NHA BOLSTERS HYDROPOWER TECHNICAL AND TRAINING CAPABILITIES; HIRES CHRIS HAYES
Washington, D.C. (March 1, 2023) – The National Hydropower Association (NHA), the leading voice for the nation’s hydropower and marine energy industry, announced today the addition of Christopher Hayes, P. Eng, to the position of Senior Advisor of Technical Programs and Training. In this position, Hayes will steer the organization’s Hydropower Technical Community (HTC), Operational Excellence (OpEx) program, and the Waterpower Innovation Council, as well as develop technical content for NHA’s national and regional events and help expand NHA’s training programs.
Prior to coming to NHA, Hayes was the Vice President of Utility Account Management at CEATI International. In this capacity, he managed member utility accounts covering programs related to generation, DERs/integration, transmission, distribution, asset management and security. As a hydropower professional with over 20 years of experience, Hayes grew the CEATI Hydropower Program participation base to more than 100 utilities and government agencies from throughout the world. Hayes is a member of the Professional Engineering Order of Québec and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University, Canada.
“We are pleased to have Chris join NHA, as his technical skills will enable us to enhance the education and training programs we provide for our member organizations,” said Malcolm Woolf, NHA President & CEO. “As the hydropower industry continues to grow as the nation’s second largest source of renewable electricity generation, it makes sense for our association to deepen our talent pool. With Chris’s technical expertise, we look forward to expanding our efforts to champion hydropower as an essential part of a reliable, carbon-free electricity system.”
“Having had the opportunity over the years to witness the NHA, its dynamic and impressive team as well as the tremendous value proposition made to hydropower, I am honored, privileged, and energized to be joining this family,” said Hayes. “Industry collaboration, leveraging resources and expertise, as well as knowledge transfer and training are all major passions of mine. I am so excited to get to work.”
NHA’s Hydropower Technical Community (HTC) offers a forum for employees of member organizations to exchange ideas on technical, operational, and maintenance aspects, to learn from one another, and to strive for excellence in their work. In addition to providing educational opportunities, the HTC also facilitates the Operational Excellence (OpEx) program – a NHA member-only event reporting system that receives, distributes, archives, and catalogs operating experiences and resulting best practices and lessons learned. OpEx is the only event reporting program and database available to the hydropower industry. NHA’s Waterpower Innovation Council (WIC) helps identify industry research, development, and demonstration priorities and foster innovation in all sectors of waterpower.
The National Hydropower Association (NHA) is a nonprofit association dedicated exclusively to promoting the growth of clean, renewable hydropower and marine energy. The hydropower industry provides 31 percent of the nation’s renewable generation and 6 percent of overall electricity generation. In addition, pumped storage projects provide the majority of energy storage in the United States, making hydropower a critical resource to integrate increasing amounts of variable energy sources into America’s electricity system.
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