Financial Arrangements

The Sustainable Hydropower Foundation will exist through the contributions of major site sponsors, supporting organizations and funding grants. The functions of the Foundation and its associated website will also in part be met by non-monetary contributions from a number of organizations. Any pledges of support can be directed through the Contacts details on this website.

Foundation Establishment Phase

Grants towards a total of US $200,000 are sought to enable establishment of the Foundation and the website. Key establishment activities are:

• formalisation of the Foundation partnership;
  
• non-profit registration of the Foundation;
  
• establishment of the Foundation Governing Board;
  
• determination of Reference Panel members;
  
• appointments made to the management team roles of Executive Director, Website Manager, and assistants;
  
• website launching with up-to-date information outlining the business model, partners, and roles;
  
• fund-raising activities for the operational phase well-advanced;
  
• communication with short-listed schemes advanced and arrangements for audits in place;
  
• an audit team training package developed and at least two teams capable of undertaking audits established; and
  
• the Foundation broadly advertised and promoted.

Foundation Operational Phase

A five year operational budget is sought to a sufficient number of scheme audits to be undertaken to (1) populate the website to a level at which it provides a significant educational tool; and (2) establish inclusion on the site as an aspirational goal for hydropower scheme owners and operators.

The significant component of funding for the operational phase would be allocated to auditing support. After five years, the level of auditing support would be considerably lowered or non-existent, as the hydropower sector takes on the costs of audits itself.

The level of funding achieved annually will dictate the number of schemes that can be audited. Over the five year period, the goal is to approve the inclusion of 100 schemes on the website, so that on average each of the 25 sustainability aspects would have four schemes identified as examples. This would require 20 schemes to be approved per year.

On the assumption that approximately 75% of audits supported by the Foundation will result in approval by the Reference Panel for inclusion on the website, 30 audits will need to be conducted per year, and 15 scheme audits presented to the Reference Panel at each meeting.

Schemes being nominated for assessment for inclusion on the website would apply to the Foundation for funding support to meet the costs of the audit. Audits during the first five years would be strategically targeted towards populating the website across all aspects and regions of the globe. At a minimum, the Foundation would contribute US $5,000 per scheme audit, with the any costs beyond this amount being met by the scheme owner/operator. The Foundation would assess whether additional support could be provided so that assessments could be made in less-developed parts of the world, and the budget has been aimed at allowing this additional audit support.

The following table provides an estimated breakdown of the annual funding requirements for the period 2006 to 2011.

REQUIREMENTS FUNDING (US$,000) FOUNDATION MANAGEMENT Administration Promotion Travel Meetings Fund-raising Financial management Other 20 10 10 15 10 10 15 WEBSITE MANAGEMENT Programming, site hosting, information management, etc. 80 MANAGEMENT TEAM SALARIES Executive Director Website Manager Assistants 70 50 60 REFERENCE PANEL Annual stipend - 5 members, $5k/member 25 SCHEME AUDIT SUPPORT Minimum 30 schemes/year, $5k/scheme, plus further audit support as required 200 TOTAL 575

Summary of estimated annual operational funding requirements

Funding Sources

Funding will be sought primarily from Foundation sponsors, governments, financing agencies, NGO’s external grants, hydropower owners/operators and related businesses.

Site Sponsors and Supporting Organisations will be displayed on the site:

• Primary Sponsors - >$50 000 cash or in-kind – Logos on site, link to web address, statement about organisation.
  
• Major Sponsors - >$10 000 cash or in-kind – Logos on site, links to web addresses
  
• Supporting Organisations - < $10 000 cash or in-kind – Listing on site, link to web address.
  

Note that Endorsing Organisations will also be recognised by listing of the organisation's name and web address.

Click here to view Supporting Organisations

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