Global Hydroelectric Power Capacity by Country (Full List)

1. China: 367.71 Million Kilowatts

• China held the No. 1 global rank in hydropower capacity for 17 consecutive years as of 2022.
• The Three Gorges Dam has a capacity of 22,500 MW, making it the world’s most powerful hydroelectric plant.
• China added 23,811 MW of new hydropower capacity in 2022 alone, the most of any country that year.
• The Baihetan Dam, also in China, is the world’s second-largest hydroelectric plant, with a capacity of 16,000 MW.
• In 2020, the Three Gorges Dam generated a world record 111.8 TWh in a single year.
• China accounted for roughly 29% of the world’s hydropower capacity as of 2022.
• China’s hydropower capacity grew from 20.32 million kilowatts in 1980 to 367.71 million kilowatts in 2022.
• East Asia and the Pacific saw the largest regional growth in hydropower capacity in 2022.

2. Brazil: 109.81 Million Kilowatts

• Brazil’s first hydroelectric plant was completed in 1883, one of the earliest in the world.
• The Itaipu Dam, shared with Paraguay, has a capacity of 14,000 MW and set a world record for annual generation in 2016.
• Brazil’s installed hydropower capacity was approximately 109.4 GW at the end of 2021, before edging up in 2022.
• Hydroelectric energy accounted for more than 75% of Brazil’s electricity generation for much of its modern history.
• The country has more than 25,000 km of river channel in its eight largest river systems.
• Brazil’s Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River has a capacity exceeding 11,200 MW.
• South America added 1,525 MW of new hydropower capacity in 2022, with Brazil leading the region.
• Brazil generated 427.11 billion kWh of hydroelectricity in 2022, according to World Bank data.

3. Canada: 83.14 Million Kilowatts

• Canada possesses approximately 20% of the world’s fresh surface water.
• Canada ranked third globally in new hydropower capacity additions in 2022, adding 1,012 MW.
• Quebec’s La Grande hydroelectric complex is among the world’s largest hydroelectric developments.
• The country’s hydropower capacity is spread across provinces, including Quebec, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario.
• Canadian hydroelectric plants export significant electricity to the northeastern United States.
• Canada generated approximately 365 TWh of hydroelectricity in 2023, one of the highest globally.
• Canada has held a top-three global position in hydroelectric capacity for multiple decades.
• Canadian hydropower’s dispatchable nature makes it a critical asset for regional grid stability.

4. United States: 80.07 Million Kilowatts

• The Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River is the largest power station in the United States, with a capacity of 6,809 MW.
• Hoover Dam, dedicated in 1935, was the world’s first “high dam” and repaid its construction costs through electricity sales by 1987.
• Grand Coulee Dam was built during the Great Depression as part of FDR’s New Deal between 1933 and 1942.
• U.S. hydroelectric capacity generates roughly 21 billion kWh annually from the Grand Coulee alone.
• The Pacific Northwest, powered significantly by the Columbia River basin, is the heart of U.S. hydro generation.
• The U.S. has developed an estimated 80% of its most economically feasible large-scale hydroelectric potential.
• U.S. hydropower provided approximately 6–7% of total national electricity generation in recent years.
• The U.S. hydroelectric fleet spans hundreds of facilities across dozens of states.

5. Russia: 51.40 Million Kilowatts

• Russia holds the second-largest theoretical hydroelectric potential in the world, with only 20% developed.
• The Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam is Russia’s largest plant at 6,400 MW and the world’s tallest arch-gravity dam at 242 meters.
• Russia has 102 hydropower plants, each with more than 100 MW of capacity.
• RusHydro is the second-largest hydroelectric company in the world by total managed capacity.
• The Krasnoyarsk Dam (6,000 MW) and Bratsk Dam (4,500 MW) are among Russia’s largest hydro installations.
• Russia is home to 9% of the world’s total hydro resources, mostly concentrated in Siberia and the Far East.
• In 2020, the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam generated a record 26.6 billion kWh in a single year.
• Russia and China have explored cooperation agreements to develop and export Siberian hydroelectric power.

6. India: 46.85 Million Kilowatts

• India’s economically exploitable hydroelectric potential is estimated at 148,700 MW, with only about 30% developed as of 2022.
• More than 80% of India’s untapped hydro potential sits in the northeastern Brahmaputra basin.
• India had 15 GW of hydroelectric capacity under construction as of 2022.
• The government targets 67 GW of hydro capacity by 2031–32, up from 46.85 GW in 2022.
• India published a $77 billion master transmission plan in 2025 to develop the Brahmaputra basin by 2047.
• Arunachal Pradesh alone holds an estimated 52.2 GW of hydropower potential.
• India generated approximately 156 TWh of hydroelectricity in fiscal year 2019–20.
• China’s upstream dam on the Brahmaputra adds a geopolitical dimension to India’s hydropower development.

7. Norway: 32.82 Million Kilowatts

• Hydroelectricity accounted for approximately 88.2% of Norway’s electricity output in 2022.
• Norway has a per-capita hydroelectric capacity that is essentially unmatched anywhere in the world.
• The country’s fjords, glaciers, and mountain plateaus create a natural water storage system that acts like a giant battery.
• Norway exports surplus electricity to neighboring European countries via undersea cables.
• Norway’s hydropower system can serve as dispatchable renewable energy, releasing power precisely on demand.
• About 95% of the country’s total electricity capacity comes from hydropower.
• Norway’s annual electricity consumption is roughly 120 TWh, with hydropower covering the majority.
• Norway has been described as Europe’s potential “green battery” due to its abundant dispatchable hydro capacity.

8. Türkiye: 31.57 Million Kilowatts

• As of 2022, Türkiye ranked third in Europe for hydroelectric production.
• In 2024, Türkiye added the most new hydropower capacity of any European country, at 241 MW.
• Major Turkish hydro rivers include the Euphrates, Tigris, Seyhan, and Ceyhan basins.
• The GAP project includes 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric plants on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
• Türkiye’s rapidly growing hydro fleet has made it one of the world’s fastest-expanding hydro nations.
• The positions of Turkish dams on shared rivers create geopolitical dimensions of water diplomacy with Syria and Iraq.
• Türkiye consistently ranks in the top 10 globally for installed hydroelectric capacity.
• The country has been adding hydro capacity steadily through government incentive programs since the early 2000s.

9. Japan: 22.15 Million Kilowatts

• Japan has approximately 50 GW of total hydroelectric capacity, including pumped-storage plants.
• Japan’s conventional hydroelectric capacity stood at 22.15 million kilowatts in 2022.
• After the 2011 Fukushima disaster, hydropower significantly increased Japan’s grid’s operational responsibilities.
• Japan’s steep, fast-moving rivers — a product of the mountainous terrain — are well-suited to hydro generation.
• Japan is one of Asia’s most hydroelectrically developed nations per unit of land area.
• Pumped-storage hydroelectric plants play a critical role in Japan’s grid flexibility and energy storage.
• Japan has essentially no domestic fossil fuel resources, making hydro a critical energy security asset.
• Japan ranks second in Asia, behind China, in installed hydroelectric capacity.

10. Vietnam: 21.86 Million Kilowatts

• Vietnam’s Sơn La Dam, completed in 2012, is currently the largest hydroelectric plant in Southeast Asia.
• The Hòa Bình Dam, built with Soviet assistance, generated 280 billion kWh from 1988 to 2024.
• Vietnam ranked third in Asia in installed hydroelectric capacity in 2022 after China and Japan.
• The Hòa Bình Dam originally had an installed capacity of 1,920 MW, with an expansion adding 480 MW from 2021.
• Vietnam’s rapid hydro build-out in the 1990s and 2000s paralleled its emergence as a major manufacturing economy.
• Vietnam’s hydroelectric capacity of 21.86 million kilowatts places it among the top 10 globally.
• The Black River and Mekong basin rivers are the primary sources of Vietnam’s hydroelectric generation.
• Vietnam now actively combines hydro with solar and wind to build a more diversified renewable energy system.

11. France: 18.86 Million Kilowatts

• France has approximately 2,400 hydropower plants, one of the densest hydro networks in Europe.
• The Grand’Maison Dam in the French Alps is France’s largest hydroelectric plant, with an installed capacity of 1,800 MW.
• EDF operates roughly 20 GW of installed hydro capacity with 6 billion cubic meters of water storage in mainland France.
• France ranked third in Europe for hydroelectric production in 2022, behind Norway and Türkiye.
• Hydroelectricity accounts for approximately 10–11% of France’s total electricity generation.
• The Alps, Pyrenees, and Massif Central provide the natural elevation base for France’s hydro network.
• France has a technically feasible hydroelectric generation potential of approximately 120,000 GWh.
• French pumped-storage hydro plants provide critical grid-balancing services alongside the country’s nuclear fleet.

12. Venezuela: 16.83 Million Kilowatts

• The Guri Dam provides approximately 60–73% of Venezuela’s total electricity in normal operating years.
• Guri is one of the world’s top five largest hydroelectric plants with an installed capacity of approximately 10,235 MW.
• The Guri reservoir holds 135 billion cubic meters of water, making it one of the world’s largest artificial reservoirs.
• Construction of Guri began in the 1960s, with the full 10,300 MW capacity reached by 1986.
• Venezuela generates approximately 47,000–50,000 GWh of electricity annually from the Guri Dam.
• Severe droughts and neglected maintenance caused catastrophic nationwide blackouts in Venezuela in 2019.
• Venezuela has the world’s largest proven oil reserves, but generates most of its electricity from hydropower.
• Venezuela’s heavy reliance on a single dam for power generation creates serious grid vulnerability to drought.

13. Sweden: 16.30 Million Kilowatts

• Hydropower accounts for approximately 40–45% of Sweden’s total electricity generation in a normal year.
• Sweden operates approximately 2,000 hydropower plants, with large plants above 10 MW providing 94% of hydro output.
• Vattenfall, Sweden’s state energy company, operates approximately 8,500 MW of the country’s 16,000 MW hydro capacity.
• The Lule River in northern Sweden is one of the most intensively developed hydroelectric rivers in Europe.
• Sweden generates approximately 63–66 TWh of hydroelectricity per year under normal hydrological conditions.
• Sweden’s hydro capacity functions as a critical balancing resource for the Nordic and European electricity markets.
• Sweden’s hydropower capacity has remained largely unchanged over the past decade, with growth focused on wind and solar.
• Sweden holds one of the highest hydropower potentials in Europe, with a gross theoretical capability of around 176 TWh per year.

14. Italy: 15.56 Million Kilowatts

• Italy’s hydroelectric capacity of 15.56 million kilowatts is primarily concentrated in the Alpine regions of the north.
• Hydroelectricity accounts for roughly 14–15% of Italy’s total electricity generation.
• Italy generates approximately 37–38 TWh of hydroelectricity per year.
• Key hydro regions include Trentino-Alto Adige, Valle d’Aosta, Lombardy, Veneto, and Piedmont.
• Italy’s pumped-storage capacity plays a critical role in balancing the national grid as solar power grows.
• Most economically attractive hydro sites in Italy have already been developed, shifting focus to modernization.
• Italy’s hydro fleet provides critical grid flexibility services as the country adds more variable renewable capacity.
• Italy ranked among the top producers of hydroelectricity in Europe in 2021 with approximately 15,529 MW of capacity.

15. Spain: 13.72 Million Kilowatts

• Hydroelectricity was historically Spain’s dominant renewable energy source, until it was surpassed by wind (2009) and solar (2022).
• Spain had approximately 17,097 MW of installed hydroelectric capacity as of 2024.
• Castile and León accounts for 25.7% of Spain’s hydro capacity, followed by Galicia at 21.8%.
• The Duero basin is the second-largest river basin in the Iberian Peninsula.
• Spain’s hydro capacity has remained essentially unchanged since approximately 2012.
• Hydropower ranks fourth in Spain’s overall electricity generation capacity, behind solar, wind, and combined-cycle.
• Spanish hydro plants provide critical grid-balancing services as solar and wind capacity grow rapidly.
• Spain ranks in the lower half globally for hydro’s share of total electricity generation despite its sizeable capacity.

16. Mexico: 12.84 Million Kilowatts

• Mexico has developed approximately 80% of its economically feasible large-scale hydroelectric potential.
• The Chicoasén Dam in Chiapas stands 261 meters tall, making it the highest dam in the Americas.
• Chicoasén has an installed capacity of 2,400 MW and once provided approximately 35% of Mexico’s national electricity.
• The Grijalva River basin hosts Mexico’s most productive hydroelectric cascade, including four major dams.
• Mexico’s 12.84 million kilowatts of hydro capacity ranks it among the world’s top 20 hydro nations.
• The CFE (Comisión Federal de Electricidad) operates Mexico’s hydroelectric fleet as the state energy utility.
• Mexico’s future energy expansion is expected to be dominated by solar rather than additional hydro capacity.
• Mexico’s hydroelectric fleet provides an important flexible generation resource for its national grid.

17. Colombia: 12.56 Million Kilowatts

• Hydroelectricity provides approximately 62–65% of Colombia’s total electricity generation.
• Colombia’s major hydro projects are concentrated in the Andes, where rivers descend steeply from high elevations.
• El Niño-driven droughts are Colombia’s primary hydroelectric risk, requiring backup thermal capacity.
• The Cauca and Magdalena river systems are Colombia’s primary hydroelectric basins.
• Colombia’s 12.56 million kilowatts of installed capacity make it one of the most hydro-dependent large economies in the world.
• Colombia’s major cities — Bogotá, Medellín, Cali — are located in the same Andean region as its hydro resources.
• The country has been expanding both hydro and solar capacity to reduce climate vulnerability in its energy mix.
• Colombia’s cost-effective hydro fleet is powered by abundant tropical rainfall and steep Andean altitude gradients.

18. Iran: 11.15 Million Kilowatts

• Iran has 11.15 million kilowatts of installed hydroelectric capacity despite holding vast oil and gas reserves.
• Iran’s hydroelectric plants are concentrated in the Zagros Mountains, primarily along the Karun River.
• The Karun River basin alone hosts Karun-1 (2,000 MW), Karun-2 (2,000 MW), Karun-3 (2,280 MW), and Karun-4 (1,020 MW).
• The Bakhtiari Dam, under construction in Lorestan Province, could become the world’s tallest dam at 325 meters.
• Iran holds the world’s second-largest proven natural gas reserves, but relies on hydrocarbons to preserve its hydrocarbon exports.
• Iran’s hydro development in the Zagros began in the 1960s and accelerated significantly in the 1990s–2000s.
• Iran’s hydroelectric capacity places it among the top 20 globally, a notable achievement for a non-tropical country.
• Drought variability and aging infrastructure pose ongoing operational challenges for Iran’s hydroelectric fleet.

Broader Implications: Insights from the Data

Here is a full list of Global Hydroelectric Power Capacity by Country: