Survey of Energy

Industry
Hydro Electric Energy
HYDRO-ELECTRIC PLANTS

►The hydroelectric plants convert the energy stored in water into

electric power by the use of water turbines coupled with
generators.

►To generate electricity, water must be in motion. This is kinetic

(moving) energy. When flowing water turns blades in a turbine,
the kinetic energy of moving water is changed to mechanical
(machine) energy.
The turbine turns the rotor of the generator which then converts
this mechanical energy into electricity. Since water is the initial
source of energy, we call this hydroelectric power or hydropower
for short. 2
 Hydro-electric Power
 Continuous availability of water
throughout the year is an
absolute necessity for proper
operation of hydroelectric
plants.
 Hydro power plants are sited on
rivers, streams, and canals, but
for a reliable water supply,
dams are needed. Dams store
water for later release for such
purposes as irrigation, domestic
and industrial use, and power
generation.
 The reservoir acts much like a
battery, storing water to be
released as needed to generate
power. 3
 The dam creates a head or height Transmitting Power
from which water flows. A pipe  Once the electricity is produced, it must be
(penstock) carries the water from delivered to where it is needed - our homes,
the reservoir to the turbine. schools, offices, factories, etc.
 The fast-moving water pushes the  Dams are often in remote locations and
turbine blades. The force on the power must be transmitted over some
distance to its users.
turbine blades turns the rotor, the
moving part of the electric  Vast networks of transmission lines and
facilities are used to bring electricity to us in
generator. When magnetic coils of
a form we can use.
wire on the rotor rotates round the
generator’s stationary coil (stator),  All the electricity generated at a power
plant comes first through transformers which
electricity is produced.
raise the voltage so it can travel long
 This concept was discovered by distances through power lines.
Michael Faraday in 1831 when he  Voltage is the pressure that forces an
found that electricity could be electric current through a wire.
generated by rotating magnets  At local substations, transformers reduce the
within copper coil voltage so electricity can be divided up and
directed throughout an area.
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 Transformers on poles (or buried
underground, in some
neighborhoods) further reduce the
electric power to the right voltage
for appliances and use in the
home.
 When electricity gets to our
homes, we buy it by the kilowatt-
hour, and a meter measures how
much we use.

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 How Power is Computed  The head produces a pressure
(water pressure), and the greater
 Before a hydroelectric power site the head, the greater the pressure
is developed, engineers compute to drive turbines.
how much power can be produced
when the facility is complete. The  Greater head or faster flowing
actual output of energy at a dam is water means more power
determined by the volume of water generation.
released (discharge) and the
vertical distance the water falls
(head).
 So, a given amount of water falling
from a given height will produce a
certain amount of energy.
 The head and the discharge at the
power site and the desired
rotational speed of the generator
determine the type of turbine to
be used.
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Types of Turbines Impulse turbine
Reaction turbine  An impulse turbine is a horizontal
or vertical wheel that uses the
 A reaction turbine is a horizontal or kinetic energy of water striking its
vertical wheel that operates with blades to cause rotation. The
the wheel completely submerged, wheel is covered by a housing and
a feature which reduces the blades are shaped so they turn
turbulence. In theory, the reaction the flow of water about 170
turbine works like a rotating lawn degrees inside the housing. After
sprinkler where water at a central turning the blades, the water falls
point is under pressure and to the bottom of the wheel housing
escapes from the ends of the and flows out.
blades, causing rotation. Reaction
turbines are the type most widely
used.

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Types of Hydropower Plants
 There are three types of
hydropower facilities:
impoundment, diversion, and
pumped storage. Some hydropower
plants use dams and some do not.
Impoundment
 The most common type of
hydroelectric power plant is an
impoundment plant.
 An impoundment plant, uses a dam
to store river water in a reservoir.
 Water released from the reservoir
flows through a turbine, spinning
its blades, which in turn activates
a generator to produce electricity.

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Diversion
 A diversion, sometimes called run- Pumped Storage
of-river, this plant channels a Pumped storage is a method of
portion of a river through a canal keeping water in reserve for peak
or penstock to a turbine for power period power demands.
generation. It may not require the  In this system, water is pumped to
use of a dam. a storage pool above the power plant
at a time when customer demand for
energy is low, such as during the
middle of the night.
The water is then allowed to flow
back through the turbine-generators
at times when demand is high.

Because pumped storage reservoirs

are relatively small, construction
costs are generally low compared to
conventional hydropower facilities

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 Small Hydropower
 Small hydropower plant has the
Sizes of Hydroelectric capacity to generate 10 MW or less
Power Plants of power
 Facilities range in size from large Micro Hydropower
power plants that supply many
consumers with electricity to small  A micro hydropower plant has a
and micro plants that individuals capacity of up to 100 kilowatts. A
operate for their own energy needs small or micro-hydroelectric power
or to sell power to utilities. system can produce enough
electricity for a home, farm,
Large Hydropower ranch, or village.
 Large hydropower plant is a facility
that has the capacity of more than
30 megawatts (MW).

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ADVANTAGES:
1. Once a dam is constructed, 5. The lake's water can be used for
electricity can be produced at a irrigation purposes.
constant rate.
6. The build up of water in the lake
2. If electricity is not needed, the means that energy can be stored
sluice gates can be shut, stopping until needed, when the water is
electricity generation. The water released to produce electricity.
can be saved for use another time
7. When in use, electricity produced
when electricity demand is high.
by dam systems do not produce
3. Dams are designed to last many green house gases. They do not
decades and so can contribute to pollute the atmosphere.
the generation of electricity for
many years / decades.
4. The lake that forms behind the dam
can be used for water sports and
leisure / pleasure activities. Often
large dams become tourist
attractions in their own right.

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DISADVANTAGES:
1. Dams are extremely expensive to 6.
build and must be built to a very high
standard. 7. Dams built blocking the progress of
2. The high cost of dam construction a river in one country usually
means that they must operate for means that the water supply from
many decades to become profitable. the same river in the following
3. The flooding of large areas of land country is out of their control. This
means that the natural environment can lead to serious problems
is destroyed. between neighboring countries.
4. People living in villages and towns
that are in the valley to be flooded,
must move out. This means that they
lose their farms and businesses. In
some countries, people are forcibly
removed so that hydro-power
schemes can go ahead.
5. The building of large dams can cause
serious geological damage. For
example, the building of the Hoover
Dam in the USA triggered a number
of earth quakes and has depressed
the earth’s surface at its location. 12