Hydro

Hydro delivers the majority of Australia’s renewable energy. Total hydro capacity as at November 2009
was 8186MW.
Source: Clean Energy Council Renewable Energy Database

The Snowy Mountains Scheme, dating from the 1950s, is the nation’s largest, with 3756MW of capacity producing around 4500 GWh each year.

Another 176MW in new capacity is committed or currently under construction although environmental conditions particularly reduced rainfall, have resulted in decreased generation from some existing hydro facilities.
Hydro power is also the largest renewable energy source globally, generating 16 per cent of the world’s electricity. Total global capacity is currently over 800 GW generating 3 million GWhs. The top four hydro generating countries, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), are the USA, China, Brazil and Canada. China leads the way in new developments.

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