Hydropower

History of Hydropower

People have been using hydropower for thousands of years. Greeks used water wheels to grind wheat into flour more than 2,000 years ago. And falling water has been used to create electricity for more than a century. In England, records from 1086 show that more than 5,000 waterwheel-driven mills were in use – about one for every 400 people.

2,000 years ago – The Greeks used hydropower to turn water wheels for grinding wheat into flour.

1800s – English scientists William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle discovered that applying electric current to water produced hydrogen and oxygen gases. This process was later termed “electrolysis.”

1882 – World’s first hydroelectric power plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin, US.

1886 – About 45 water-powered electric plants are operating in the United States and Canada.

1889 – Two hundred electric plants in the United States use water power for some or all generation.

1940s – Hydropower provides 40% of electrical generation. Conventional capacity tripled in United States since 1920.

Today – Hydropower currently accounts for about 20% of the planet’s electricity supply. About 150 countries have the potential to use hydropower, including many developing countries that are without electricity. But environmental concerns and cost make the construction of hydropower plants prohibitive.