History of Hydropower. Hydropower Glossary. Hydropower , or hydroelectric power, is a renewable source of energy that generates power by using a dam or diversion structure to alter the natural flow of a river or other body of water. Hydropower relies on the endless, constantly recharging system of the water cycle to produce electricity, using a fuel—water—that is not reduced or eliminated in the process.
Renewable resources are an energy source that cannot be depleted and are able to supply a continuous source of clean energy. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. Skip to content. Image Slovenian Hydroelectric Dam A hydroelectric dam slows the flow of a Slovenian river as in generates power for the local community.
Twitter Facebook Pinterest Google Classroom. Encyclopedic Entry Vocabulary. Types of Hydroelectric Energy Plants There are three different types of hydroelectric energy plants, the most common being an impoundment facility.
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Learn more. 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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