This for example: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Cataratas.jpg
If you don’t want to click the link, it’s the Iguazu Falls, Argentina and Brazil Border.
It’s basically a huge waterfall. To my understanding, it generates enormous amount of potential power, meanwhile every water power station I’ve seen is either flow of river or a dam. Could we not put a water wheel next to the waterfall or something?
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You can, but in practice you usually just divert the river flow into a hydroelectric station built next to the waterfall. And we do in fact do this on most large waterfalls – most notably Niagara Falls, which only continue to flow because local law requires them to leave some water to go over the falls rather than using all of it for power.
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