534 Clean Energy
Small Dams
Small dams can be used to
generate electricity from
running or falling water
(called small hydropower,
and micro-hydropower
when it is very small).
Where there is enough
water from rivers
or streams, micro-
hydropower is the
least costly way to
provide electricity
to rural communities.
These projects can be set
up and managed by villagers.
In China, India, and
Nepal, thousands of small
hydropower projects supply
power to villages and towns.
Water is taken from the river, run downhill to
a turbine, and then flows back into the river.
In small hydropower projects, water is channeled from a river or stream and
runs downhill through a pipe. The falling water in the pipe turns a turbine,
and then returns to the river or stream. Small dams do not displace people or
change the flow of the river the way large dams do. Micro-hydropower projects
use dams only a few meters tall to direct water toward the turbine.
Water turns the turbine
to produce electricity.
(To learn more about micro-hydropower and to contact organizations that
install micro-hydropower systems, see Resources.)
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012