Held in Brazil for the first time, Hydroscheduling will bring together experts from several countries from May 26 to 28 to discuss innovations in the hydroelectric sector and challenges facing the global energy matrix

Brazil plays a leading role in the world of hydroelectric power production, currently being the second largest producer, behind only China. According to projections by the International Hydroelectricity Association (IHA) and the International Energy Agency (IEA), domestic generation will account for around 8% to 10% of global supply in a few years. Taking advantage of the potential of the entire Brazilian matrix, the School of Applied Mathematics of the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV EMAp) will host Hydroscheduling 2025 from May 26 to 28.

This is the 8th International Conference on Hydropower Scheduling in Competitive Electricity Markets, which will bring together researchers, students and professionals from the electricity sector, mainly from the areas of Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Electrical and Systems Engineering and Operational Research. Participants are expected from Brazil, Chile, Norway, Sweden, France, Spain, Germany, Iceland and Canada.

Brazil is now the second largest producer of hydroelectric energy in the world, surpassed only by China | Photo: Envato

Brazil will have the unique pleasure of hosting the event, as previous versions of the conference were organized by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and SINTEF Energy Research.

The event coordinator, Bernardo Costa, reveals that the idea of ​​holding the conference outside Norway came up during the last edition and that Brazil and FGV EMAp were selected due to the country's energy potential on a global level and the institution's excellence in content and research in the area.

“Brazil was suggested to host the conference due to its importance in hydroelectric power generation in the national matrix, and the country’s strong tradition in research in the sector, both in universities and in research centers and even in companies. FGV EMAp was also a natural choice, given the quality of the School, in addition to its optimization team, which includes researchers with relevant work for the sector”, explains the researcher, who has already carried out several projects applying to the Brazilian energy sector.

Themes and highlights in the program

For Hydroscheduling 2025, FGV EMAp intends to dedicate special attention to environmental challenges, the integration of new elements into the electrical grid and the connection with relevant topics in Applied Mathematics, such as machine learning and optimization techniques. The organization will reserve thematic sessions for both subjects, which are relevant to both the planning and operation of hydroelectric plants. The presentations will focus on modern applications of machine learning and optimization for problem-solving in the electrical sector.

Event coordinator Bernardo Costa highlights FGV EMAp within the discussion of Brazil's energy potential through hydroelectric plants | Photo: Leonardo Zacarin/FGV EMAp

“We will have presentations dealing with the operation of hydroelectric plants to ensure navigability and safety against floods, long-term studies of storage levels and modeling of inflows into reservoirs, the coupling between hydroelectric plants and the wind matrix, the behavior of hydroelectric cascades, among other topics”, highlights Bernardo, member of the event's Local and Scientific Committees.

In addition, the conference will include presentations of industry case studies, which is certainly one of the highlights of the program. The plenary sessions scheduled for the three days will feature speakers such as Mario Veiga Pereira, founder of a company that provides consulting and software development for utilities and investors in the PSR; Claudia Sagastizábal, researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing (IMECC) at Unicamp; Andy Philpott, scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand; and Hans Ivar Skjelbred, researcher at SINTEF.

The conference program was structured to discuss the impact of new technologies, new generation sources, new challenges in the energy sector and how these lead to changes in the planning and operation of hydroelectric plants, such as the impact of intermittent sources (wind and solar), and the design of short-, medium- and long-term energy markets.

Hydroscheduling 2025 will discuss the impact of new technologies that generate changes in the planning and operation of hydroelectric plants | Photo: Envato

In addition to the plenary sessions, Hydroscheduling 2025 will have parallel sessions in the morning and afternoon, a poster session and a cocktail party reserved for the first day, as well as technical visits to the National Electric System Operator (ONS) and the Electric Energy Research Center (Cepel) to close the event on Wednesday (28).

Registration

For Brazilian students interested in participating in the 8th International Conference on Hydropower Scheduling in Competitive Electricity Markets, the fee charged is R$660.00. Foreign students, in turn, will have to pay a fee of US$330.00.

For Brazilian professionals, registration costs R$1,500.00, while those from outside Brazil pay US$550.00. Register now on the website.

Hydroscheduling 2025

When: May 26-28, 2025

Where: FGV EMAp - Praia de Botafogo, 190 - Rio de Janeiro

Important links: Registration | Schedule | Official event website

Questions? Contact us at hpsc2025@fgv.br