Water Energy (Hydroelectric Power)
The Basics
TITLE: Water Energy (Hydroelectric Power) – The Basics
AUTHOR: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
SOURCE: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. Department o Energy
COPYRIGHT: No protection is claimed in original U.S. Government works.
WHAT IS HYDROELECTRIC POWER?
Hydropower, or hydroelectric power, is one of the oldest and largest sources of renewable energy, which uses the natural flow of moving water to generate electricity. Hydropower currently accounts for 31.5% of total U.S. renewable electricity generation and about 6.3% of total U.S. electricity generation.
While most people might associate the energy source with the Hoover Dam—a huge facility harnessing the power of an entire river behind its wall—hydropower facilities come in all sizes. Some may be very large, but they can be tiny, too, taking advantage of water flows in municipal waterfacilities or irrigation ditches. They can even be “damless,” with diversions or run-of-river facilities that channel part of a stream through a powerhouse before the water rejoins the main river. Whatever the method, hydropower is much easier to obtain and more widely used than most people realize. In fact, all but two states (Delaware and Mississippi) use hydropower for electricity, some more than others. For example, in 2020 about 66% of Washington state’s electricity came from hydropower.
HOW DOES HYDROPOWER WORK?
Hydropowertechnologies generate power by using the elevation difference, created by a dam or diversion structure, of water flowing in on one side and out, far below, on the other side. The Department of Energy's "Hydropower 101" VIDEO BELOW explains how hydropower works and highlights some of the research and development efforts of the Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO).