Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is electricity obtained from hydropower. Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammed water driving a water turbine and generator, although less common variations use water's kinetic energy or dammed sources, such as tidal power. Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source.
The energy extracted from water depends not only on the volume but on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height difference is called the head. The amount of potential energy in water is proportional to the head. To obtain very high head, water for a hydraulic turbine may be run through a large pipe called a penstock.
While many supply public electricity networks, some hydroelectric projects were created for private commercial purposes. For example, aluminium processing requires substantial amounts of electricity, and often dedicated hydroelectric projects are built to serve aluminium electrolytic plants. In the Scottish Highlands there are examples at Kinlochleven and Lochaber, constructed during the early years of the 20th century. In Suriname, the 'van Blommestein' lake, dam and power station were constructed to provide electricity for the Alcoa aluminum industry.
In parts of Canada (the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador) hydroelectricity is used so extensively that the word "hydro" is used to refer to any electricity delivered by a power utility. The government-run power utilities in these provinces are called BC Hydro, Manitoba Hydro, Hydro One (formerly "Ontario Hydro"), Hydro-Québec and Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro respectively. Hydro-Québec is the world's largest hydroelectric generating company, with a total installed capacity (2005) of 31,512 MW.
Importance
Hydroelectric power supplies 20% of world electricity. Norway produces virtually all of its electricity from hydro, while Iceland produces 83% of its requirements (2004), and Austria produces 67% of all electricity generated in the country from hydro (over 70% of its requirements). Canada is the world's largest producer of hydropower and produces over 70% of its electricity from hydroelectric sources.
Apart from regions with abundant hydropower, hydroelectric capacity is normally applied to peak-load demand, because water can be readily stored during off-peak hours. In fact, pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoirs are sometimes used to store electricity produced by thermal plants for use during peak hours. Large-scale hydropower development opportunities are limited in many countries because the best sites are either already in use or else unavailable due to economic or environmental restrictions.
In places where thermal plants provide most electric power, hydro power plants provide the important functions of load following and regulation. This permits thermal plants to be operated steadily at their best efficiency point, rather than varying continuously, which reduces efficiency and increases emissions. Hydro plants provide hour-to-hour adjustments to follow the fluctuating load, with no additional economic or environmental effect.
Advantages
The major advantage of hydro systems is elimination of the cost of fuel. Hydroelectric plants are immune to price increases for fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and do not require imported fuel. Hydroelectric plants tend to have longer lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in service having been built 50 to 100 years ago. Operating labor cost is usually low since plants are automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.
Pumped storage plants currently provide the only commercially important means for energy storage on a scale useful for a utility. Low-value generation in off-peak times occurs because fossil-fuel and nuclear plants cannot be entirely shut down on a daily basis. This energy is used to store water that can be released during high load daily peaks. Operation of pumped-storage plants improves the daily load factor of the generation system.
Reservoirs created by hydroelectric schemes often provide facilities for water sports, and become tourist attractions in themselves. Multi-use dams installed for irrigation, flood control, or recreation, may have a hydroelectric plant added with relatively low construction cost, providing a useful revenue stream to offset the cost of dam operation.
Disadvantages
The use of stored water is sometimes complicated by demand for irrigation which may occur out of phase with peak electricity demand. During a drought, water replenishment rates may not keep up with desired usage rates. Minimum discharge requirements represent an efficiency loss for the station if it is uneconomic to install a small turbine unit for that flow.
Large hydroelectric projects can be disruptive to surrounding aquatic ecosystems. For instance, studies have shown that dams along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America have reduced salmon populations by preventing access to spawning grounds upstream, even though most dams in salmon habitat have fish ladders installed. Salmon smolt are also harmed on their migration to sea when they must pass through turbines. This has led to some areas barging smolt downstream during parts of the year. Turbine and power-plant designs that are easier on aquatic life are an active area of research.
Generation of hydroelectric power impacts on the downstream river environment. Water exiting a turbine usually contains very little suspended sediment, which can lead to scouring of river beds and loss of riverbanks. Since turbines are often opened intermittently, rapid or even daily fluctuations in river flow are observed. For example, in the Grand Canyon, the daily cyclic flow variation caused by Glen Canyon Dam was found to be contributing to erosion of sand bars. Dissolved oxygen content of the water may change from pre-construction conditions. Water exiting from turbines is typically much colder than the pre-dam water, which can change aquatic faunal populations, including endangered species.
The reservoirs of hydroelectric power plants in tropical regions may produce substantial amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. This is due to plant material in flooded areas decaying in an anaerobic environment, and forming methane, a very potent greenhouse gas. The methane is released into the atmosphere once the water is discharged from the dam and turns the turbines. According to the World Commission on Dams report, where the reservoir is large compared to the generating capacity (less than 100 watts per square metre of surface area) and no clearing of the forests in the area was undertaken prior to impoundment of the reservoir, greenhouse gas emissions from the reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional oil-fired thermal generation plant [1]. In boreal reservoirs of Canada and Northern Europe, however, greenhouse gas emissions are typically only 2 to 8% of any kind of conventional thermal generation.
Another disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the need to relocate the people living where the reservoirs are planned. In many cases, no amount of compensation can replace ancestral and cultural attachments to places that have spiritual value to the displaced population. Additionally, historically and culturally important sites can be flooded and lost. Such problems have arisen at the Three Gorges Dam project in China, the Clyde Dam in New Zealand and the Ilısu Dam in Southeastern Turkey.
Recreational users of the reservoir or downstream areas are exposed to hazards due to changing water levels, and must be wary of power plant intakes and spillway operation.
The creation of a dam in a geologically inappropriate location may cause disasters like the one of the Vajont Dam in Italy, where almost 2000 people died, in 1963.
Some hydroelectric projects also utilize canals, typically to divert a river at a shallower gradient to increase the head of the scheme. In some cases, the entire river may be diverted leaving a dry riverbed. Examples include the Tekapo and Pukaki Rivers.
Hydro-electric facts
Oldest hydro-electric power stations:
- Appleton, Wisconsin, USA completed 1882, A waterwheel on the Fox river supplied the first commercial hydroelectric power for lighting to two paper mills and a house, two years after Thomas Edison demonstrated incandescent lighting to the public. Within a matter of weeks of this installation, a power plant was also put into commercial service at Minneapolis.
- Duck Reach, Launceston, Tasmania. Completed 1895. The first publicly owned hydro-electric plant in the Southern Hemisphere. Supplied power to the city of Launceston for street lighting.
- Decew Falls 1, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada completed 25 August 1898. Owned by Ontario Power Generation. Four units are still operational. Recognized as an IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering & Computing by the IEEE Executive Committee in 2002.
- It is believed that the oldest Hydro Power site in the United States is located on Claverack Creek, in Stottville, NY 11721 . The turbine, a Morgan Smith, was constructed in 1869 and installed 2 years later. It is one of the earliest water wheel installations in the United States and also generated electricity. It is owned today by Edison Hydro. (source needed)
Largest hydro-electric power stations
The La Grande Complex in Quebec, Canada, is the world's largest hydroelectric generating system. The eight generating stations of the complex have a total generating capacity of 16,021 MW. The Robert Bourassa station alone has a capacity of 5,616 MW. A ninth station (Eastmain-1) is currently under construction and will add 480 MW to the total. An additional project on the Rupert River, currently undergoing environmental assessments, would add two stations with a combined capacity of 888 MW.
ItaipúBrazil/Paraguay1984/1991/200314,000 MW93.4 TW-hours GuriVenezuela198610,200 MW46 TW-hours Grand CouleeUnited States1942/19806,809 MW22.6 TW-hours Sayano ShushenskayaRussia19836,721 MW23.6 TW-hours Robert-BourassaCanada19815,616 MW Churchill FallsCanada(Newfoundland and Labrador)19715,429 MW35 TW-hours YaciretáArgentina/Paraguay19984,050 MW19.1 TW-hours Ertan DamChina19993,300 MW(550MW×6)>17.0 TW-hours Gezhouba DamChina19883,115 MW>17.01 TW-hours Iron GatesRomania/Serbia19702,280 MW11.3 TW-hours AswanEgypt19702,100 MW
These are ranked by maximum power.
In progress
- Ilısu Dam, one of the Southeastern Anatolia Project Dams in Turkey, Construction started on August 5, 2006.
- Three Gorges Dam, China. First power in July 2003, with 9,800MW installed until 2006, scheduled completion 2009, total power 22,400 MW including the Underground Power Station (6×700MW)
- Xiangjiaba Dam, China.Construction started in November 26 2006, scheduled completion 2015, 6,000 MW
- Xiluodu Dam, China. Construction started in December 26 2005, scheduled completion 2015, 12,600 MW
- Jinping 1 Hydropower Station, China.Construction started November 11 2005, scheduled completion 2014, 3,600 MW
- Pubugou Dam, China.Construction started March 30 2004, scheduled completion 2010, 3,300 MW
Countries with the most hydro-electric capacity
- China, 401,300 GWh (117,000 MW installed)
- Canada, 358,400 GWh (66,954 MW installed)
- Brazil, 285,603 GWh (57,517 MW installed)(1999)
- USA, 260,400 GWh (79,511 MW installed)
- Russia, 169,700 GWh (46,100 MW installed)(1999)
- Norway, 180,800 GWh (27,528 MW installed)
- Japan, 88,500 GWh (27,229 MW installed)
- India, 82,237 GWh (22,083 MW installed)(1999)
- France, 56,100 GWh (25,335 MW installed)
These are 2005 figures and include pumped-storage hydroelectricity schemes.
References
- New Scientist report on greenhouse gas production by hydroelectric dams.
- International Water Power and Dam Construction Venezuela country profile
- International Water Power and Dam Construction Canada country profile
- Tremblay, Varfalvy, Roehm and Garneau. 2005. Greenhouse Gas Emissions - Fluxes and Processes, Springer, 732 p.
See also
- Hydropower
- List of energy topics
- Wave power
- Tidal power
- List of reservoirs and dams
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- Small hydro
- Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
- Environmental concerns with electricity generation
- William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong an early private hydro-electric station
External links
- Hydroelectric power
- World Commission on Dams report on environmental and social effects of large dams, including discussion of greenhouse gas emissions
- Edith Irvine Collection of photographs which includes the Electra Power Project, the first hydroelectric project in California located at Mokelumne Hill, California
- Hydro Quebec
- CBC Digital Archives – Hydroelectricity: The Power of Water
- University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Seattle Power and Water Supply Collection Historical photographs and pamphlets documenting the construction of hydroelectric power and water supply facilities built in Washington State from the late 1890s to the 1950s including the Snoqualmie Falls Power Plant, the Electron Plant, the Skagit River Hydroelectric Project, and the Cedar River water supply system.
- The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Federal Agency that regulates more than 1500 hydropower dams in the United States.
- Hydropower Reform Coalition A U.S.-based coalition of more than 130 national, state, and local conservation and recreation groups that seek to protect and restore rivers affected by hydropower dams.
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