On the contrary water current turbines can be used without a dam to generate electricity for home scale remote power systems.
These so-called micro-hydro installations can be a very good complement to a solar power system, as they produce electricity 24 hours a day. A micro hydro-power plant has a capacity of up to 100 kilowatts. A small or micro hydroelectric power system can produce enough electricity for a home, farm, ranch, or village. Small water turbine will produce power non-stop, as long as running water is available, no matter what the other conditions may be.
Micro water current turbines are most suited for places where there is an almost a constant flow of water, throughout the year. The under developed and developing countries can use this techniques to provide electricity to remote places where transmission line cannot be connected easily or the cost becomes very high. And the countries like Bangladesh where there are hundreds of rivers and all of them have got constant flow of water throughout the year, this scheme can be a real solution for power scarcity problems.