The global hydropower sector produced a record 4,370 TWh of electricity in 2020
According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), in 2020, the global hydropower generated a record 4,370 TWh of electricity. For comparison, in 2019 this figure was 4306 TWh. About the same amount of electricity consumed by the United States per year.
The total installed capacity of hydropower plants in the world reached 1,330 GW in 2020. The annual growth was 1.6% compared to 2019. During 2020, hydropower projects with a total capacity of 21 GW were commissioned, which is 15.6 GW higher than in 2019.
Nearly two-thirds of the increase came from China, which brought on stream 13.8 GW of new capacity. Among other countries that added new capacity in 2020, only Turkey (2.5 GW) added more than 1 GW.
The capacity of new hydropower plants in the world amounted to 1.5 GW, which is 304 MW more than in 2019. Of these, Chinese projects account for 1.2 GW, Israeli - 300 MW.
Major projects completed in 2020 include HPP Lauca (2.1 GW) in Angola, Jixi PSP (1.8 GW) in China, HPP Ilisu (1.2 GW) and HPP Lower Kaleköy (0 , 5 GW) in Turkey.
The largest increase in capacity occurred in China, where HPP Wudongde launched 8 of the 12 project hydropower units, adding 6.8 GW to the Chinese grid.
In general, China also remains the world leader in terms of total hydropower installed capacity, which is more than 370 GW. Next in the top five are Brazil (109 GW), USA (102 GW), Canada (82 GW) and India (50 GW).
Let us remind you that by the Independence Day of Ukraine at one of the most important infrastructure facilities of Ukraine - the Dniester PSP - hydroelectric unit No. 4 was launched in the generator mode. By synchronizing the operation and connecting to the grid, the hydroelectric unit reached a nominal load of 324 MW, and the power of the station reached 1296 MW in generator mode and 1684 MW in pumping mode.
The construction of the Dniester PSP is an integral part of the Energy Strategy of Ukraine until 2035. According to the project, the station will consist of 7 hydroelectric units with a total capacity of 2268 MW in generator mode and 2947 MW in pumping mode, which makes it the first in Europe and sixth in the world. Completion of the construction of the station will have a significant economic, environmental and social effect, noted in Ukrhydroenergo.