American Journal of Energy Science

2015; 2(2): 17-20

Published online April 20, 2015 (http://www.openscienceonline.com/journal/energy)

Hydroelectric Energy Advantages and

Disadvantages
Askari Mohammad Bagher1, Mirzaei Vahid2, Mirhabibi Mohsen1, Dehghani Parvin1
1
Department of Physics, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran
2
Faculty of Physics, Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran

Email address
MB_Askari@yahoo.com (M. B. Askari)

To cite this article

Askari Mohammad Bagher, Mirzaei Vahid, Mirhabibi Mohsen, Dehghani Parvin. Hydroelectric Energy Advantages and Disadvantages.
American Journal of Energy Science. Vol. 2, No. 2, 2015, pp. 17-20.

Abstract
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use
of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16
percent of global electricity generation – 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, [1] and is expected to increase
about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years. Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating
32 percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production
in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic electricity use. There are now four hydroelectricity stations larger than 10
GW: the Three Gorges Dam and Xiluodu Dam in China, Itaipu Dam across the Brazil/Paraguay border, and Guri Dam in
Venezuela.[1] The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source of renewable electricity. The
average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour. [1] It is also a
flexible source of electricity since the amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to
changing energy demands. However, damming interrupts the flow of rivers and can harm local ecosystems, and building large
dams and reservoirs often involves displacing people and wildlife.[1] Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project
produces no direct waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) than fossil
fuel powered energy plants. [2]

Keywords
Hydroelectric, Renewable Energy, Hydropower

plant is a system with three parts: an electric plant where the

1. Introduction
Hydropower is electricity generated using the energy of
moving water. Rain or melted snow, usually originating in
hills and mountains, create streams and rivers that eventually
run to the ocean. This energy has been exploited for centuries.
Farmers since the ancient Greeks have used water wheels to
grind wheat into flour. Placed in a river, a water wheel picks
up flowing water in buckets located around the wheel. The
kinetic energy of the flowing river turns the wheel and is
converted into mechanical energy that runs the mill. In the
late 19th century, hydropower became a source for
generating electricity. The first hydroelectric power plant was
built at Niagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street lamps in the
city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower. In 1882
the world’s first hydroelectric power plant began operating in
the United States in Appleton; Wisconsin. A typical hydro
electricity is produced; a dam that can be opened or closed to
control water flow; and a reservoir where water can be stored.
The water behind the dam flows through an intake and
pushes against blades in a turbine, causing them to turn. The
turbine spins a generator to produce electricity. The amount
of electricity that can be generated depends on how far the
water drops and how much water moves through the system.
The electricity can be transported over long-distance electric
lines to homes, factories, and businesses. Hydroelectric
power provides almost one-fifth of the world's electricity.
China, Canada, Brazil, the United States, and Russia were the
five largest producers of hydropower in 2004. One of the
world's largest hydro plants is at Three Gorges on China's
Yangtze River. The reservoir for this facility started filling in
2003, but the plant is not expected to be fully operational
until 2009. The dam is 1.4 miles (2.3 kilometers) wide and
18 Askari Mohammad Bagher et al.: Hydroelectric Energy Advantages and Disadvantages
607 feet (185 meters) high. Hydropower is the cheapest way
to generate electricity today. That's because once a dam has
been built and the equipment installed, the energy source—
flowing water is free. It's a clean fuel source that is
renewable yearly by snow and rainfall. Hydropower is also
readily available; engineers can control the flow of water
through the turbines to produce electricity on demand. In
addition, reservoirs may offer recreational opportunities, such
as swimming and boating. But damming rivers may destroy
or disrupt wildlife and other natural resources. Some fish,
like salmon, may be prevented from swimming upstream to
spawn. Technologies like fish ladders help salmon go up over
dams and enter upstream spawning areas, but the presence of
hydroelectric dams changes their migration patterns and hurts
fish populations. Hydropower plants can also cause low
dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which is harmful to
river habitats. [3]
2. Advantage of Hydroelectricity
1. Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced
at a constant rate.
2. If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut,
stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved for
use another time when electricity demand is high.
3. Dams are designed to last many decades and so can
contribute to the generation of electricity for many years /
decades.
4. The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for
water sports and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large
dams become tourist attractions in their own right.
5. The lake's water can be used for irrigation purposes.
6. The buildup of water in the lake means that energy can
be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce
electricity.
7. When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do
not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the
atmosphere.
8. Renewable: Hydroelectric energy is renewable. This
means that we cannot use up. However, there are only a
limited number of suitable reservoirs where hydroelectric
power plants can be built and even less places where such
projects are profitable.
9- Green: Generating electricity with hydro energy is not
polluting itself. The only pollution occurs during the
construction of these massive power plants.
10- Reliable: Hydroelectricity is very reliable energy.
There are very little fluctuations in terms of the electric
power that is being by the plants, unless a different output is
desired. Countries that have large resources of hydropower
use hydroelectricity as a base load energy source. As long as
there is water in the magazines electricity can be generated.
11- Flexible: As previously mentioned, adjusting water
flow and output of electricity is easy. At times where power
consumption is low, water flow is reduced and the magazine
levels are being conserved for times when the power
consumption is high.
12- Safe: Compared to among others fossil fuels and
nuclear energy, hydroelectricity is much safer. There is no
fuel involved (other than water that is).
Hydropower is clean. It prevents the burning of 22
billion gallons of oil or 120 million tons of coal each
year.
Hydropower does not produce greenhouse gasses or
other air pollution.
Hydropower leaves behind no waste.[4]
Reservoirs formed by hydropower projects in
Wisconsin have expanded water-based recreation
resources, and they support diverse, healthy, and
productive fisheries. In fact, catch rates for game fish
like walleye and smallmouth bass are substantially
higher on hydropower reservoirs than natural lakes.[5]
Hydropower is the leading source of renewable energy. It
provides more than 97% of all electricity generated by
renewable sources. Other sources including solar, geothermal,
wind and biomass account for less than 3% of renewable
electricity production [4]
Reservoirs formed by hydroelectric dams provide many
water-based recreational opportunities including fishing,
water sports, boating, and water fowl hunting.
Hydro operators own a significant amount of land
around many reservoirs that is open to the public for
uses including hiking, hunting, snowmobiling, and
skiing.
Hydro operators provide many recreation facilities at
their hydropower projects including boat landings,
swimming beaches, restrooms, picnic areas, fishing
piers, hiking and nature trails, canoe portages, and
parking facilities.[5]
Hydropower reservoirs contribute to local economies. A
study of one medium-sized hydropower project in
Wisconsin showed that the recreational value to
residents and visitors exceeded $6.5 million annually.[6]
Hydroelectricity does not "use" water, all of the water is
returned to its source of origin. Hydroelectric power can be
created 24/7 indefinitely assuming that the body of water it is
utilizing never runs dry. It is also another absolutely clean
source of energy. The power plants, once in place, do not
create any waste byproducts in their conversion. Dams
constructed can also shut their gates and conserve the water
for use when power is in higher demand.
3. Disadvantages of Hydroelectricity
1. Dams are extremely expensive to build and must be
built to a very high standard.
2. The high cost of dam construction means that they must
operate for many decades to become profitable.
3. The flooding of large areas of land means that the
natural environment is destroyed.
4. People living in villages and towns that are in the valley
to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose their
farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly
removed so that hydro-power schemes can go ahead.
 American Journal of Energy Science 2015; 2(2): 17-20
5. The building of large dams can cause serious geological
damage. For example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the
USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed
the earth’s surface at its location.
6. Although modern planning and design of dams is good,
in the past old dams have been known to be breached (the
dam gives under the weight of water in the lake). This has led
to deaths and flooding.
7. Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one
country usually means that the water supply from the same
river in the following country is out of their control. This can
lead to serious problems between neighboring countries.
8. Building a large dam alters the natural water table level.
For example, the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt has
altered the level of the water table. This is slowly leading to
damage of many of its ancient monuments as salts and
destructive minerals are deposited in the stone work from
‘rising damp’ caused by the changing water table level.[7]
9- Environmental Consequences: The environmental
consequences of hydropower are related to interventions in
nature due to damming of water, changed water flow and the
construction of roads and power lines.
Hydroelectric power plants may affect fish is a complex
interaction between numerous physical and biological factors.
More user interests related to exploitation of fish species,
which helps that this is a field that many have strong
opinions on.
Fish habitats are shaped by physical factors such as water
level, water velocity and shelter opportunities and access to
food. Draining would be completely devastating to the fish.
Beyond this, the amount of water may have different effects
on the fish in a river, depending on the type and stage of the
lifecycle. Not all unregulated river systems are optimal in
terms of fish production, because of large fluctuations in flow.
10- Expensive: Building power plants in general is
expensive. Hydroelectric power plants are not an exception
to this. On the other hand, these plants do not require a lot of
workers and maintenance costs are usually low.
11- Droughts: Electricity generation and energy prices are
directly related to how much water is available. A drought
could potentially affect this.
12- Limited Reservoirs: We have already started using up
suitable reservoirs for hydroelectric power plants. There are
currently about 30 major power plants that are expected to
generate more than 2.000 MW under construction. Only one
of these projects was started in the last two years. [8]
Like all power plants, hydroelectric plants are very
expensive to build, and must be built to a very high standard.
The high cost means that plants must operate for a long time
to become profitable. The creation of dams can also create
flooding of land, which means natural environment and the
natural habitat of animals, and even people, may be
destroyed. The building of dams for hydroelectric power can
also cause a lot of water access problems. The creation of a
dam in one location may mean that those down river no
longer have control of water flow. This can create
controversy in places where neighboring countries share a
19
water supply.
The most common type of hydroelectric power plant uses
a dam on a river to store water in a reservoir. Water released
from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which
in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. But
hydroelectric power doesn't necessarily require a large dam.
Some hydroelectric power plants just use a small canal to
channel the river water through a turbine.
Another type of hydroelectric power plant - called a
pumped storage plant - can even store power. The power is
sent from a power grid into the electric generators. The
generators then spin the turbines backward, which causes the
turbines to pump water from a river or lower reservoir to an
upper reservoir, where the power is stored. To use the power,
the water is released from the upper reservoir back down into
the river or lower reservoir. This spins the turbines forward,
activating the generators to produce electricity. [9]
4. Results and Discussion
Meeting the growing demands for electricity creates
difficult decisions for many countries. The context for
decision-making is also changing, particularly in light of
climate change imperatives encouraging a move away from
greenhouse gas emitting energy sources. Hydropower is a
mature technology, harnessing the energy moving from
higher to lower elevations. It comes in various shapes and
sizes from large reservoir projects to small run-of-river
facilities. Hydropower is renewable, and has low greenhouse
gas emissions. It is a premium energy source, providing a
range of services. These include base load and peak load
generation, and support for other forms of electricity
generation, particularly renewables. Despite these strengths,
hydropower developments over the past decades have been
highly controversial due to accompanying social and
environmental concerns. A challenge for hydropower
developers and operators, as well as government planners
and regulators, has been to develop tools that promote good
practice and sustainable hydropower projects. Financiers and
development partners have similarly developed their own
approaches. Importantly, there has been some convergence in
these efforts to assess and guide hydropower sustainability.
At this point in time there is a good global understanding of
the key sustainability issues that must be addressed by the
hydropower sector, and also of the pathways towards
continuous good practice for those different issues [10].
Meeting the growing demands for electricity creates
difficult decisions for many countries. The context for
decision-making is also changing, particularly in light of
climate change imperatives encouraging a move away from
greenhouse gas emitting energy sources. Hydropower is a
mature technology, harnessing the energy moving from
higher to lower elevations. It comes in various shapes and
sizes from large reservoir projects to small run-of-river
facilities. Hydropower is renewable, and has low greenhouse
gas emissions. It is a premium energy source, providing a
range of services. These include baseload and peak load
20 Askari Mohammad Bagher et al.: Hydroelectric Energy Advantages and Disadvantages

generation, and support for other forms of electricity communities, and towns may be relocated as dam
generation, particularly renewables. Despite these strengths, construction begins.
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