Technology Overview

Hydropower is a power generation technology that uses the energy of flowing water to drive turbines and generate electricity, by converting the potential or kinetic energy of water into mechanical energy and subsequently into electrical energy. It is one of the oldest power generation technologies and plays a significant role in many power systems due to its ability to provide stable, flexible power with low operating costs. Common configurations include reservoir hydropower, run-of-river hydropower, and pumped storage hydropower, among which reservoir-based systems offer the capability to regulate water flow and effectively support power system operations.

Technical Characteristics

The net electrical efficiency of hydropower plants is approximately 95%, reflecting a very high level of energy conversion efficiency compared to other technologies. Within the power system, hydropower plays an important role due to its ability to flexibly adjust output and respond quickly to changes in demand. The capacity of hydropower plants depends on topography, water availability, and reservoir size.

In addition, long asset lifetimes and low operating costs are significant advantages of this technology.

Investment cost data indicate that current capital costs are approximately 1.8–2.0 million USD/MW. Although initial investment costs are relatively high and site-dependent, hydropower offers competitive electricity generation costs in the long term. In the context of the energy transition, hydropower plays a key supporting role in integrating variable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

Application in Vietnam

In Vietnam, most of the hydropower potential has already been exploited, and new projects are primarily small-scale or focused on optimizing existing systems.