Hydropower provides about 20 per cent of world electricity supply. It contributes about 760 GW of installed capacity worldwide, and 260 GW in the Asia Pacific region. However, a vast amount of untapped potential remains to be developed. (In Asia, about 80 per cent of technically feasible potential). Hydro is playing a very significant role in helping some of the Asian countries which have the most rapidly developing economies, and has tremendous potential in the least developed countries in the region. The South East Asian region presents a number of examples of collaboration between neighbouring countries to develop hydro resources in an integrated way, which is a very good model for some other parts of the world in the future.
Hydropower and why we should be proud of it
The list of benefits of hydropower,
certainly well known to all Asia 2006 delegates, usually begins with the
fact that it is a clean and renewable resource, that it reduces
dependence on fossil fuels, keeping the environment cleaner and
healthier, and, in the long term, once initial investment costs are
paid, that it is a low cost source of electricity.
As we know, hydro has certain technical
advantages for a grid system, in particular the capability to provide
peaking power. It allows for energy independence. It is a mature
technology, well researched and developed worldwide. And a great
economic advantage is that, once civil works are in place, there is
potential to ensure a very long operating life by replacing some
components at relatively low cost.
Of the various sources of energy, both
renewable and non-renewable, hydropower is the only one which can offer
additional and often multiple benefits to meet a number of human needs:
storage reservoirs can provide water supply for domestic or industrial
use or for irrigation, flood routing, recreation, etc) and run of river
schemes can offer additional benefits for river systems (flow
regulation, improved navigation, etc).
But perhaps the most important benefit
is the fact that such a vast potential remains, in particular in the
parts of the world where extra capacity is most urgently required. That
is especially true in Asia, where technically feasible potential of
about 6800 TWh/year remains, and where the greatest amount of
development is at present under way.
