<\/p>\n
Since hydroelectric dams do not use fuel, power generation does not produce carbon dioxide. New Zealand’s Manapouri Power Station was constructed to supply electricity to the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point. In Suriname, the Brokopondo Reservoir was constructed to provide electricity for the Alcoa aluminium industry. The major advantage of conventional hydroelectric dams with reservoirs is their ability to store water at low cost for dispatch later as high value clean electricity.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Peak wind power can be offset by minimum hydropower and minimum wind can be offset with maximum hydropower. Occasionally weather patterns can result in low wind for days or weeks at a time, a hydroelectric reservoir capable of storing weeks of output is useful to balance generation on the grid. In 2021 the IEA said that government energy policy should “price in the value of the multiple public benefits provided by hydropower plants”. Hydroelectricity eliminates the flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, including pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, dust, and mercury in the coal. The Malpasset Dam failure in Fr\u00e9jus on the French Riviera (C\u00f4te d’Azur), southern France, collapsed on December 2, 1959, killing 423 people in the resulting flood.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n