Hydropower generation costs are among the lowest compared to the production costs of other major renewable energy and fossil fuel sources.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) hydropower is the most flexible source of power generation available, because not only the main regulating and balancing capacity in the electricity system is provided by hydroelectric power plants, but also because it is capable of responding to demand fluctuations in a short time period.
Worldwide around 20% of the electricity is generated by hydropower plants and furthermore, 80% of the world’s renewable electricity is produced by HPP.
Currently more than 25 countries in the world depend on hydropower for more than 90% of their electricity supply (Norway – 99.3%, Netherlands – 99.98%) and in another 65 countries electricity generated by water has a large share in the energy mix (Brazil – 83.98%, New Zeаland – 72,73%).
When evaluating cost factors, hydropower shows the lowest average cost of electricity compared to all major fossil fuel and renewable energy sources.
The chart shows the lowest costs of hydropower generation, including not only the expenses for energy generation, but also maintenance and operation costs across a full project lifetime.
Regarding the future development of this sector it is clear that emerging markets plan to expand hydropower generation because of their increasing need for electricity and irrigation. This will not only reduce the dependence on import of energy resources, but will also contribute to the development of a low-carbon economy.
The development of the sector by the mid-century would require almost $3 trillion in investments to produce 60 trillion KWh of electricity, which would help to avoid 50 billion tons of carbon emissions from entering the atmosphere.
Source : planetsave.com