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| Aswan Dam hydroelectric scheme | Guri dam, Venezuela |
Hydroelectricity
Hydro power is used all over the world to generate electricity from moving water. Water flows out of a dam through pipes to operate turbines which generate electricity. What happens is that the potential energy in the stored water is converted into kinetic energy in the falling water and when it flows through a turbine this energy is extracted and used to generate electricity.
Generating electricity from flowing water is a renewable energy source and it produces no dangerous climate change gases.
However it is thought that a new dam which results in huge areas of vegetation being flooded will itself produce significant amounts of CO2 from the flooded organic material.
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| Gariep dam, South Africa | Three Gorges dam, Hubei province, China |
The Three Gorges dam hydroelectric scheme is the world’s largest capacity hydroelectric power station with a total generating capacity of 18,200 MW. The dam spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping in Hubei province, China.
The Gariep Dam is the largest storage reservoir on South Africa with a total storage of approximately 5,500 million m3 and a surface area of more than 370 km2 when full.
The Aswan Dam is the largest storage reservoir on South Africa with a total storage of approximately 5,500 million m3 and a surface area of more than 370 km2 when full.
In 2006 power from hydroelectric schemes with a capacity of 777 GWe supplied 2998 TWh of hydroelectricity. This is approximately 20% of the worlds electricity and 88% of the worlds electricity from renewable sources.
Source: Wikipedia: Hydroelectric power 2006
Largest 20 hydroelectric dams worldwide
| Name | Country | Capacity (MW) |
| Three Gorges Dam | China | 22,500 MW |
| Itaipu Dam | Brazil | 14,000 MW |
| Guri (Simón Bolívar) | Venezuela | 10,200 MW |
| Tucuruí | Brazil | 8,370 MW |
| Grand Coulee | United States | 6,809 MW |
| Sayano–Shushenskaya Dam | Russia | 6,400 MW |
| Krasnoyarsk Dam | Russia | 6,000 MW |
| Robert-Bourassa generating station | Canada | 5,616 MW |
| Churchill Falls Generating Station | Canada | 5,428 MW |
| Longtan Dam | China | 6,426 MW |
| Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station | Russia | 4,500 MW |
| Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Station | Russia | 3,840 MW |
| Laxiwa Dam | China | 700 MW |
| Xiaowan Dam | China | 4,200 MW |
| Yacyretá Dam | Argentina/Paraguay | 4,050 MW |
| Tarbela Dam | Pakistan | 3,478 MW |
| Ertan Dam | China | 3,300 MW |
| Ilha Solteira Dam | Brazil | 3,444 MW |
| Xingó Dam | Brazil | 3,162 MW |
| Gezhouba Dam | China | 3,158 MW |
Source: Wikipedia - List of largest hydroelectric power stations | ||
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References
Three Gorges Dam - Wikipedia - User: Sharaf Al Deen - GNU Free Documentation License
Gariep Dam - Wikipedia - User: Mario1952 - GNU Free Documentation License
Aswan Dam - Wikipedia - User: Mike - GNU Free Documentation License
Palinpinon Geothermal power plant - Wikipedia - User: TheCoffee - GNU Free Documentation License
Guri Dam - Wikimedia Commons - User: Davidusb - Image in public domain
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