Hydroelectricity in Russia
Hydropower is the most used form of renewable energy in Russia, and there is large potential in Russia for more use of hydropower.
According to the International Hydropower Association Russia is the seventh largest producer of hydroelectricity in 2020.
It is also second in the world for hydro potential, yet only 20% of this potential is developed.
Russia is home to 9% of the world's hydro resources, mostly in Siberia and the country's far east.
At the end of 2005, the generating capacity from hydroelectric sources in Russia was 45,700 MW, and an additional 5,648 MW was under construction. The World Energy Council believes that Russia has much potential for using its hydro resources, with a theoretical potential of about 2,295 TWh/yr, with 852 TWh being economically feasible.
The largest dams in Russia are the Sayano-Shushenskaya Dam, which has an installed capacity of 6,400 MW; the Krasnoyarsk Dam ; the Bratsk Dam ; the Ust-Ilimsk Dam and the Zeya Dam. Some of the most recent dam projects are the Bureya Dam and the Irganai Dam. The Boguchany Dam, Zelenchuk Dam, Zaramag Dam and Nizhne-Chereksky are currently under construction. RusHydro is the largest hydroelectric company in Russia and the second largest hydroelectric producer in the world. In October 2010, China Yangtze Power, the largest hydropower corporation in China, and EuroSibEnergo, a Russian energy company, signed a cooperation agreement to expand hydroelectric energy production in Russia and export energy to China's northern territories.