Hydroelectricity or hydropower is one of the most important sources of renewable energy that has been utilized by humans for over a century. Hydropower is the process of generating electricity from the kinetic energy of moving water or from differences in water elevations. With growing concerns around climate change and need for sustainable sources of energy, hydropower plants continue providing clean electricity to many parts of the world.
History of Hydropower Development
One of the earliest hydropower plants was built in the late 1870s near Niagara Falls by forming a canal to divert water from the upper Niagara River and spinning huge water wheels powering a nearby factory. Through the early 20th century, many other larger hydropower plants were constructed all over United States and Europe harnessing power from major rivers. Massive multi-purpose dams were built during this time for flood control, irrigation and hydroelectric power generation. Countries like United States, Brazil, Canada and China have some of the largest hydropower plants in operation today.
How Hydropower Plants Work
All Hydropower Generation work on the principle of converting kinetic energy of flowing water into electrical energy. The basic components include a water source, a water conductor system like canals, pipelines or tunnels, a turbine, a generator and a transmission line. Water from higher elevation is channelled through pipelines to spin turbines connected to electric generators. The flow of water spins the turbines which in turn powers the generators producing electricity. The electricity is then sent to substations via transmission lines from where it is fed into the power grid for distribution.
Types of Hydropower Systems
There are three main types of hydropower systems used around the world based on water storage and flow conditions:
- Impoundment Systems: These are large dams that store river water in huge reservoirs behind them. They can generate power throughout the year. Examples are the Hoover dam and Three Gorges Dam.
- Diversion/Run-of-River Systems: These divert a portion of river flow through pipelines or tunnels without large storage. Power generation fluctuates with seasonal river flows.
- Pumped Storage Systems: Off-peak electricity is used to pump water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. During peak demand, water flows back generating power. They act like large scale batteries.
Impact on Environment and Communities
While hydropower offers numerous environmental and economic benefits, building large dams also comes with some challenges:
- Flooding of huge areas for reservoirs leads to displacement of communities and submerging of forests.
- Riverine ecosystems are affected due to changes in water flows and loss of habitats. Migration of fish species gets blocked.
- Release of methane from rotting vegetation on reservoirs' beds contributes to global warming in some cases.
- Construction of dams obstruct sediment transport downstream resulting in erosion and shoreline changes.
However, well planned hydropower with environment mitigation measures minimizes these problems. Modern projects follow strict social and green norms. Overall hydropower production emits less greenhouse gases compared to coal, gas or oil based power plants if life cycle emissions are considered.
Future of Hydropower
Hydropower currently provides around 16-17% of total worldwide electricity despite utilizing only about 1% of global technical potential from major river basins. Many new hydropower projects are under development in developing nations to meet growing power needs in sustainable manner. Technology innovations now allow construction of small and medium hydropower plants at sites not feasible before. Pumped storage systems complement intermittent renewable power like solar and wind by storing excess energy for times of low generation. With proper policies focusing on environmental protection and community benefits, hydropower will play a major role in transition to greener energy systems globally over next few decades.
Hydropower has been a reliable source of renewable energy since long and will continue providing baseload electricity worldwide. Though large dams cause displacement and ecological impacts, modern projects can mitigate problems through multi-purpose design and strict compliance of norms. As concerns around climate change increase, hydropower supported by other clean technologies offers a practical solution to meet rising power demand while reducing greenhouse emissions from fossil fuel power plants. With responsible development and management, the immense hydropower potential of many river basins can substantially contribute towards global targets of clean and sustainable energy access.
Explore more information on this topic, Please visit -
https://www.trendingwebwire.com/hydropower-generation-size-and-demand-analysis/
Comments
0 comment