|
|
|
Hydropower
Height differences in water levels can be used to produce electricity. We call this hydropower. Hydropower can be produced on various scales.
The most well-known form is so-called large-scale hydro. By constructing a dam in a river bed a water reservoir is formed in which a large amount of potential energy is stored. This potential energy is converted to electricity by using water turbines that can be mounted in the bottom of the dam. Such plants can produce enormous amounts of power (e.g. several hundred megawatts) on one site.
A disadvantage of large-scale hydropower is that large areas of lands need to be flooded. This can have negative side-effects, like dislocation of villages, ecosystem degradation and deterioration of the landscape.
Small-scale application of hydropower is possible as well and already in place in many countries. This often takes the form of so-called run-of-river plants: no reservoir is formed, but the water supply that is available is used instantaneously. The size is often much smaller, ranging from 100 kilowatt to tens of megawatts.
Hydropower is the most important renewable energy source used in Europe at present: nearly 20% of electricity production. Norway nearly depends fully on hydropower for electricity production. Other important hydropower countries in Europe are: Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
 Back to Energy sources
|
|
