China continues its dominance of the global hydropower market

WITH 30GW of new capacity installed during 2012, global cumulative hydropower capacity jumped to 1127GW by the year-end, providing an estimated 3524TWh of electricity generation annually.

Thus, this technology is still by far the one with the highest cumulated installed capacity among renewable energy sources.

Summary of the global hydropower market, region by region, end of 2012
Cumulated installed capacity 2012 (GW) Newly installed capacity 2012 (GW) Estimated electricity generation 2012 (TWh/year)
Europe 276 0.9 745
North and Central America 189 2.0 664
South America 133 1.9 611
West and Central Asia 155 5.3 589
East Asia and Oceania (including China) 355 19.1 1,065
Africa 19 0.4 74
World total 1,127
29.6
3,524
Largest National Market China 241 China 15.9