There is a growing public concern on the environmental pollution emitted from conventional thermal power plants. As a result, priority has been given to the development of clean energy, which leads to less pollution and fewer emissions to the environment. Hydropower, as a clean and renewable energy, plays a critical role to mitigate environmental issues associated with the power generation industry. This paper presents a theoretical analysis of hydropower generators in a comprehensive manner (including environmental and technological' perspectives) via multiple methods of Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sensitivity analysis. This study aims to investigate the sustainable development path of hydropower. This provides useful inputs to select the more appropriate type of generator according to the status quo of product development with a special attention to the environmental performance. Results show that the evaporative cooling generator is a better choice with less greenhouse gas emission (a total of 2.59*10(-1)kg CO(2)eq/kWh) than air cooling generator (a total of 6.04*10(-1)kg CO(2)eq/kWh). According to the evaluation of technology readiness and scenario analysis, the advancement of technology can also make a contribution to the economic development. These findings are useful for policy making on choosing the appropriate type of cooling system as well as hydropower system. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.