Overview

The Global Hydropower Tracker provides comprehensive data on one of the world’s most established sources for low-carbon power and grid-scale energy storage.

As of 2026, the Global Hydropower Tracker (GHT) covers over 7,000 operating, under construction, and prospective facilities worldwide, totaling 2,600 gigawatts (GW) of capacity. It catalogs both conventional hydropower and pumped storage, spanning facilities that have been in operation for more than a century as well as projects not expected online for several decades. The GHT captures status changes as projects move from initial announcement to construction, operation, or retirement, providing a continuously updated picture of the sector.

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) remains the most widespread form of grid-scale energy storage globally, and the GHT tracks ~200 GW of operating PSH and ~700 GW of prospective PSH. This dataset offers insights into country‑specific and regional dynamics to balance rising shares of renewables with corresponding storage buildouts, highlighting where PSH is central to meeting system flexibility needs. By mapping this infrastructure, the GHT helps users pinpoint where grids depend on hydropower today and where new investments could reshape planning and operations over the coming decades.

As governments and civil society groups pursue climate targets and seek to accelerate the clean energy transition, hydropower sits at the intersection of reliability and low‑carbon generation, versus growing concerns about water availability, ecosystem impacts, and community rights. The GHT offers transparent, citation-driven geospatial and ownership data for business leaders, policymakers, researchers, and market participants to track project pipelines and evaluate how hydropower interacts with emerging portfolios of wind, solar, and other storage technologies.

Methodology

Frequently Asked Questions