Water intakes have gates to control the amount of water that reaches the turbines and grids to filter out any debris such as trunks, branches, etc. Powerhouse : it houses the hydraulic and electrical equipment turbines, generators, transformers and the service area with control and testing rooms.
It has inlet and outlet gates to ensure the equipment area can be dry in case of repairs or disassembling equipment. Turbines : they harness the energy of the water that goes through them to rotate around a shaft. There are three main types of turbines: Pelton, Francis and Kaplan turbines propeller type. Transformers : electrical devices to increase or decrease the voltage in an alternating current circuit, while maintaining the electric power.
Run-of-the-river power plants : these hydroelectric power plants withdraw water from the river based on the available water flow, which depends on environmental conditions, and run it through the turbines.
They can also be used to provide water supply, flood control and irrigation. Hydropower offers many benefits to households, businesses and the environment. The water on our planet will never run out, and so hydropower is a sustainable and green energy source.
As such, hydropower is well-suited to meeting peak energy demand and is more responsive than many other renewable energy sources. Hydropower generators are also more reliable than other forms of electricity generation. For example, a generator can have a lifespan of up to years and requires little maintenance over its lifetime. The creation of hydropower sites can also benefit nearby towns.
Jobs are created at the plant itself, and because dams can only be built in rural locations, skilled workers are needed to build roads, mange transport and build equipment.
This can also open up new paths for rural areas and provide additional infrastructure. Hydropower also works well in combination with other renewable sources. Because hydro is consistent and reliable, it can be used to supplement solar and wind power, both of which can be more intermittent in their supplies of energy. Despite all the benefits of hydropower, it does have its downsides. The most obvious being, that hydropower plants can only be built on very specific locations, i.
Likewise, the costs of developing a hydropower plant can be very high. Large-scale projects in particular require significant investment, and there can be other conditions attached to their development, which add to the overall capital. Although impoundment and tidal power are very reliable energy sources, run-of-the-river systems require a constant flow of water.
As such, river-run hydro is dependent on the weather as it requires rainfall to create enough flow to turn a turbine. With this is mind, river-run hydro can be susceptible to drought. As climate change continues to raise the temperature of the planet, this problem could become more common in the near future. At the other end of the scale, impounding hydro can present a flood risk. The turbine is connected through the shaft to the rotor of a generator that converts the mechanical energy into electricity.
For the greatest efficiency, turbines are custom-made for each hydroelectric plant. While the concepts of hydropower are simple and straightforward, the operations are anything but. Each modern hydroelectric power plant relies on a multitude of complex systems that monitor, control, and improve conditions to ensure proper operations.
Bearings and lubricating systems minimize friction and wear and tear in moving parts. Filters trap the particulate that can abrade turbine blades. Powerful hydraulic systems open and close the penstock gates. Cooling systems keep temperatures under control to prevent overheating and fires in transformers, cables, switchgears, and other electrical and mechanical mechanisms.
This, in turn, causes electricity to flow and a voltage to develop at the generator output terminals. Demand for electricity is not "flat" and constant. Demand goes up and down during the day, and overnight there is less need for electricity in homes, businesses, and other facilities. For example, here in Atlanta, Georgia at PM on a hot August weekend day, you can bet there is a huge demand for electricity to run millions of air conditioners! But, 12 hours later at AM Hydroelectric plants are more efficient at providing for peak power demands during short periods than are fossil-fuel and nuclear power plants, and one way of doing that is by using "pumped storage", which reuses the same water more than once.
Pumped storage is a method of keeping water in reserve for peak period power demands by pumping water that has already flowed through the turbines back up 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 and a heavy load is placed on the system. The reservoir acts much like a battery, storing power in the form of water when demands are low and producing maximum power during daily and seasonal peak periods.
An advantage of pumped storage is that hydroelectric generating units are able to start up quickly and make rapid adjustments in output. They operate efficiently when used for one hour or several hours. Because pumped storage reservoirs are relatively small, construction costs are generally low compared with conventional hydropower facilities. Water is everywhere, which is fortunate for all of humanity, as water is essential for life. Even though water is not always available in the needed quantity and quality for all people everywhere, people have learned to get and use water for all of their water needs, from drinking, cleaning, irrigating crops, producing electricity, and for just having fun.
Nothing is perfect on Earth, and that includes the production of electricity using flowing water. Hydroelectric-production facilities are indeed not perfect a dam costs a lot to build and also can have negative effects on the environment and local ecology , but there are a number of advantages of hydroelectric-power production as opposed to fossil-fuel power production.
Gravity causes it to fall through the penstock. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest power. Tephra-laden water filtering through the turbines has necessitated the replacement of four turbines in 21 years.
The Agoyan Dam and its orange floodgates are designed to let highly turbid water bypass the turbines so as to avoid accelerated wear of generation components.
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