Hydropower
Hydropower is our most mature and
largest source of renewable power, producing about 10 percent of the nation’s
electricity. Existing hydropower capacity
is about 77,000 megawatts (MW). Hydropower plants convert the energy in flowing
water into electricity. The most common
form of hydropower uses a dam on a river
to retain a large reservoir of water. Water is
released through turbines to generate
power. “Run of the river” systems, however, divert water from the river and
direct it through a pipeline to a turbine.