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a series of large-scale plants like Xiluodu and Baihetan (approx. 12,000 megawatts). With a population of 250 million, Brazil is the most populated and economically powerful country in the southern hemisphere and it generates nearly 80 per cent of its electricity from this source of energy. So it is no surprise that it also has one of the largest hydropower plants in the world (Itaipu, 14,000 megawatts). All these power stations clearly demonstrate that hydropower has proven its usefulness and reliability, serving countless millions of people over the decades.Today, there are many opportunities for hydropower development throughout the world and although there is no clear consensus, estimates indicate the availability of more than 10,000 terawatt hours per year of unutilized hydropower potential worldwide. A household of three consumes 3,000 kilowatt hours of power on average every year. Hence the unused potential could serve 3.3 billion households.But it is not only the world’s large dams that are under-unexploited. Ten thousands of existing weirs and smaller dams as well as locks and weirs could be used for hydropower generation. Small hydro plants safeguard local and stable power supply. Often, they are the only way of producing environment-friendly power. Voith is an innovator of small-scale hydro solutions and is involved in the most promising technical solutions to open up this unexploited potential. For example, the StreamDiver, a very compact turbine-generator unit, allows power to be generated at locations where conventional plants are not viable for economic or ecological reasons. It reduces costs by making use of innovative plant layouts and can be integrated easily into existing weirs and dams without gravely interfering with the environment. Voith has developed an environment-friendly solution characterized by an oil-free operation, a submersed power unit as well as a low visual and noise impact. “SMALL HYDRO PLANTS SAFEGUARD LOCAL AND STABLE POWER SUPPLY ”6,5% 090 SUSTAINABLE ENERGYSource: Itaipu Binacional