TEHRAN - Iran’s hydroelectric power plants generated 1,430 megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity in the third quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (September 23-December 21, 2023), IRNA reported.

The generation of the mentioned amount of electricity has saved the country about $60 million in fossil fuels while preventing environmental pollution.

Hydropower, also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to generate electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power.

Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy production. Hydropower is now used principally for hydroelectric power generation and is also applied as one-half of an energy storage system known as pumped-storage hydroelectricity.

Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a river or elevated lake.

International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a low-carbon means for economic development.

EF/MA