% of global hydropower generation units will be more than 55 years old and require refurbishment.
• Grid Flexibility and Dispatchable Generation Value: Older hydropower plants are being upgraded to provide faster response, frequency regulation, and other grid services that are increasingly valuable as variable renewable penetration increases. Increasing demand for grid stability services is a key driver, with refurbished plants gaining stronger access to capacity, frequency-response, and balancing markets. The demand for rehabilitation, modernization, and upgrading of installed hydropower equipment has seen dramatic growth over recent years, with Europe and North America especially active in this respect. Modernization can be achieved by adding capacity through unit replacement, digitalising operations to optimise use, or by better hybridisation with batteries, wind and solar power.

Market Challenges • High Capital Costs and Financing Constraints: Comprehensive rehabilitation projects require significant initial capital investment, limiting adoption among utilities with financial constraints. The market concentration score is moderate, indicating a moderately fragmented competitive structure. Project developers point to long decision-making processes and the complexity of executing work in operating plants with limited outage windows as key barriers. The phased execution approach, where one unit remains operational while the other is under refurbishment, is becoming increasingly common to minimize generation losses and maintain grid stability.
• Supply Chain and Lead Time Constraints: Specialty turbine and generator components have long manufacturing lead times, and the limited number of qualified suppliers creates scheduling challenges. Aging platforms, subsea networks, and export systems in mature basins are colliding with the scale-up of hydropower and other marine energy assets, stretching the same finite pools of vessels, technicians, and critical equipment. The availability of specialized installation vessels and heavy-lift cranes for large-scale rehabilitation projects remains a constraint, particularly for remote or offshore hydropower facilities.



Market Trends • Digitalization and Predictive Maintenance: The integration of digital technologies into hydropower rehabilitation projects has significantly expanded over the last four years, with digital twins, AI-driven analytics, and predictive maintenance platforms becoming standard components of major rehabilitation contracts. Digital twin technology is swiftly transforming the hydropower sector, from real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance at ageing plants to full-scale water-management simulations used in flood and drought planning. Industry experts confirm that 68% of utilities surveyed had already integrated remote monitoring capabilities on at least one generator by mid-2025, up from 31% in 2022.The long-term trend indicates that integrated digital-physical rehabilitation contracts will become the market standard rather than a premium option.
• Environmental Retrofits and Fish-Friendly Turbines: Growing environmental awareness is driving investment in fish-friendly turbines, improved downstream flow management, and other environmental retrofit measures. The ReHydro project, funded by the EU, is demonstrating how biodiversity can be improved with new fish-friendly turbines, re-establishment of environmental flows, and monitored using new tools such as eDNA. The RevHydro project incorporates an innovative fish barrier that adapts to incoming fish, allowing redirection to safe passages, contributing to environmental conservation efforts. These environmental retrofits are increasingly being bundled with mechanical and electrical rehabilitation in integrated multi-year programs, as owners seek fewer interruptions and clearer investment justification.

Segmentation Analysis

Turbine and generator rehabilitation dominates the market because these components are the core power conversion equipment and typically represent the largest rehabilitation cost component, accounting for approximately 35% of total rehabilitation expenditure.
• Turbine refurbishment accounted for a significant share of the market and is expected to grow steadily through 2035, driven by the need to replace aging runners, guide vanes, and bearings to restore and improve efficiency.
• Turbine and generator rehabilitation involves replacement or refurbishment of runners, guide vanes, bearings, generator windings, and excitation systems, with efficiency improvements of 2-5% achievable through modern turbine designs, increasing generation from existing water resources.
• The scope of works at facilities such as the Tyrväntö hydropower plant includes the complete overhaul of turbine-generator units, installation of new generator stators and refurbishment of rotors, as well as replacement of turbine runner wheels.
• On the generator front, shifting from older Class B insulation systems to Class F insulation is one of the most feasible options, while on the turbine side, runner redesign, profile optimisation, guide vane replacement and better hydraulic matching are increasingly central to capacity recovery and efficiency improvement.
• The turbine refurbishment segment is expected to maintain steady growth as the global fleet continues to age, with the segment benefiting from the industry's transition from single-unit production to rapid serial production through simplifying design, standardization and modularization of subcomponents.
• Key players in turbine and generator rehabilitation include GE Vernova, ANDRITZ, Voith GmbH, Dongfang Electric, and Harbin Electric, with GE Vernova leading through its global OEM position across Francis, Kaplan, and Pelton turbine platforms, proprietary aerating turbine technology, and a well-established long-term service agreement portfolio.

Storage (reservoir) hydropower plants represent the largest plant type segment by revenue because they offer the widest scope for rehabilitation interventions, from turbine and generator replacement to control system upgrades, and provide the greatest potential for capacity and flexibility improvements.
• Storage hydropower plants accounted for 44.4% of global hydropower refurbishment revenue in 2025 and are expected to maintain steady growth, reflecting the large installed base and the extensive scope for rehabilitation interventions at reservoir-based facilities.
• Storage plants allow wide-ranging interventions, from the replacement of turbines and generators to control systems and civil works, with large storage facilities supporting multi-year rehabilitation programs that include mechanical, electrical, and civil components.
• Large storage hydropower plants generate the highest-value opportunities, as modernization can encompass multiple generating units, high-voltage systems, civil infrastructure, and grid integration requirements.
• The Toktogul hydropower plant in Kyrgyzstan, a storage facility supplying approximately 40% of the country's electricity, underwent comprehensive rehabilitation of all four units, with capacity increasing from 1,200 MW to 1,440 MW and the plant expected to operate reliably for another 50-60 years following modernization.
• Storage hydropower plants benefit from the growing need for grid flexibility and long-duration energy storage, with rehabilitation projects increasingly designed to enhance the plant's ability to provide capacity, frequency-response, and balancing services.
• Key players in storage hydropower rehabilitation include GE Vernova, ANDRITZ, Voith GmbH, Dongfang Electric, and Harbin Electric, along with regional EPC contractors and specialty service providers.

Large hydropower plants above 100 MW represent the highest-value segment of the rehabilitation market because they require comprehensive multi-year programs encompassing multiple generating units, high-voltage systems, and substantial civil infrastructure.
• Large plants generate the highest-value opportunities, as modernization can encompass multiple generating units, high-voltage systems, civil infrastructure, and grid integration requirements.
• The Cahora Bassa hydropower plant in Mozambique, one of Africa's largest at 2,075 MW, is undergoing a comprehensive rehabilitation that includes five 480 MVA generators, five Francis turbine runners, control and protection systems, and hydromechanical structures, with each turbine's capacity increasing by over 4%.
• The Toktogul hydropower plant rehabilitation in Kyrgyzstan involved the complete overhaul of four Francis units, with each unit's capacity increasing from 300 MW to 360 MW, lifting total capacity from 1,200 MW to 1,440 MW.
• Large plant rehabilitation projects typically involve multi-year execution with phased unit outages to minimize generation losses, requiring sophisticated project management and coordination between OEMs, EPC contractors, and plant operators.
• The large plant segment benefits from the concentration of the global hydropower fleet, with a relatively small number of very large plants accounting for a substantial share of global capacity and representing the most economically compelling rehabilitation opportunities.
• Key players in large plant rehabilitation include GE Vernova, ANDRITZ, Voith GmbH, Dongfang Electric, and Harbin Electric, with these companies competing on technical differentiation, global manufacturing capability, and long-term service agreement mechanisms.

Regional Analysis

Asia-Pacific is the largest and fastest-growing region globally because China's massive fleet modernization program and India's expanding rehabilitation initiatives collectively drive the majority of global hydropower rehabilitation demand.
• Asia-Pacific is the largest regional market, with China's broad installed base and India's modernization priorities constituting the primary regional growth drivers, with the region accounting for the largest share of global revenue.
• China's generation cohorts from the 1980s and 1990s are entering their principal renewal period, with Dongfang Electric Corporation and Harbin Electric Corporation occupying relevant positions in the domestic market, while international suppliers are expanding into technically complex pumped storage re-powering contracts.
• India has been identified as the second-fastest-growing national market for hydropower globally, supported by the Central Electricity Authority's National Electricity Plan, with state-owned utilities investing in both capacity expansion and efficiency improvements at existing plants.
• The Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) in India is among the largest dam rehabilitation programs globally, with a total of 736 dams identified for rehabilitation and safety enhancement across 19 states and 2 central agencies.
• Southeast Asia demonstrates the regional multi-site modernization model, with Voith and HeiTech Padu Berhad awarded a contract in June 2025 for the 592 MW Temengor, Bersia, and Kenering cascade in Malaysia, including automation upgrades and a group control center.
• Japan and South Korea face increasing green modernization requirements, while Vietnam is one of the highest-growth national opportunities through 2035, alongside India and Brazil.
• The region benefits from a strong pipeline of rehabilitation projects across all plant types and capacity ranges, with government-backed financing and development bank support enabling comprehensive modernization programs.

Key development

• August 2026: Construction continued on the 350 MW Delingha CSP demonstration project, with excavation of the receiver tower foundation completed, while China Energy's first tower CSP project, the 100 MW Qingyu HVDC Phase-II plant, was successfully synchronized to the grid.
• August 2026: Mozambique's state-owned Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa (HCB) announced plans to invest €1.2 billion ($1.4 billion) to modernize the Cahora Bassa hydropower complex following the country's worst drought in more than four decades, with the investment aimed at extending plant life by 25 years, increasing installed capacity by 110 megawatts to 2,185 MW and reducing unplanned outages.
• July 2026: The U.S. Department of Energy announced that 212 American hydropower facilities across 33 states will receive $430 million in funding to upgrade aging infrastructure, with the funding expected to catalyze a $2.8 billion investment in America's hydropower fleet.
• May 2026: Rio Tinto announced a $1.2 billion investment to modernize its Isle-Maligne hydroelectric power plant in Alma, Quebec, a century-old facility, with the project involving the replacement of eight turbine-alternator groups and scheduled to continue until 2032.
• December 2025: Statkraft Energi AS selected ANDRITZ to refurbish key components of the Svartisen hydropower plant in Norway, with the contract involving the refurbishment of both Francis turbines (350 MW and 250 MW) and one main inlet valve, with an order value in the lower double-digit million-euro range.
• November 2025: The Toktogul hydropower plant rehabilitation in Kyrgyzstan was completed, with four units fully renovated and capacity increased by 240 MW to 1,440 MW, with the plant expected to operate reliably for another 50-60 years following modernization.
• October 2025: HCB launched the second phase of the Centro Sul (RS2) rehabilitation project in Mozambique, expecting to increase the total generation capacity of the power station by 90 MW, raising the output of each of the five generators from 415 MW to 433 MW.
• September 2025: ANDRITZ received an order from Compagnia Valdostana delle Acque (CVA) to rehabilitate the Valpelline hydropower plant in Italy's Aosta Valley, with the project including two 87 MVA synchronous generators, four Pelton runners, and associated electrical system upgrades, with the rehabilitation expected to increase installed capacity by 15%.
• July 2025: ANDRITZ secured a contract to modernize Mozambique's Cahora Bassa hydropower facility, with the initiative set to improve the plant's efficiency and expand its power generation capacity by more than 4% to 433 megawatts per unit, with the scope including five 480 MVA generators, five Francis turbine runners, control and protection systems, and hydromechanical structures.
• June 2025: Voith and HeiTech Padu Berhad were awarded a contract for the 592 MW Temengor, Bersia, and Kenering cascade in Malaysia, including turbine-generator rehabilitation, automation system upgrades, and a new group control center, demonstrating the regional multi-site modernization model in Southeast Asia.
• May 2025: ABB was selected by Statkraft to modernize three Norwegian hydropower plants, with the project scope including installation of the ABB Ability System 800xA distributed control system, electrical systems, and UNITROL 8000 excitation systems, along with low and medium voltage electrical systems, vibration monitoring and protection.

Considered in this report
Historic Year: 2020
Base year: 2025
Estimated year: 2026
Forecast year: 2031

Aspects covered in this report
Hydropower Plant Rehabilitation Market with its value and forecast along with its segments
Various drivers and challenges
On-going trends and developments
Top profiled companies
Strategic recommendation

By Rehabilitation Type
Turbine & Generator Rehabilitation
Electrical & Control System Rehabilitation
Dam & Hydraulic Structure Rehabilitation
Other Rehabilitation

By Plant Type
Run-of-River
Storage Hydropower
Pumped Storage

By Plant Capacity
Up to 100 MW
100–500 MW
Above 500 MW