Europe's alpine villages producing their own power
1 Dec 2022
Small hydropower plants have long sustained remote communities in the Alps – but there is a growing debate over their environmental impact.
South Tyrol and its Alpine neighbours are known as Europe's hydro powerhouses, mainly thanks to their large plants, which mark parts of the landscape with their valley-spanning reservoirs and giant pipes. Hydropower generates more than 7,300 gigawatt hours (GWh) a year in South Tyrol, some 90% of its total electricity production, enough to export about half of it to other Italian regions in the summer months.
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