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Hydropower (from Ancient Greek ὑδρο-, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power. [1] Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy ...
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity , almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, [ 1 ] which is more than all other renewable sources combined and also more than nuclear power . [ 2 ]
When developed with care to footprint size and location, run-of-the-river hydro projects can create sustainable energy minimizing impacts to the surrounding environment and nearby communities. [3] Run-of-the-river harnesses the natural potential energy of water by eliminating the need to burn coal or natural gas to generate the electricity ...
In 2020, hydropower supplied 17% of the world's electricity, down from a high of nearly 20% in the mid-to-late 20th century. [80] [81] In conventional hydropower, a reservoir is created behind a dam. Conventional hydropower plants provide a highly flexible, dispatchable electricity supply. They can be combined with wind and solar power to meet ...
The global greenfield pumped hydro atlas [22] lists more than 800,000 potential sites around the world with combined storage of 86 million GWh (equivalent to the effective storage in about 2 trillion electric vehicle batteries), which is about 100 times more than needed to support 100% renewable electricity. Most are closed-loop systems away ...
Other types of power stations are subject to different efficiency limitations. Most hydropower stations in the United States are about 90 percent efficient in converting the energy of falling water into electricity [8] while the efficiency of a wind turbine is limited by Betz's law, to about 59.3%, and actual wind turbines show lower efficiency.
Head is the vertical height measured between the hydro intake water level and the water level at the point of discharge. Using only a low head drop in a river or tidal flows to create electricity may provide a renewable energy source that will have a minimal impact on the environment.
Energy conversion efficiency depends on the usefulness of the output. All or part of the heat produced from burning a fuel may become rejected waste heat if, for example, work is the desired output from a thermodynamic cycle.