HYDROELECTRICITY
HYDROELECTRICITY
HYDROELECTRICITY
THE NAME COMES FROM "HYDRO", THE GREEK WORD FOR WATER.
create electricity. The water pressure that is created by water is used to turn the blades of a turbine. The
renewable energy source. Water is renewable because the water cycle is continually recycling itself. Water
powers homes, offices, factories, hospitals, and schools. It is one of the first methods a developing country uses to bring affordable electricity to rural areas.
It helps improve hygiene, education, and employment
opportunities available to a community. China and India for instance, have built dozens of dams over the past decade, as their development has quickly grown.
expensive to build, and must be built to a very high standard. The high cost means that plants must operate for a long time to become profitable. The creation of dams can also create flooding of land, which means natural environment and the natural habitat of animals, and even people, may be destroyed.
cause a lot of water access problems. The creation of a dam in one location may mean that those down river no longer have control of water flow. This can create controversy in places where neighboring countries share a water supply.
pumping water from a river or a reservoir to a higher reservoir when electricity prices are low during the night. When the
energy. Water mills which were common until the Industrial Revolution, are large wheels usually
dam, and into a river below. The more water that passes
through a dam, the more energy is produced. Once a dam is built, an artificial man-made lake is created behind the dam.
Electricity is produced by a device called a turbine. Turbines
contain metal coils surrounded by magnets. When the magnets spin over the metal coils, electricity is produced. Turbines are located inside dams. The falling water spins the magnets.
Hydroelectric energy.
In the Philippines
ANGAT DAM AND MAGAT DAM
ANGAT DAM
Manila and nearby areas. Super Typhoon Emma (Welming) (1967 Pacific typhoon season) Super Typhoon Rita (Kading) (1978 Pacific typhoon season)
MAGAT DAM
MAGAT DAM
Magat Dam is a large rock-fill dam on the island of
Luzon in the Philippines. The dam is located on Magat River, a major tributary of Cagayan River. Construction of the dam started in 1975 and completed in 1982. Magat Dam is one of the largest dams in the Philippines and has two primary
History
The dam is part of the Magat River Multipurpose Project (MRMP) which was financed by the World Bank and whose purpose is to improve on the existing Magat River Irrigation System (MARIS) and to triple the production of rice in the Cagayan River basin.
Other countries
THREE GORGES DAM AND NIAGRA FALLS
the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, located in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, China. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW). In 2012, the amount of electricity the dam generated was similar to
Niagra Falls
as a valuable source of hydroelectric power. Managing the balance between recreational, commercial, and industrial uses has been a challenge for the stewards of the falls since the 19th century.