From 14 to 16 October, AIN active took part in HYDRO 2026 in Bologna, Italy, for the second consecutive year. Organised by Aqua~Media International, the conference and exhibition is one of the leading international events in the hydropower sector.

Over the three days, our stand welcomed a large number of industry professionals. Visitors included engineering consultancies, developers and asset owners, universities and research centres, and equipment and materials manufacturers.

Our hydraulics laboratory in north-west Spain attracted the most interest. Videos of our scale model tests led to technical discussions on the hydraulic behaviour of spillways, stilling basins and other structures, as well as many enquiries about our modelling services. Diego López, from our engineering team, explained to visitors the added value of combining physical and numerical modelling.

Martín Martínez presented the paper “Methods of hydraulic simulation in spillways and their comparison: Physical and CFD models”. The paper treats CFD and physical modelling as complementary stages of a single design and validation process. Each technique brings its own strengths: the flexibility and level of detail of numerical analysis, and the reliability of physical testing for complex phenomena such as air entrainment, energy dissipation and three-dimensional flow.

Jorge Núñez and Álvaro Sánchez attended on behalf of AIN ACTIVE OM, which expanded its network of partners and gained first-hand insight into the latest technologies for the operation and maintenance of hydropower plants.

We would like to thank everyone who visited us for their time and interest. We look forward to continuing the conversation and to seeing you at the next edition.