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This is how water is converted to electricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water, says Wikipedia.
It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16 per cent of global electricity generation - 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, and is expected to increase about 3.1 per cent each year for the next 25 years, according to worldwatch.org.
Let's take a look at some amazing dams around the world.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Moiry dam near Grimentz in Switzerland. Hydroelectric power accounts for about 58 per cent of Switzerland's electricity production.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Grande Dixence dam with the Lac des Dix in Pralong near Sion in southern Switzerland.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
High-voltage lines going from Russia's largest Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near Sayanogorsk in the Siberian Khakassia region, about 480km south of Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A view of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near the settlement of Cheryomushki in Russia.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific generating 32 per cent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with 721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 per cent of domestic electricity use.
A view of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station near the settlement of Cheryomushki in Khakassia region, Russia.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Water gushes out from the Sangtuda-1 hydroelectric power plant, some 170km south of Dushanbe in Tajikistan.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A view of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China's Hubei province.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A worker protects himself against water falling over the top of the Vranov nad Dyji dam, while walking over a footbridge, near the South Moravian town of Znojmo in the Czech Republic.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A truck drives past some of the 18 tunnels through which water passes to feed the massive turbines at the Itaipu dam in Brazil.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A view shows the Three Gorges Dam Project discharging water, to lower water level in the reservoir, in Yichang, central China's Hubei province.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A Chinese worker walks past the sluice gates on a 120-metre high platform on the main dam of the Three Gorges Project in Yichang, in the central province of Hubei, China.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Engineers and workers look at the stator of the first generator for right bank electricity plant at the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China's Hubei province.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Two firemen observe water falling over the Parizov dam near the city of Caslav, 80km east of Prague in the Czech Republic.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A view of Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric power station illuminated for the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first electricity produced by it, 40km from Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Workers occupy the central control station of the Itaipu Hydroelectric dam, the world's largest, on the Brazilian side of the border with Paraguay, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Vehicles drive past some of the 20 tunnels through which water passes to feed the massive turbines at the Itaipu Hydroelectric dam, the world's largest, on the Brazilian side of the border with Paraguay, in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
A view of the power generators of the Nurek hydroelectric power plant in central Tajikistan.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
Residents of nearby villages look at water falling over the Parizov dam near the city of Caslav, 80km east of Prague in the Czech Republic.
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This is how water is converted to electricity
An engineer performs checks at the power plant workshop of the Three Gorges Dam Project on the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China's Hubei province.