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NexPlan Recycling & Renewable Energy
Hydro Power | Hydraulic Power
Hydropower or hydraulic power is the force or energy of moving water. It is captured for some useful purpose. There are several forms of hydropower. Tidal power and wave power are used for energy sources. Also, there are hydroelectric dams or watermills used to create energy. Hydroelectricity is produced by hydropower. It is a renewable source of energy, produces no waste, and does not produce carbon dioxide (CO2), which contributes to greenhouse gases.
Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. A turbine converts the kinetic energy of falling water into mechanical energy. Then a generator converts the mechanical energy from the turbine into electrical energy. The amount of electricity a system can produce depends on the quantity of water passing through a turbine (the volume of water flow) and the height from which the water falls (head). The greater the flow and the head is, the more electricity that is produced.
Hydropower is a renewable form of energy since it uses the power of flowing water, without wasting or depleting it in the production of energy. By easing emissions from gas, coal and oil fired power plants; hydropower can contribute to reducing air pollution and to slowing down global warming. Hydropower is a clean source of electricity because it produces very few greenhouse gases, no other air pollutants, and it does not produce any toxic waste. Water from rivers is a domestic resource that is not subject to fluctuations in prices like oil products. Hydropower promotes energy security and independence. Hydropower is an electricity source with long viability and very low operation and maintenance costs that can be passed to future generations.
We are starting to see large amounts of coastal waters that are being reserved in North America by small companies who plan to take advantage of ocean energy technologies, in the hopes that these sites will become profitable sources of electricity. Worldwide, hydropower plants produce about one quarter of the world's electricity and supply more than one billion people with power. According to the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the world's hydropower plants output a combined total of 675,000 megawatts, the energy equivalent of 3.6 billion barrels of oil. There are more than 2,000 hydropower plants operating in North America, making hydropower the continent's largest renewable energy source.
Hydro Power Plants
There are three types of hydropower facilities: impoundment, diversion, and pumped storage. Some hydropower plants use dams and some do not. The most common type of hydroelectric power plant is an impoundment facility. An impoundment facility, commonly a large hydropower system, uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which propels a generator to produce electricity. The water may be released either to meet changing electricity needs or to sustain a constant reservoir level. A diversion, also called run-of-river, facility channels a part of a river through a canal or penstock. It may not depend on the use of a dam. When the demand for electricity is low, pumped storage facility stores energy by pumping water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. During periods of high electrical demand, the water is released back to the lower reservoir to generate electricity.
Hydro plants range in size from micro-hydro plants that power only a few homes to giant dams that provide electricity for millions of people. Micro-hydroelectric plants are the smallest type of hydroelectric energy systems. A micro hydropower plant has a capacity of up to 100 kilowatts. A small or micro-hydroelectric power system can produce enough electricity for a home, farm, ranch, or village. They are ideal for powering smaller services such as the operation of processing machines. Small hydropower systems have capacity facilities that have a capacity of 100 kilowatts to 30 megawatts of energy. These systems are relatively inexpensive and reliable. They have the potential to provide electricity to rural areas in developing countries around the world. Small systems are particularly important to countries that may not be able to afford the costs of importing fossil fuels such as petroleum from other countries. Large hydropower facilities have a capacity of more than 30 megawatts. Large hydro plants can play an important role in providing electricity in a large-scale environment if proper guidelines on their design, construction and operations are met.
Hydro Power around the World
Hydroelectric plants can reliably generate cheap electricity for over a century. The high degree of operational and supply security in combination with ever increasing fossil fuel costs mean that hydropower offers a cheap and secure electricity source. Hydroelectric power stations reduce the dependency on energy imports and the risks that go with such dependencies. In countries without an extensive energy supply system, hydropower can provide the basis for regional economic development.
Canada, China, Brazil and the United States are among the largest producers of electricity from hydropower. Countries such as Russia, Norway and other parts of Europe are also major hydroelectric-generators. The Itaipu hydroelectric power plant is currently one of the world's largest hydroelectric plants. It is located on the Parana River in Brazil and Paraguay. The power plant's 18 generating units add up to a total production capacity of 12,600 megawatts. The Three Gorges Dam is the hydroelectric power plant being developed on river Yangtze River in China. This is the largest hydroelectric power plant with the power generation capacity of 22,500 megawatts when completed. At present the power plant produces 17600MW of power. The Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric power plants plan to become fully operational by the year 2011. Robert -Bourassa is the largest hydroelectric power plant in Canada with the power producing capacity of 5616MW. It is constructed on La Grande River and it is part of Hydro- Quebec's James Bay Project territories with over 163 000 MW of hydropower potential.
Canada is a world leader in hydropower production with an installed capacity of over 70 858 megawatts, and an annual average production of 350 terawatt-hours which accounts for nearly 13 percent of the global output of hydropower. Two thirds of Canada's electricity needs are met with hydropower. There are approximately 475 hydropower plants in Canada. Half of these plants have a generating capacity of over 10 megawatts. Canada still has significant hydropower resources that can be developed in all provinces and in parts of Canada hydroelectricity is used so widely that the term "hydro" is used to refer to any electricity delivered by a power utility company.
In the United States, more than 2,000 hydropower plants make hydroelectric power the country's largest renewable energy source. It runs a close second to Canada in the total amount of hydroelectric power produced worldwide. However, only eight percent of the total U.S. electrical power was generated by hydroelectric power plants in 1999. The largest U.S. hydropower plant is the 6,800-megawatt Grand Coulee power station on the Columbia River in the state of Washington.
Hydropower Disadvantages
There are few problems with hydropower. In the past hydropower plants installed did not take into consideration environmental effects. The biggest draw back to hydropower is the high initial cost and the timeframe to build them but this cost can be recovered quickly due to low operating and maintenance costs. In addition some river hydro plants can impact the mobility of fish and other river life. Micro hydro is generally easier to develop because these can be implemented with the least possible effect on the water flow or surrounding areas. In regards to larger hydro power plants, dams are extremely expensive to build and must be built to a very high standard. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. Building a large dam alters the natural water table level. People living in villages and towns, near a large hydroelectric plant that are in the valleys flooded must move out. This means that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forced to move so that hydropower projects can go ahead.
Hydropower Advantages
Hydropower is a clean, domestic, and renewable source of energy. It provides inexpensive electricity and produces no pollution. Unlike fossil fuels, hydropower does not destroy water during the production of electricity. Hydropower is the only renewable source of energy that can replace fossil fuels' electricity production while satisfying growing energy needs. Considering the electric industry that exists today, hydropower has a noticeable advantage over fossil fueled generator plants, where it is clean, green and renewable. Hydropower does not contribute to local air pollution. Other energy generators add to air, water, and soil pollution and greenhouse gases. Hydroelectric energy is a proven technology, and hydroelectric stations have a long life. Dams are designed to last many decades and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many decades. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce electricity. Hydropower is a complementary power source to more intermittent renewable energy power sources such as wind and solar because the flow can be regulated to reserve generating capacity during peak demand periods or when the generating capacity of other renewable energy sources are insufficient. Hydropower is a source of energy, when used among other sources of clean, renewable energy such as solar and wind power, can supply a large portion of our energy needs today and in the future.
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