Hydro Power

In light of the current emphasis being placed on wind and solar energy development, it may surprising that hydropower is the world’s largest source of renewable energy and is likely to remain so well into the future. When all sources of renewable energy are considered, hydropower currently accounts for over 70% of renewable energy power production in the United States. However, hydropower’s share of renewable energy has fallen about 9% as other renewable energy sources, particularly wind energy, have been developed.

Worldwide, hydropower has an even greater percentage of renewable energy since it accounts for 16% of all electricity production, versus about 7% in the United States.

Hydropower includes all the various methods used to convert moving water into clean, renewable electricity. This includes not only conventional hydropower, such as impoundment systems (dams) like the Hoover Dam, but also newer technologies that use the power of the oceans to generate power. Besides the breadth of technologies, a full range of applications, from very large systems that produce thousands of megawatts to the tiniest systems that produce only a few hundred watts, fall in the scope of hydropower. The systems are referred to as Large, Small, Mini, Micro and Pico.