Small hydel projects utilising low heads can be constructed at such falls. Small hydel projects can also be located just downstream of a dam, barrage or similar structure to utilise the difference in the water level in the reservoir and in the canal downstream. A bypass channel to bypass the flows adjacent to the fall structure is constructed and the power house is constructed in the bypass channel.
The bypass channel is suitably connected to the main channel. Several hydroelectric projects HEPs in India are languishing due to contractual conflicts, environmental litigations, local disturbances, financial stress and unwilling purchasers. Over two thousand years ago, people in Greece used flowing water to turn the wheel of their mill to ground wheat into flour.
How Does Hydroelectric Energy Work? Most hydroelectric power plants have a reservoir of water, a gate or valve to control how much water flows out of the reservoir, and an outlet or place where the water ends up after flowing downward.
Water gains potential energy just before it spills over the top of a dam or flows down a hill. The potential energy is converted into kinetic energy as water flows downhill. There are three different types of hydroelectric energy plants, the most common being an impoundment facility.
In an impoundment facility, a dam is used to control the flow of water stored in a pool or reservoir. When more energy is needed, water is released from the dam. Once water is released, gravity takes over and the water flows downward through a turbine. As the blades of the turbine spin, they power a generator. Another type of hydroelectric energy plant is a diversion facility.
This type of plant is unique because it does not use a dam. Instead, it uses a series of canals to channel flowing river water toward the generator-powering turbines.
The third type of plant is called a pumped-storage facility. This plant collects the energy produced from solar, wind, and nuclear power and stores it for future use. The plant stores energy by pumping water uphill from a pool at a lower elevation to a reservoir located at a higher elevation. The pressure of the flowing water on the turbine blades causes the shaft to rotate and the rotating shaft drives an electrical generator which converts the motion of the shaft into electrical energy.
Most commonly, water is dammed and the flow of water out of the dam to drive the turbines is controlled by the opening or closing of sluices, gates or pipes. This is commonly called penstock. Hydropower is the most advanced and mature renewable energy technology and provides some level of electricity generation in more than countries worldwide.
Hydro is a renewable energy source and has the advantages of low greenhouse gas emissions, low operating costs, and a high ramp rate quick response to electricity demand , enabling it to be used for either base or peak load electricity generation, or both. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, with over 80 per cent of its landmass receiving an annual average rainfall of less than mm per year and 50 per cent less than mm per year. There are many types of hydropower facilities , though they are all powered by the kinetic energy of flowing water as it moves downstream.
Hydropower utilizes turbines and generators to convert that kinetic energy into electricity, which is then fed into the electrical grid to power homes, businesses, and industries. Because hydropower uses water to generate electricity, plants are usually located on or near a water source.
The energy available from the moving water depends on both the volume of the water flow and the change in elevation—also known as the head—from one point to another.
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