Hydroelectric dam

A barrier and power facility that generates electricity by directing water through turbines. Its reservoir or river flow supplies the hydraulic energy converted into electrical power.

Hydroelectricity: Electricity generated from the energy of moving or falling water. The dam is one infrastructure type within this broader way of generating electricity.
Pumped-storage hydroelectricity: A grid-storage method that pumps water uphill when electricity is abundant and releases it through turbines when demand rises. It uses dam-like reservoirs to store electricity rather than relying only on natural inflows.
Dam removal: The deliberate dismantling or breaching of a dam to restore river flow or address safety concerns. Removal can reverse some ecological and social effects of hydroelectric development.
Three Gorges Dam: A large hydroelectric dam on the Yangtze River in China, completed in 2006. Its scale illustrates the electricity, flood-control, and resettlement consequences of a major dam.
Hydraulic head: The height difference between water levels that determines available pressure and energy. The elevation difference across the dam drives water through its turbines.
Reservoir: An artificial or natural lake used to store water. Many hydroelectric dams regulate generation by storing water behind the barrier.
Fish ladder: A stepped channel that helps migrating fish pass an obstruction such as a dam. It mitigates the barrier dams create for fish moving along rivers.
Hoover Dam: A concrete arch-gravity dam on the Colorado River, completed in 1936. It combines hydroelectric generation with water storage and flood control in the American Southwest.
Hydraulic turbine: A rotary machine that converts energy in flowing water into mechanical power. Water released from the dam spins the turbine that drives electrical generation.
Peak-load power plant: A power plant operated mainly during periods of high electricity demand. Reservoir releases can be timed to meet short-lived peaks in grid demand.

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