KEY FINDINGS i
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ii
1. INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Different measures of cost 1
1.2 Levelised cost of electricity generation 3
2. HYDROPOWER TECHNOLOGIES AND RESOURCES 4
2.1 Introduction 4
2.2 Hydropower technologies 5
2.3 Hydropower classification by type 8
2.4 Large and small hydropower schemes 10
2.5 The hydropower resource 12
3. GLOBAL HYDROPOWER CAPACITY AND GENERATION TRENDS 14
3.1 Current hydropower capacity and generation 14
3.2 The outlook for hydropower 15
4. THE CURRENT COST OF HYDROPOWER 17
4.1 Total installed capital costs of hydropower 17
4.2 Breakdown of hydropower costs by source 21
4.3 Operation and maintenance costs 24
5. COST REDUCTION POTENTIALS 26
6. THE LEVELISED COST OF ELECTRICITY FROM HYDROPOWER 27
6.1 Results from studies of the LCOE of hydropower 27
6.2 Hydropower LCOE sensitivity to the discount rate