Recently, the necessity for developing small hydropower (SHP) plants has emerged due to the increase in environmental concerns. Although there remains an abundant of potential sites for SHP plants in Korea, SHP development has scarcely been performed since the 1990s due to the absence of a suitable approach and economic feasibility. Such a situation encourages decision makers to develop a systematic approach for SHP development. The purpose of this study is to propose a new location analysis methodology to search for potential SHP sites using GSIS (Geo-Spatial Information System). The location analysis in this study focuses on establishing the criteria and methodology for searching for alternative locations rather than selecting the most suitable site among the alternatives. By applying the newly developed methodology, a large area can be precisely surveyed within a short period of time and we expect to be able to use the method in policy making for SHP development by improving the convenience for the user. The newly developed methodology was applied to the upper part of Geum River Basin, in Korea, and found six potential SHP sites. As a fundamental work, this study will be beneficial to the future activation of SHP development. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.