An Introduction to Micro-Hydro Power Systems

Renewable and Electrical Energy Division
Natural Resources Canada


Introduction

Hydropower technology has been around for more than a century. Hydropower comes from converting the energy in flowing water – using a water wheel or a turbine – into useful mechanical power. This power is then converted into electricity by an electric generator.

Micro-hydropower systems are small hydropower plants that have an installed power generation capacity of less than 100 kilowatts (kW). Many micro-hydropower systems operate “run of river,” which means that no large dams or water storage reservoirs are built and no land is flooded. The majority of these systems only use a fraction of the available stream flow to generate power, and this has little environmental impact.