The paper describes the historic development of hydropower, showing a gradual transition from a techno-economic to a more holistic approach with participatory decision making. Concentrating on the past two decades, the trends in hydropower development are discussed and the complexity of the planning is shown. Finally, the competitiveness of hydro with other options to cover the electricity needs is discussed. Based on the analysis done, it appears that the switch from public to private sector funding is the major factor for the decline of hydropower construction. Credits for reduced CO2 emissions, compared with thermal plants, and ancillary services, can partly compensate for it, especially for base and mid load plant.