Get a quote. The bigger the elevation and the more water that flows through the turbine, the greater the capacity for electricity generation. This completely depends on the size of the generator and the amount of potential power available at the site.
In , the UK generated around 1. Hydro can be a very predictable and consistent form of electricity which works well with other forms of renewable energy to match demand. This means that hydro is perfect for helping meet any peak demands and balance generation throughout the day. Using hydro in combination with other more weather dependent renewable generation such as wind and solar is ideal as it can be turned on very quickly and is far more responsive than gas, coal or nuclear power stations.
Hydroelectric generators also have long lives when compared to other forms of electricity generation. A hydroelectric generator can still be in service 50 to years of working and requires very little labour with low maintenance costs which makes a lot of economic sense.
Yes and no. The impact that a hydroelectric project will have on the environment will vary depending on scale and technology being used — for example you can expect a much smaller impact from a small scale run-of-river hydro system than one which requires flooding of land to create a new reservoir which would have a significant impact on the ecosystem both up and downstream.
Once the work has been completed, these locations provide an opportunity for a biodiverse ecosystem to thrive. Additionally, once the water has gone through the turbines to create electricity it carries on their natural water cycle, uncontaminated and unaffected by the process of creating electricity.
Maybe the dam is used to provide water to irrigate farmlands or maybe it was built to make a lake for recreation. As we explained above, you need to know two things:. Now all we need to do is a little mathematics. Engineers have found that we can calculate the power of a dam using the following formula:. To get an idea what kilowatts means, let's see how much electric energy we can make in a year.
Since electric energy is normally measured in kilowatt-hours, we multiply the power from our dam by the number of hours in a year. The average annual residential energy use in the U. So we can figure out how many people our dam could serve by dividing the annual energy production by 3, So our local irrigation or recreation dam could provide enough renewable energy to meet the residential needs of people if we added a turbine and generator.
Note: Before you decide to add hydropower to a dam, have a hydropower engineer review your calculations and consult with the local resource agencies to be sure you can obtain any permits that are required. Book Navigation. How Hydropower Works Hydropower plants capture the energy of falling water to generate electricity. Parts of a Hydroelectric Plant Most conventional hydroelectric plants include four major components see graphic below : Dam. Raises the water level of the river to create falling water.
Also controls the flow of water. Energy Information Administration publishes electricity generation from pumped storage hydroelectric power plants as negative generation.
Click to enlarge. Hydropower is one of the oldest sources of energy for producing mechanical and electrical energy and up until , it was the largest source of total annual U. Thousands of years ago, people used hydropower to turn paddle wheels on rivers to grind grain.
Before steam power and electricity were available in the United States, grain and lumber mills were powered directly with hydropower. The first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity in the United States was in to power 16 brush-arc lamps at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
The first U. There are about 1, conventional and 40 pumped-storage hydropower plants operating in the United States. The oldest operating U. The largest U.
Generation capacity is net summer capacity. Hydropower explained. What is energy? Units and calculators. Use of energy. Energy and the environment. Also in What is energy? Forms of energy Sources of energy Laws of energy. Also in Units and calculators explained Units and calculators Energy conversion calculators British thermal units Btu Degree days.
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