However, low-head units are necessarily much smaller in capacity than conventional large hydro turbines, requiring many more to be built for a given annual energy production, with some of the costs of small turbine/generator units being offset by lower civil construction costs. Just as for large hydro, not every site can be economically and ecologically developed; sites may be too far from customers to be worth installation of a transmission line, or may lie in areas particularly sensitive for wildlife.
Another potentially promising type of low head hydro power is dynamic tidal power, a novel and unapplied method to extract power from tidal movements. Although a dam-like structure is required, no area is enclosed, and therefore most of the benefits of 'damless hydro' are retained, while providing for vast amounts of power generation