Countries
The Bitdal dam in Norway
Hydropower
At Statkraft, we have 125 years of experience in hydropower and are the largest producer of electricity from hydropower in Europe. The majority of our power production is hydropower.
The advantages of hydropower are many. It is renewable, clean, reliable, flexible and can serve many generations with low-cost electricity from local resources. Hydropower produces no air pollutants and shows the lowest Green House Gases (GHG) emission of all power generation technologies.
In Norway, 90 per cent of all power generation comes from hydropower. Worldwide, hydropower accounts for approximately one sixth of the total electricity supply.
Statkraft's hydropower plants in numbers
-
363Number of hydropower plants
-
53.9 TWhTotal hydropower production
-
15 541 MWInstalled hydropower capacity
Europe’s renewable energy battery
The Ringedal dam in Norway
Our hydropower ambitions
The Nordic portfolio is a unique and important source of flexible and stable power. Given its age, we will continue with reinvestments to keep the portfolio competitive and profitable.
We are also focusing on optimising and protecting the value of our hydropower assets outside the Nordics and will pursue growth through selected acquisitions and swaps that fit well with the rest of the portfolio.
Read more about our strategic ambitions
Hylen hydropower plant in Norway
How our hydropower plants work
The principle behind the production of hydropower is to use the energy of flowing water. Many hydropower plants benefit from several storage schemes. In some river systems we have several power stations positioned in cascade one after the other, so that the water’s energy can be exploited several times before it finally flows out into the sea. Inside the power station, the water drives a turbine producing mechanical energy which is turned into electrical energy in a generator. Hydropower schemes without reservoirs are often called run-of-river.
How our hydropower plants work
Visit one of our power plants
Find out more about our hydropower assets
Statkraft has hydropower assets in Norway, Sweden, Germany, UK, Albania, Turkey, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Nepal and India. Find out more about our global hydropower activities by exploring the map below.