Hydropower Facts That You Should Know

We all know that in facts, hydropower is using the Earth water cycle to produce electricity. The water movement produces kinetic energy that can be transformed into electricity. Besides all of that, there are many other hydropower facts that you might don’t know.

Do you know that hydropower is used to provide 1/5 of total electricity supply in the world? Or, do you know that almost all electricity in Norway was generated through the hydropower energy? Well, we had lot of facts like this, and if you are interested in hydropower facts, you can continue on reading because we will reveal it to you right in this post.

Here is the list of interesting facts about hydropower that already been summarized for knowledge, or for research on hydropower energy. Check this out!

Hydropower facts #1: fairly important as an energy resource

- 20% of the world’s electricity is provided through the water power.
- The power of water provides about 9% of total energy supply in USA.

- Hydropower is the main energy source for more than 30 countries.
- 99% of electricity in Norway comes from the utilization of water energy.
- Canada is the largest producer of hydropower energy, followed by USA, Russia, Brazil, and China.

- 70% of electricity that comes from renewable energy source in USA is produced by the power of water, which is enough to serve about 29 million of residential customers.

Hydropower facts #2: environment-friendly if it properly utilized

- Water energy has no emissions since it doesn’t burn any fuels.
- It doesn’t release any dangerous gases, so it won’t cause global warming or the greenhouse effect.
- It doesn’t produce air pollutants that cause acid rain and smog.
- Construction of the dams may affect the nature of water system; it is possible to damage the fish population and lowering the water quality.
- Contrary to the fact before this, fish like walleye and smallmouth bass have better catch rates on water power reservoir than natural lakes.

Hydropower facts #3: very efficient energy source

- Hydropower is the cheapest renewable energy sources since water are freely provided by the nature.
- Rainfall will replenish the reservoir with ease.
- Initial installation may be expensive, but the maintenance cost is low.
- Turbines can achieve at least 95% of efficiency.
- Can be used anywhere as long as there are water that constantly flowing fastly throughout the year.