HydroPlan-CA — A Hydropower Decision Support System for Central Asia

HydroPlan-CA is a web-based Decision Support Tool designed to support evidence-based planning for sustainable hydropower development in Central Asia. The tool has been developed within the EU-funded Horizon 2020 project Hydro4U, with the aim of improving access to relevant information in data-scarce regions. In many parts of Central Asia, the limited availability of reliable and harmonized data hampers informed decision-making in the hydropower sector. HydroPlan-CA addresses this challenge by integrating hydrological, technical, and environmental data into an interactive online Geographic Information System. By bringing together diverse datasets within a single platform, the tool is primarily intended as a first screening tool for hydropower-relevant decision support. At the same time, the data provided can also be used for other assessments related to freshwater resources. The technical documentation provided in this repository gives an overview of the datasets and tool functionalities. Access to the online tool HydroPlan-CA. Access the supplementary StoryMap. Note: HydroPlan-CA is optimized for use on desktop computers with larger screens. ___________________________________________________ The tool is linked to the following publications: De Keyser, J., Hayes, D. S., Marti, B., Siegfried, T., Seliger, C., Schwedhelm, H., Anarbekov, O., Gafurov, Z., López Fernández, R. M., Ramos Diez, I., Alapfy, B., Carey, J., Karimov, B., Karimov, E., Wagner, B., & Habersack, H. (2023). Integrating open-source datasets to analyze the transboundary water–food–energy–climate nexus in Central Asia. Water, 15(19), 3482. https://doi.org/10.3390/w15193482 De Keyser, J., Osuna Fuentes, P., Hayes, D. S., & Habersack, H. (2026). A review of hydropower in Central Asia: Past, present, and future. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 226(Part A), 116239. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116239 De Keyser, J., Seliger, C., Hayes, D. S., Schwedhelm, H., Osuna Fuentes, P., Carey, J. I., Siegfried, T., Marti, B., & Habersack, H. (2026). A regional-scale framework for assessing sustainable hydropower potential based on open-access data: The case of Central Asia. Applied Energy, 414, 127843. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2026.127843