China Dominates Global Hydropower Generation
China Dominates Global Hydropower Generation | OilPrice.com
China is the world’s biggest hydro power producer, having generated an estimated 1,303 terawatt hours of hydropower in 2022, according to data published by Ember, a UK-based energy think tank.
As Statista's Anna Fleck shows in the chart below, this equates to approximately 31 percent of global hydropower that year.
Following some way behind comes Brazil (427 TWh), Canada (398 TWh), the United States (249 TWh) and Russia (198 TWh).When looking at hydropower’s share of total electricity production for each of these countries, then Norway comes first with a high 87.5 percent of its electricity energy mix having been accounted for by hydropower in 2022. Only Paraguay comes higher in terms of share of total electricity production, at 99.7 percent. If this chart were extended, it would feature in rank 15.
You will find more infographics at Statista
As this chart shows, India was the sixth biggest hydropower worldwide in 2022 with approximately 175 TWh of hydropower generated that year, which accounted for 9.4 percent of the country’s electricity production.
According to Ember, fossil fuels accounted for more than three quarters (77 percent) of India’s electricity production in 2022.
This was mostly from coal (74 percent), followed by gas (2.7 percent). India’s emissions are driven by this dependence on fossil fuels as well as its large population, although per capita emissions are low.
The country has set a target of increasing the share of non-fossil fuel sources in its electricity generation capacity to 50 percent by 2030.
By Zerohedge.com
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Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: hydropower
Hydropower — electricity generated by turbines capturing energy from moving water — was for many years the primary contributor of renewable energy to the U.S. electricity grid. Its growth was rapid into the 1970s, and since then has offered a stable supply of power, while a declining share of all generation. For many years, hydropower was seen as clean energy and an unalloyed good, but a greater understanding of the impact of dams on ecosystems and wildlife has led to the removal of some dams. As of 2019, hydropower trails wind as a renewable source of power generation.