Hydropower & Pumped Storage
Baseload water resources and the bulk of global energy storage.
The Legacy Baseload
Hydropower is the world's largest source of low-carbon electricity, providing massive, dispatchable baseload power. Beyond raw energy, hydro dams offer critical grid ancillary services: frequency regulation, voltage support, and black-start capabilities. Their massive spinning physical turbines provide real inertia to the grid, stabilizing it against sudden frequency drops.
Pumped Storage Hydropower (PSH)
Pumped storage acts as a massive gravity battery. During periods of excess wind or solar generation, water is pumped from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. When demand peaks, the water is released back through turbines. PSH accounts for over 90% of global grid storage capacity, but expansion is geographically constrained and faces intense environmental permitting hurdles.
| Plant Type | Flexibility | Primary Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Run-of-River | Low (Seasonal) | Baseload generation, driven by hydrology |
| Reservoir (Dam) | High | Load following, peaking capacity, long-term storage |
| Pumped Storage | Very High | Diurnal arbitrage, grid balancing services |
Interactive: Hydro CF Compare
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