Hydropower as clean and renewable energy source for electricity generation

Abstract

Hydropower is a mature and fairly simple technology: the potential energy of a water source is converted into kinetic energy that spins a turbine driving an electricity generator. The kinetic energy of falling water was used for grinding wheat more than 2 000 years ago. Since late 19th century, hydropower has been used to generate electricity. At present, about 160 countries worldwide use hydropower technology for power generation. With a total installed capacity of 1 060 GWe, hydropower generates approximately 3 500 TWh per year, equivalent to 15.8% of global electricity generation. Hydropower plants provide at least 50% of the total electricity supply in more than 35 countries. They also provide other key services, such as flood control, irrigation and potable water reservoirs. Turkey’s energy market is going through a rapid change. Over the last decade, power demand has grown by 70%; this is a trend that is expected to continue. Turkish government is compelled to make critical decisions: on the one hand it has to meet the power demand, on the other it has to minimize dependency on energy imports. As of the end of 2015, Turkey had 530 operational hydropower plants with a total capacity of almost 26,000 MW. This corresponds to 34% of total capacity. Within the first two months of 2016, 2 more hydropower plants came online with a capacity of around 340 MW. The share of hydro in power generation capacity went up by 1% during the first five months of the year reaching 35% from its previous 34% level in 2015.