“WATER IS THE DRIVING FORCE OF ALL NATURE” – Leonardo da Vinci
This site is for everyone, amateurs and professionals. Whoever is interested in an introduction to hydroelectricity, come and explore how a natural, renewable resource ends up as the electricity in your wall socket.
If you are simply interested in exploring the world of hydro, jump right in. You will find an overview and areas that look deeper into specialist areas.
If you are beginning a career in hydroelectricity, congratulations on choosing one of the most diverse and interesting career paths open to an engineer. Perhaps you would like to follow the links on the Explore and Learn page. This will take you through the history and theory of hydropower and introduce you to the key components of a hydroelectric facility. Hydropower is a vast subject, but this site will give you a basic foundation on which to build a solid body of knowledge as you work within the profession.
If you would like to follow the water flow through a hydropower facility, you can do that too. See the Physical Works page.
If you would just like to jump from one animation to the next, you can also do that. Just follow the links on the Have Fun page.
And if you would like a hand with any engineering services related to hydroelectric development (e.g. to determine if a location has the hydroelectric potential you need, or to develop a layout for a site, or understand the steps in developing a hydroelectric project), send a message on the Contact page. If we can’t help you, we can probably put you in touch with somebody who can.
I was first introduced to hydro during an undergraduate student conference. The speaker used so much technical jargon that he was hard to follow. This site uses simple language to introduce you to all the most important technical terms. There is also a glossary with an explanation of the technical terms. Click the blue-highlighted words in the text to jump to the glossary.
Enjoy your adventure into the world of hydro!
Gray 2020