Intro to Power Engineering Complete Notes

All answers are given in these NOTES

Prepare at least 30 descriptive questions out of 50 and 30 MCQ out of 45

Quiz 1

1. Out of the following which one is not a unconventional source of energy ?

(A) Tidal power
(B) Geothermal energy
(C) Nuclear energy (ans)
(D) Wind power.

2. Pulverized coal is
(A) coal free from ash
(B) non-smoking coal
(C) coal which bums For long time
(D) coal broken into fine particles. (ans)

3. Heating value of coal is approximately

(A) 1000-2000 kcal / kg
(B) 2000-4000 kcal / kg
(C) 5000-6500 kcal / kg (ans)
(D) 9000-10,500 kcal / kg.
4. Water gas is a mixture of
(A) CO2 and O2
(B) O2and H2
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(C) H2, N2 and O2
(D) CO, N2 and H2. (ans)

5. Coal used in power plant is also known as

(A) steam coal (ans)
(B) charcoal
(C) coke
(D) soft coal.

6. Which of the following is considered as superior quality of coal ?

(A) Bituminous coal (ans)
(B) Peat
(C) Lignite
(D) Coke.

7. In a power plant, coal is carried from storage place to boilers generally by means of
(A) bucket
(B) V-belts (ans)
(C) trolleys
(D) manually.

8. Live storage of coal in a power plant means

(A) coal ready for combustion
(B) preheated coal
(C) storage of coal sufficient to meet 24 hour demand of the plant (ans)
(D) coal in transit.

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9. Pressure of steam in condenser is
(A) atmospheric pressure
(B) more than pressure
(C) slightly less than pressure
(D) much less than pressure. (ans)

10. Equipment used for pulverizing the coal is known as

(A) Ball mill (ans)
(B) Hopper
(C) Burner
(D) Stoker.

11. Power plants using coal work closely on known which of the following cycle ?
(A) Otto cycle
(B) Binary vapor cycle
(C) Brayton cycle
(D) Rankine cycle. (ans)

12. Critical pressure of water is

(A) 1 kg / cm2
(B) 100 kg / cm2
(C) 155 kg / cm2
(D) 213.8 kg / cm2. (ans)

13. The efficiency of a thermal power plant improves with

(A) increased quantity of coal burnt

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(B) larger quantity of water used
(C) lower load in the plant
(D) use of high steam pressures. (ans)

14. Which of the following contributes to the improvement of efficiency of Rankine cycle in
a thermal power plant ?
(A) Reheating of steam at intermediate stage
(B) Regeneration use of steam for heating boiler feed water
(C) Use of high pressures
(D) All of the above. (ans)

15. Steam pressures usually used in thermal power plants are

(A) 5 kg/cm2 to 10 kg / cm2
(B) 50 kg/cm2 to 100 kg / cm2
(C) 110 kg/cm2 to 170 kg / cm2 (ans)
(D) 200 kg/cm2 to 215 kg / cm2

. QUIZ 2

16. For constant voltage transmission the voltage drop is compensated by installing
(A) synchronous motors (ans)
(B) capacitors
(C) inductors
(D) all of the above.

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17. The disadvantage of constant voltage transmission is
(A) short circuit current of the system is increased (ans)
(B) load power factor in heavy loads
(C) large conductor area is required for same power transmission
(D) air of the above.

18. The surge impedance for over head line is taken as

(A) 10-20 ohms
(B) 50-60 ohms
(C) 100-200 ohms (ans)
(D) 1000-2000 ohms.

19. Pin insulators are normally used up to voltage of about

(A)100kV
(B) 66 kV
(C) 33 kV
(D) 25 kV. (ans)

20. Strain type insulator arc used where the conductors arc
(A) dead ended
(B) at intermediate anchor towers (ans)
(C) any of the above
(D) none of the above.
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.

21. For 66 kV lines the number of insulator discs used are

(A) 3
(B) 5 (ans)
(C) 8
(D) 12.

22. Ten discs usually suggest that the transmission line voltage is
(A) 11 kV
(B) 33 kV
(C) 66 kV
(D) 132 kV. (ans)

23. The effect of corona is

(A) increased energy loss (ans)
(B) increased reactance
(C) increased inductance
(D) all of the above.

24. Corona usually occurs when the electrostatic stress in the air around the conductor
succeeds

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(A) 30 kV (maximum value)/cm (ans)
(B) 22 kV (maximum value)/cm
(C) 11 kV (rms value)/cm
(D) 6.6 kv (rms value)/cm.

25. Corona effect can be detected by

(A) hissing sound
(B) faint luminous flow of bluish color
(C) presence of ozone detected by odor
(D) all of the above. (ans)

26. The current drawn by the line due to corona losses is

(A) sinusoidal
(B) square
(C) non-sinusoidal (ans)

27. Presence of ozone as a result of corona is harmful because

(A) it gives bad odor
(B) it corrodes the material (ans)
(C) it transfers energy to the ground
(D) reduces power factor.

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28. Between two supports, due to sag the conductor takes the form of
(A) catenary (ans)
(B) triangle
(C) ellipse
(D) semi-circle.

29. The inductance of a single phase two wire line is given by (D is the distance between
conductors and 2v is the diameter of conductor)
(A) 0.4 loge (D/r) mH/km (ans)
(B) 0.55 loge (D/r) mH/km
(C) 0.4 loge (r/D) mH/km
(D) 0.55 loge (r/D) mH/km.
30. The effect of ice deposition on conductor is
(A) increased skin effect
(B) reduced corona losses
(C) increased weight (ans)
(D) reduced sag.
QUIZ 3
.

Power Transmission
31. The effect of wind pressure is more predominant on
(A) transmission lines
(B) neutral wires
(C) insulator
(D) supporting towers. (ans)

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.

32. Which of the following statement is correct ?

(A) Wind pressure reduces corona effects
(B) Ice on conductors improves power factor
(C) Wind pressure is taken to act in a direction at right angles to that for ice (ans)
(D) Wind pressure and ice on conductors together improve regulation of power
transmitted.

33. Which of the following statements is incorrect ?

(A) As the temperature rises the tension in the transmission line decreases
(B) As temperature rises the sag in transmission lines reduces
(C) Tension and sag in transmission lines are complementary to each other. (ans)

34. Wooden poles for supporting transmission lines are used for voltages up to
(A) 440 V
(B)11 kV
(C) 22 kV (ans)
(D) 66 kV.

35. If K is the volume of cable conductor material required to transmit power, then for the
transmission of the same power, the volume of cable conductor required for single phase 2
wise AC system is

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(A) 2k
(B) k cosφ
(C) k/ cos2φ
(D) 2k/ cos2p (ans)

36. Maximum permissible span for wooden poles is

(A) 10 meter
(B) 20 meters
(C) 60 meters (ans)
(D) 200 meters.

37. When transformers or switchgears are to be installed in a transmission line, the poles
used are
(A) I type
(B) J type
(C) H type (ans)
(D) L type.

38. For improving life, steel poles are galvanized. Galvanizing is the process of applying a
layer of
(A) paint
(B) varnish
(C) tar coal

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(D) zinc. (ans)

39. The disadvantage of transmission lines as compared to cables is

(A) exposure to lightening
(B) exposure to atmospheric hazards like smoke, ice, etc.
(C) inductive interference between power and communication circuits
(D) all of the above. (ans)

40. ACSR conductor implies

(A) All conductors surface treated and realigned
(B) Aluminum conductor steel reinforced (ans)
(C) Anode current sinusoidally run
(D) Anodized Core Smooth Run.

41. The surge resistance of transmission lines is about

(A) 50 ohms
(B) 100 ohms
(C) 250 ohms
(D) 500 ohms. (ans)

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42. During storm the live conductor of public electric supply breaks down and touches the
earth. The consequences will be
(A) supply voltage will drop
(B) supply voltage will increase
(C) current will flow to earth (ans)
(D) no current will flow in the conductor.

43. In transmission system a feeder feeds power to

(A) service mains
(B) generating stations
(C) distributors (ans)
(D) all of the above.

44. For transmission lines the standing wave ratio is the ratio of
(A) maximum voltage to minimum voltage (ans)
(B) maximum current to minimum voltage
(C) peak voltage to rms voltage
(D) maximum reactance to minimum reactance.

45. In a transmission line following arc the distributed constants

(A) resistance and inductance only
(B) resistance, inductance and capacitance
(C) resistance, inductance, capacitance and short conductance. (ans)

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Prepare at least

Any 6 questions from: Q1-Q10

Any 6 questions from: Q11-Q20

Any 6 questions from: Q21-Q30

Any 6 questions from: Q31-Q40

Any 6 questions from: Q41-Q50

1 QUESTION :How do we balance a grid in terms of frequency fluctuations?

2 QUESTION : What are the main components of a Power System?
3 QUESTION : What do we use for Supervisory control and data Acquisition?
4 QUESTION : Differentiate between Residential and commercial power
systems.
5 QUESTION : Briefly explain the methods of Electricity Generation.
6 QUESTION: Elaborate various sources of Electricity.
7 QUESTION :Give the most recent worldwide date about Composition of
Electricity by Resource ( TWh per year ). For any five countries including
Pakistan.

8 Question: Explain final stage of delivery of Electric Power, THE DISTRIBUTION.

9 QUESTION : What do you know about the history of Electricity Distribution , in
early days?
10 QUESTION : Explain Distribution Networks Configurations.
___________________________________________________________________________________

11 QUESTION : Explain the Power system Components in detail.

12 QUESTION :Explain Protective Devices.
13 QUESTION : What are various types of Power System Protection
14 QUESTION : Explain Disturbance Monitoring Equipment.
15 QUESTION : Explain various Hyro Electricity Generation Facilities in detail.
16 QUESTION : How do we calculate the available power for Hydro Electric
Power Plants.
17 QUESTION : What are advantages and disadvantages of Hydro Power
Generation?
18 QUESTION : Give data for 5 largest Hydro Electric Producers in the world
19 Explain Main stream Solar Power Technologies.
20 Explain Hybrid Technologies in Solar Power Generation.

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21 QUESTION :What is the current status of PV Technology?
22 QUESTION : Explain in detail about any 3 world’s largest PV Power stations
23 QUESTION : Provide data for any three world’s largest operational solar
thermal power stations.
24 QUESTION : What is a Grid Parity.
25 QUESTION : What is Net metering?
26 QUESTION : What do you know about Green House Gases?
27 QUESTION : Can we implement Energy payback in Pakistan?
28 QUESTION : Explain some of the emerging technologies in terms of Solar
Power

29 QUESTION : Explain 5 Large Onshore Wind Farms in the world.

30 QUESTION : Explain Generator Characteristics and Stability

31 QUESTION : Explain offshore wind power .

32 QUESTION : What do you know about Collection and Transmission Network of

a Wind Farm?

33 QUESTION What is world’s new installed capacity for 2014

34 QUESTION : What are various growth trends in Wind Power sector?
35 QUESTION : What is penetration data?

36 QUESTION : What do you know about variability of renewable energy?

37 QUESTION : Explain Wind power Forecasting.
38 Explain the Turbine Design for wind power.
39 QUESTION : Explain various applications of Wind Energy.
40 QUESTION :Explain Nuclear Fusion & Fission Power.
41 QUESTION : Explain Function of Nuclear Power Plant
42 QUESTION :Explain Breeder Technology
43 QUESTION: What do you know about worldwide Debate about Nuclear
Technology?
44 QUESTION : What are some of Advanced Concepts in Nuclear Technology?
45 QUESTION : Explain a Thermal Power Station
46 QUESTION : What are various types of thermal power station...
47 QUESTION : Explain Thermal power generation Efficiency..
48 QUESTION : What are components of a typical coal thermal power station.
49 QUESTION : Explian the Boiler Operation in a Thermal Power Plant .
50 QUESTION : Briefy explain the concepts of Super Heater,Steam Condensing
and steam turbine generator .

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Electric power system

QUESTION :Explain the basics of an Electric Power System

An electric power system is a network of electrical components used to supply, transfer
and use electric power. An example of an electric power system is the network that
supplies a region's homes and industry with power—for sizable regions, this power system
is known as the grid and can be broadly divided into the generators that supply the power,
the transmission system that carries the power from the generating centres to the load
centres and the distribution system that feeds the power to nearby homes and industries.
Smaller power systems are also found in industry, hospitals, commercial buildings and
homes. The majority of these systems rely upon three-phase AC power—the standard for
large-scale power transmission and distribution across the modern world. Specialised
power systems that do not always rely upon three-phase AC power are found in aircraft,
electric rail systems, ocean liners and automobiles.

..

 1History
 2Basics of electric power
 3Balancing the grid
 4Components of power systems
o 4.1Supplies
o 4.2Loads
o 4.3Conductors
o 4.4Capacitors and reactors
o 4.5Power electronics
o 4.6Protective devices
o 4.7SCADA systems
 5Power systems in practice
o 5.1Residential power systems
o 5.2Commercial power systems

History...

In 1881 two electricians built the world's first power system at Godalming in England. It
was powered by a power station consisting of two waterwheels that produced an
alternating current that in turn supplied seven Siemens arc lamps at 250 volts and

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34incandescent lamps at 40 volts..1. However supply to the lamps was intermittent and in
1882 Thomas Edison and his company, The Edison Electric Light Company, developed the
first steam powered electric power station on Pearl Street in New York City. ThePearl
Street Station initially powered around 3,000 lamps for 59 customers..2..3. The power
station used direct current and operated at a single voltage. Direct current power could not
be easily transformed to the higher voltages necessary to minimise power loss during long-
distance transmission, so the maximum economic distance between the generators and
load was limited to around half-a-mile (800 m)..4.
That same year in London Lucien Gaulard and John Dixon Gibbs demonstrated the first
transformer suitable for use in a real power system. The practical value of Gaulard and
Gibbs' transformer was demonstrated in 1884 at Turin where the transformer was used to
light up forty kilometres (25 miles) of railway from a single alternating
currentgenerator..5. Despite the success of the system, the pair made some fundamental
mistakes. Perhaps the most serious was connecting the primaries of the transformers
in series so that active lamps would affect the brightness of other lamps further down the
line. Following the demonstrationGeorge Westinghouse, an American entrepreneur,
imported a number of the transformers along with a Siemens generator and set his
engineers to experimenting with them in the hopes of improving them for use in a
commercial power system. In July 1888, Westinghouse also licensed Nikola Tesla's US
patents for a polyphase AC induction motor and transformer designs and hired Tesla for
one year to be a consultant at the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing
Company'sPittsburgh labs..6.
One of Westinghouse's engineers, William Stanley, recognised the problem with connecting
transformers in series as opposed to parallel and also realised that making the iron core of
a transformer a fully enclosed loop would improve thevoltage regulation of the secondary
winding. Using this knowledge he built a much improved alternating current power system
at Great Barrington, Massachusetts in 1886..7.
By 1890 the electric power industry was flourishing, and power companies had built
thousands of power systems (both direct and alternating current) in the United States and
Europe. These networks were effectively dedicated to providing electric lighting. During
this time a fierce rivalry known as the "War of Currents" emerged between Thomas Edison
and George Westinghouse over which form of transmission (direct or alternating current)
was superior..8. In 1891, Westinghouse installed the first major power system that was
designed to drive a 100 horsepower (75 kW) synchronous electric motor, not just provide
electric lighting, at Telluride, Colorado..9. On the other side of the Atlantic, Mikhail Dolivo-
Dobrovolsky built a 20 kV 176 km three-phase transmission line from Lauffen am
Neckar to Frankfurt am Main for the Electrical Engineering Exhibition in Frankfurt..10. In
1895, after a protracted decision-making process, the Adams No. 1 generating station
at Niagara Falls began transferring three-phase alternating current power to Buffalo at 11
kV. Following completion of the Niagara Falls project, new power systems increasingly
chose alternating current as opposed to direct current for electrical transmission..11.
Developments in power systems continued beyond the nineteenth century. In 1936 the
first experimental HVDC (high voltage direct current) line using mercury arc valves was
built between Schenectady and Mechanicville, New York. HVDC had previously been

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achieved by series-connected direct current generators and motors (the Thury system)
although this suffered from serious reliability issues..12. In 1957 Siemens demonstrated the
first solid-state rectifier, but it was not until the early 1970s that solid-state devices became
the standard in HVDC..13. In recent times, many important developments have come from
extending innovations in the ICT field to the power engineering field. For example, the
development of computers meant load flow studies could be run more efficiently allowing
for much better planning of power systems. Advances in information technology and
telecommunication also allowed for remote control of a power system's switchgear and
generators.

Basics of electric power...

Electric power is the product of two quantities: current and voltage. These two quantities
can vary with respect to time (AC power) or can be kept at constant levels (DC power).
Most refrigerators, air conditioners, pumps and industrial machinery use AC power
whereas most computers and digital equipment use DC power (the digital devices you plug
into the mains typically have an internal or external power adapter to convert from AC to
DC power). AC power has the advantage of being easy to transform between voltages and is
able to be generated and utilised by brushless machinery. DC power remains the only
practical choice in digital systems and can be more economical to transmit over long
distances at very high voltages (seeHVDC)..14..15.
The ability to easily transform the voltage of AC power is important for two reasons:
Firstly, power can be transmitted over long distances with less loss at higher voltages. So in
power systems where generation is distant from the load, it is desirable to step-up
(increase) the voltage of power at the generation point and then step-down (decrease) the
voltage near the load. Secondly, it is often more economical to install turbines that produce
higher voltages than would be used by most appliances, so the ability to easily transform
voltages means this mismatch between voltages can be easily managed..14.
Solid state devices, which are products of the semiconductor revolution, make it possible to
transform DC power to different voltages, build brushless DC machines and convert
between AC and DC power. Nevertheless devices utilising solid state technology are often
more expensive than their traditional counterparts, so AC power remains in widespread
use..16.

1. QUESTION :

How do we balance a grid in terms of frequency fluctuations?

Balancing the grid...

One of the main difficulties in power systems is that the amount of active power consumed
plus losses should always equal the active power produced. If more power would be
produced than consumed the frequency would rise and vice versa. Even small deviations
from the nominal frequency value would damage synchronous machines and other
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appliances. Making sure the frequency is constant is usually the task of a transmission
system operator. In some countries (for example in the European Union) this is achieved
through a balancing market using ancillary services..17.

2. QUESTION : What are the main components of a Power System?

Components of power systems...

Supplies...

All power systems have one or more sources of power. For some power systems, the source
of power is external to the system but for others it is part of the system itself—it is these
internal power sources that are discussed in the remainder of this section. Direct current
power can be supplied by batteries,fuel cells or photovoltaic cells. Alternating current
power is typically supplied by a rotor that spins in a magnetic field in a device known as
a turbo generator. There have been a wide range of techniques used to spin a turbine's
rotor, from steam heated using fossil fuel (including coal, gas and oil) or nuclear energy,
falling water (hydroelectric power) and wind (wind power).
The speed at which the rotor spins in combination with the number of generator poles
determines the frequency of the alternating current produced by the generator. All
generators on a single synchronous system, for example the national grid, rotate at sub-
multiples of the same speed and so generate electric current at the same frequency. If the
load on the system increases, the generators will require more torque to spin at that speed
and, in a typical power station, more steam must be supplied to the turbines driving them.
Thus the steam used and the fuel expended are directly dependent on the quantity of
electrical energy supplied. An exception exists for generators incorporating power
electronics such as gearless wind turbines or linked to a grid through an asynchronous tie
such as a HVDC link — these can operate at frequencies independent of the power system
frequency.
Depending on how the poles are fed, alternating current generators can produce a variable
number of phases of power. A higher number of phases leads to more efficient power
system operation but also increases the infrastructure requirements of the system..18.
Electricity grid systems connect multiple generators and loads operating at the same
frequency and number of phases, the commonest being three-phase at 50 or 60 Hz.
However there are other considerations. These range from the obvious: How much power
should the generator be able to supply? What is an acceptable length of time for starting
the generator (some generators can take hours to start)? Is the availability of the power
source acceptable (some renewables are only available when the sun is shining or the wind
is blowing)? To the more technical: How should the generator start (some turbines act like
a motor to bring themselves up to speed in which case they need an appropriate starting
circuit)? What is the mechanical speed of operation for the turbine and consequently what
are the number of poles required? What type of generator is suitable

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(synchronous or asynchronous) and what type of rotor (squirrel-cage rotor, wound rotor,
salient pole rotor or cylindrical rotor)?
Loads...

A toaster is great example of a single-phase load that might appear in a residence. Toasters
typically draw 2 to 10 amps at 110 to 260 volts consuming around 600 to 1200 watts of
power

Power systems deliver energy to loads that perform a function. These loads range from
household appliances to industrial machinery. Most loads expect a certain voltage and, for
alternating current devices, a certain frequency and number of phases. The appliances
found in your home, for example, will typically be single-phase operating at 50 or 60 Hz
with a voltage between 110 and 260 volts (depending on national standards). An exception
exists for centralized air conditioning systems as these are now typically three-phase
because this allows them to operate more efficiently. All devices in your house will also
have a wattage, this specifies the amount of power the device consumes. At any one time,
the net amount of power consumed by the loads on a power system must equal the net
amount of power produced by the supplies less the power lost in transmission..20..21.
Making sure that the voltage, frequency and amount of power supplied to the loads is in
line with expectations is one of the great challenges of power system engineering. However
it is not the only challenge, in addition to the power used by a load to do useful work
(termed real power) many alternating current devices also use an additional amount of
power because they cause the alternating voltage and alternating current to become
slightly out-of-sync (termed reactive power). The reactive power like the real power must
balance (that is the reactive power produced on a system must equal the reactive power
consumed) and can be supplied from the generators, however it is often more economical
to supply such power from capacitors (see "Capacitors and reactors" below for more
details)..22.
A final consideration with loads is to do with power quality. In addition to sustained
overvoltages and undervoltages (voltage regulation issues) as well as sustained deviations
from the system frequency (frequency regulation issues), power system loads can be
adversely affected by a range of temporal issues. These include voltage sags, dips and
swells, transient overvoltages, flicker, high frequency noise, phase imbalance and poor
power factor..23. Power quality issues occur when the power supply to a load deviates from
the ideal: For an AC supply, the ideal is the current and voltage in-sync fluctuating as a
perfect sine wave at a prescribed frequency with the voltage at a prescribed amplitude. For
DC supply, the ideal is the voltage not varying from a prescribed level. Power quality issues
can be especially important when it comes to specialist industrial machinery or hospital
equipment.
Conductors...
Conductors carry power from the generators to the load. In a grid, conductors may be
classified as belonging to thetransmission system, which carries large amounts of power at
high voltages (typically more than 69 kV) from the generating centres to the load centres,

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or the distribution system, which feeds smaller amounts of power at lower voltages
(typically less than 69 kV) from the load centres to nearby homes and industry..24.
Choice of conductors is based upon considerations such as cost, transmission losses and
other desirable characteristics of the metal like tensile strength. Copper, with lower
resistivity than Aluminum, was the conductor of choice for most power systems. However,
Aluminum has lower cost for the same current carrying capacity and is the primary metal
used for transmission line conductors. Overhead line conductors may be reinforced with
steel or aluminum alloys..25.
Conductors in exterior power systems may be placed overhead or underground. Overhead
conductors are usually air insulated and supported on porcelain, glass or polymer
insulators. Cables used for underground transmission or building wiring are insulated
with cross-linked polyethylene or other flexible insulation. Large conductors are stranded
for ease of handling; small conductors used for building wiring are often solid, especially in
light commercial or residential construction..26.
Conductors are typically rated for the maximum current that they can carry at a given
temperature rise over ambient conditions. As current flow increases through a conductor it
heats up. For insulated conductors, the rating is determined by the insulation..27. For
overhead conductors, the rating is determined by the point at which the sag of the
conductors would become unacceptable..28.
Capacitors and reactors...
The majority of the load in a typical AC power system is inductive; the current lags behind
the voltage. Since the voltage and current are out-of-phase, this leads to the emergence of
an "imaginary" form of power known as reactive power. Reactive power does no
measurable work but is transmitted back and forth between the reactive power source and
load every cycle. This reactive power can be provided by the generators themselves,
through the adjustment of generator ex, but it is often cheaper to provide it through
capacitors, hence capacitors are often placed near inductive loads to reduce current
demand on the power system (i.e., increase the power factor), which may never exceed 1.0,
and which represents a purely resistive load. Power factor correction may be applied at a
central substation, through the use of so-called "synchronous condensers" (synchronous
machines which act as condensers which are variable in VAR value, through the adjustment
of machine ex) or adjacent to large loads, through the use of so-called "static condensers"
(condensers which are fixed in VAR value).
Reactors consume reactive power and are used to regulate voltage on long transmission
lines. In light load conditions, where the loading on transmission lines is well below
the surge impedance loading, the efficiency of the power system may actually be improved
by switching in reactors. Reactors installed in series in a power system also limit rushes of
current flow, small reactors are therefore almost always installed in series with capacitors
to limit the current rush associated with switching in a capacitor. Series reactors can also
be used to limit fault currents.
Capacitors and reactors are switched by circuit breakers, which results in moderately large
steps in reactive power. A solution comes in the form of static VAR compensators and static
synchronous compensators. Briefly, static VAR compensators work by switching in
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capacitors using thyristors as opposed to circuit breakers allowing capacitors to be
switched-in and switched-out within a single cycle. This provides a far more refined
response than circuit breaker switched capacitors. Static synchronous compensators take a
step further by achieving reactive power adjustments using only power electronics.
Power electronics...
Power electronics are semi-conductor based devices that are able to switch quantities of
power ranging from a few hundred watts to several hundred megawatts. Despite their
relatively simple function, their speed of operation (typically in the order of
nanoseconds.29.) means they are capable of a wide range of tasks that would be difficult or
impossible with conventional technology. The classic function of power electronics
is rectification, or the conversion of AC-to-DC power, power electronics are therefore found
in almost every digital device that is supplied from an AC source either as an adapter that
plugs into the wall (see photo in Basics of Electric Power section) or as component internal
to the device. High-powered power electronics can also be used to convert AC power to DC
power for long distance transmission in a system known asHVDC. HVDC is used because it
proves to be more economical than similar high voltage AC systems for very long distances
(hundreds to thousands of kilometres). HVDC is also desirable for interconnects because it
allows frequency independence thus improving system stability. Power electronics are also
essential for any power source that is required to produce an AC output but that by its
nature produces a DC output. They are therefore used by many photovoltaic installations
both industrial and residential.
Power electronics also feature in a wide range of more exotic uses. They are at the heart of
all modern electric and hybrid vehicles—where they are used for both motor control and
as part of the brushless DC motor. Power electronics are also found in practically all
modern petrol-powered vehicles, this is because the power provided by the car's batteries
alone is insufficient to provide ignition, air-conditioning, internal lighting, radio and
dashboard displays for the life of the car. So the batteries must be recharged while driving
using DC power from the engine—a feat that is typically accomplished using power
electronics. Whereas conventional technology would be unsuitable for a modern electric
car, commutators can and have been used in petrol-powered cars, the switch
to alternators in combination with power electronics has occurred because of the improved
durability of brushless machinery..30.
Some electric railway systems also use DC power and thus make use of power electronics
to feed grid power to the locomotives and often for speed control of the locomotive's
motor. In the middle twentieth century, rectifier locomotiveswere popular, these used
power electronics to convert AC power from the railway network for use by a DC
motor..31. Today most electric locomotives are supplied with AC power and run using AC
motors, but still use power electronics to provide suitable motor control. The use of power
electronics to assist with motor control and with starter circuits cannot be underestimated
and, in addition to rectification, is responsible for power electronics appearing in a wide
range of industrial machinery. Power electronics even appear in modern residential air
conditioners.

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Power electronics are also at the heart of the variable speed wind turbine. Conventional
wind turbines require significant engineering to ensure they operate at some ratio of the
system frequency, however by using power electronics this requirement can be eliminated
leading to quieter, more flexible and (at the moment) more costly wind turbines. A final
example of one of the more exotic uses of power electronics comes from the previous
section where the fast-switching times of power electronics were used to provide more
refined reactive compensation to the power system.
Protective devices...
Power systems contain protective devices to prevent injury or damage during failures. The
quintessential protective device is the fuse. When the current through a fuse exceeds a
certain threshold, the fuse element melts, producing an arc across the resulting gap that is
then extinguished, interrupting the circuit. Given that fuses can be built as the weak point
of a system, fuses are ideal for protecting circuitry from damage. Fuses however have two
problems: First, after they have functioned, fuses must be replaced as they cannot be reset.
This can prove inconvenient if the fuse is at a remote site or a spare fuse is not on hand.
And second, fuses are typically inadequate as the sole safety device in most power systems
as they allow current flows well in excess of that that would prove lethal to a human or
animal.
The first problem is resolved by the use of circuit breakers—devices that can be reset after
they have broken current flow. In modern systems that use less than about 10 kW,
miniature circuit breakers are typically used. These devices combine the mechanism that
initiates the trip (by sensing excess current) as well as the mechanism that breaks the
current flow in a single unit. Some miniature circuit breakers operate solely on the basis of
electromagnetism. In these miniature circuit breakers, the current is run through a
solenoid, and, in the event of excess current flow, the magnetic pull of the solenoid is
sufficient to force open the circuit breaker's contacts (often indirectly through a tripping
mechanism). A better design however arises by inserting a bimetallic strip before the
solenoid—this means that instead of always producing a magnetic force, the solenoid only
produces a magnetic force when the current is strong enough to deform the bimetallic strip
and complete the solenoid's circuit.
In higher powered applications, the protective relays that detect a fault and initiate a trip
are separate from the circuit breaker. Early relays worked based upon electromagnetic
principles similar to those mentioned in the previous paragraph,modern relays are
application-specific computers that determine whether to trip based upon readings from
the power system. Different relays will initiate trips depending upon different protection
schemes. For example, an overcurrent relay might initiate a trip if the current on any phase
exceeds a certain threshold whereas a set of differential relays might initiate a trip if the
sum of currents between them indicates there may be current leaking to earth. The circuit
breakers in higher powered applications are different too. Air is typically no longer
sufficient to quench the arc that forms when the contacts are forced open so a variety of
techniques are used. One of the most popular techniques is to keep the chamber enclosing
the contacts flooded with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)—a non-toxic gas that has sound arc-
quenching properties. Other techniques are discussed in the reference..32.

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The second problem, the inadequacy of fuses to act as the sole safety device in most power
systems, is probably best resolved by the use of residual current devices (RCDs). In any
properly functioning electrical appliance the current flowing into the appliance on the
active line should equal the current flowing out of the appliance on the neutral line. A
residual current device works by monitoring the active and neutral lines and tripping the
active line if it notices a difference..33.Residual current devices require a separate neutral
line for each phase and to be able to trip within a time frame before harm occurs. This is
typically not a problem in most residential applications where standard wiring provides an
active and neutral line for each appliance (that's why your power plugs always have at least
two tongs) and the voltages are relatively low however these issues do limit the
effectiveness of RCDs in other applications such as industry. Even with the installation of an
RCD, exposure to electricity can still prove lethal.

3. QUESTION : What do we use for Supervisory control and data Acquisition?

SCADA systems...
In large electric power systems, Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) is used
for tasks such as switching on generators, controlling generator output and switching in or
out system elements for maintenance. The first supervisory control systems implemented
consisted of a panel of lamps and switches at a central console near the controlled plant.
The lamps provided feedback on the state of plant (the data acquisition function) and the
switches allowed adjustments to the plant to be made (the supervisory control function).
Today, SCADA systems are much more sophisticated and, due to advances in
communication systems, the consoles controlling the plant no longer need to be near the
plant itself. Instead it is now common for plant to be controlled from a with equipment
similar to (if not identical to) a desktop computer. The ability to control such plant through
computers has increased the need for security and already there have been reports of
cyber-attacks on such systems causing significant disruptions to power systems..34.

Power systems in practice...

Despite their common components, power systems vary widely both with respect to their
design and how they operate. This section introduces some common power system types
and briefly explains their operation.
4. QUESTION : Differentiate between Residential and commercial power
systems.

Residential power systems...

Residential dwellings almost always take supply from the low voltage distribution lines or
cables that run past the dwelling. These operate at voltages of between 110 and 260 volts
(phase-to-earth) depending upon national standards. A few decades ago small dwellings
would be fed a single phase using a dedicated two-core service cable (one core for the

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active phase and one core for the neutral return). The active line would then be run
through a main isolating switch in the fuse boxand then split into one or more circuits to
feed lighting and appliances inside the house. By convention, the lighting and appliance
circuits are kept separate so the failure of an appliance does not leave the dwelling's
occupants in the dark. All circuits would be fused with an appropriate fuse based upon the
wire size used for that circuit. Circuits would have both an active and neutral wire with
both the lighting and power sockets being connected in parallel. Sockets would also be
provided with a protective earth. This would be made available to appliances to connect to
any metallic casing. If this casing were to become live, the theory is the connection to earth
would cause an RCD or fuse to trip—thus preventing the future electrocution of an
occupant handling the appliance. Earthing systems vary between regions, but in countries
such as the United Kingdom and Australia both the protective earth and neutral line would
be earthed together near the fuse box before the main isolating switch and the neutral
earthed once again back at the distribution transformer..35.
There have been a number of minor changes over the year to practice of residential wiring.
Some of the most significant ways modern residential power systems tend to vary from
older ones include:

For convenience, miniature circuit breakers are now almost


always used in the fuse box instead of fuses as these can
easily be reset by occupants.
 For safety reasons, RCDs are now installed on appliance
circuits and, increasingly, even on lighting circuits.
 Dwellings are typically connected to all three-phases of the
distribution system with the phases being arbitrarily
allocated to the house's single-phase circuits.
 Whereas air conditioners of the past might have been fed
from a dedicated circuit attached to a single phase,
centralised air conditioners that require three-phase power
are now becoming common.
 Protective earths are now run with lighting circuits to allow
for metallic lamp holders to be earthed.
 Increasingly residential power systems are
incorporating microgenerators, most notably, photovoltaic
cells.
Commercial power systems...
Commercial power systems such as shopping centers or high-rise buildings are larger in
scale than residential systems. Electrical designs for larger commercial systems are usually
studied for load flow, short-circuit fault levels, and voltage drop for steady-state loads and
during starting of large motors. The objectives of the studies are to assure proper
equipment and conductor sizing, and to coordinate protective devices so that minimal
disruption is cause when a fault is cleared. Large commercial installations will have an
orderly system of sub-panels, separate from the main distribution board to allow for better
system protection and more efficient electrical installation.

Page 24 of 170
Typically one of the largest appliances connected to a commercial power system is the
HVAC unit, and ensuring this unit is adequately supplied is an important consideration in
commercial power systems. Regulations for commercial establishments place other
requirements on commercial systems that are not placed on residential systems. For
example, in Australia, commercial systems must comply with AS 2293, the standard for
emergency lighting, which requires emergency lighting be maintained for at least 90
minutes in the event of loss of mains supply..36. In the United States, theNational Electrical
Code requires commercial systems to be built with at least one 20A sign outlet in order to
light outdoor signage..37. Building code regulations may place special requirements on the
electrical system for emergency lighting, evacuation, emergency power, smoke control and
fire protection.

...

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GENERATION

Electricity generation

Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from other sources
of primary energy. The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered
during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday. His basic
method is still used today: electricity is generated by the movement of a loop of wire,
or disc of copper between the poles of a magnet..1. For electric utilities, it is the first process
in the delivery of electricity to consumers. The other processes,
electricity transmission, distribution, and electrical power storage and recovery
using pumped-storage methods are normally carried out by the electric power industry.
Electricity is most often generated at a power station by electromechanical generators,
primarily driven by heat engines fueled by chemical combustion or nuclear fission but also
by other means such as the kinetic energy of flowing water and wind. Other energy sources
include solar photovoltaics and geothermal power and electro chemical batteries.

..

 Methods of generating electricity

o 2.1Turbines
o 2.2Reciprocating engines
o 2.3Photovoltaic panels
o 2.4Electrochemical
o 2.5Other generation methods
 3Economics of generation and production of electricity
 4Production
o 4.1Historical results of production of electricity
o 4.2Production by country
 4.2.1List of countries with source of electricity 2008
 5Cogeneration
 6Environmental concerns
 7Water consumption

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Central power stations became economically practical with the development of alternating
current power transmission, using powertransformers to transmit power at high voltage
and with low loss. Electricity has been generated at central stations since 1882. The first
power plants were run on water power.2. or coal,.3. and today, rely mainly
on coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, wind generators, andpetroleum, with a small
amount from solar energy, tidal power, andgeothermal sources. The use of power-lines and
power-poles have been significantly important in the distribution of electricity.
5. QUESTION : Briefly explain the methods of Electricity Generation.

Methods of generating electricity...

Sources of electricity in France in 2006;.5. nuclear power was the main source.

There are seven fundamental methods of directly transforming other forms of energy into
electrical energy:

 Static electricity, from the physical separation and transport

of charge (examples: triboelectric effect and lightning)
 Electromagnetic induction, where an electrical
generator, dynamo or alternatortransforms kinetic
energy (energy of motion) into electricity. This is the most
used form for generating electricity and is based on Faraday's
law. It can be experimented by simply rotating a magnet
within closed loops of a conducting material (e.g. copper
wire)
 Electrochemistry, the direct transformation of chemical
energy into electricity, as in a battery, fuel cell or nerve
impulse
 Photovoltaic effect, the transformation of light into electrical
energy, as in solar cells
 Thermoelectric effect, the direct conversion of temperature
differences to electricity, as in thermocouples, thermopiles,
andthermionic converters.
 Piezoelectric effect, from the mechanical strain of
electricallyanisotropic molecules or crystals. Researchers at
the US Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National
Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed
a piezoelectric generator sufficient to operate a liquid crystal
display using thin films of M13 bacteriophage..6.

Page 27 of 170
  Nuclear transformation, the creation and acceleration of
charged particles (examples: betavoltaics or alpha
particleemission)
Static electricity was the first form discovered and investigated, and the electrostatic
generator is still used even in modern devices such as the Van de Graaff
generator and MHD generators. Charge carriers are separated and physically transported
to a position of increased electric potential. Almost all commercial electrical generation is
done using electromagnetic induction, in which mechanical energy forces an electrical
generator to rotate. There are many different methods of developing the mechanical
energy, including heat engines, hydro, wind and tidal power. The direct conversion
of nuclear potential energy to electricity by beta decay is used only on a small scale. In a
full-size nuclear power plant, the heat of a nuclear reaction is used to run a heat engine.
This drives a generator, which converts mechanical energy into electricity by magnetic
induction. Most electric generation is driven by heat engines. The combustion of fossil
fuels supplies most of the heat to these engines, with a significant fraction from nuclear
fission and some from renewable sources. The modern steam turbine (invented by Sir
Charles Parsons in 1884) currently generates about 80% of the electric power in the world
using a variety of heat sources.
Turbines...

Large dams such as Three Gorges Dam in China can provide large amounts
of hydroelectric power; it has a 22.5 GW capability.

Almost all electrical power on Earth is generated with a turbine of some type. Turbines are
commonly driven by wind, water, steam or burning gas. The turbine drives an electric
generator. Power sources include:

 Steam
 Water is boiled by coal burned in a thermal power plant,
about 40% of all electricity is generated this way..7.
 Nuclear fission heat created in a nuclear reactor creates
steam. Less than 15% of electricity is generated this way.
 Renewables. The steam is generated by:
 Biomass
 Solar thermal energy (the sun as the heat
source): solar parabolic troughs and solar power
towers concentrate sunlight to heat a heat transfer
fluid, which is then used to produce steam.
 Geothermal power. Either steam under pressure
emerges from the ground and drives a turbine or hot
water evaporates a low boiling liquid to create vapor
to drive a turbine.

Page 28 of 170
Large dams such as Hoover Damcan provide large amounts ofhydroelectric power; it has
2.07 GWcapability.

 Gas Natural gas is burned in a gas turbine, turbines are

driven directly by gases produced by combustion. Combined
cycle are driven by both steam and natural gas. They generate
power by burning natural gas in a gas turbine and use
residual heat to generate steam. At least 20% of the worlds
electricity is generated by natural gas.
 Water Energy is captured from the movement of water. From
falling water (dam), the rise and fall of tides or ocean thermal
currents. Each driving a water turbine to produce
approximately 16% of the worlds electricity.
 Wind The windmill was a very early wind turbine. In a solar
updraft tower wind is artificially produced. Before 2010 less
than 2% of the worlds electricity was produced from wind.
Reciprocating engines...
Small electricity generators are often powered by reciprocating
engines burning diesel, biogas or natural gas. Diesel engines are often used for back up
generation, usually at low voltages. However most large power grids also use diesel
generators, originally provided as emergency back up for a specific facility such as a
hospital, to feed power into the grid during certain circumstances. Biogas is often
combusted where it is produced, such as a landfill or wastewater treatment plant, with a
reciprocating engine or a microturbine, which is a small gas turbine.

Photovoltaic panels...
Unlike the solar heat concentrators mentioned above, photovoltaic panels convert sunlight
directly to electricity. Although sunlight is free and abundant, solar electricity is still usually
more expensive to produce than large-scale mechanically generated power due to the cost
of the panels. Low-efficiency silicon solar cells have been decreasing in cost and
multijunction cells with close to 30% conversion efficiency are now commercially available.
Over 40% efficiency has been demonstrated in experimental systems..9. Until recently,
photovoltaics were most commonly used in remote sites where there is no access to a
commercial power grid, or as a supplemental electricity source for individual homes and
businesses. Recent advances in manufacturing efficiency and photovoltaic technology,
combined with subsidies driven by environmental concerns, have dramatically accelerated
the deployment of solar panels. Installed capacity is growing by 40% per year led by
increases in Germany, Japan, and the United States.
Electrochemical...
Primary cells, such as the common zinc-carbon batteries, act as power sources directly, but
many types of cells are used asstorage systems rather than primary generation systems.

Page 29 of 170
Open electrochemical systems, known as fuel cells, have been undergoing a great deal of
research and development in the last few years. Fuel cells can be used to extract power
either from natural fuels or from synthesized fuels (mainly electrolytichydrogen) and so
can be viewed as either generation systems or storage systems depending on their use.
Other generation methods...

Wind turbines usually provide electrical generation in conjunction with other methods of
producing power.

Various other technologies have been studied and developed for power generation.
Solid-state generation (without moving parts) is of particular interest in portable
applications. This area is largely dominated by thermoelectric (TE) devices,
though thermionic (TI) andthermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems have been developed as
well. Typically, TE devices are used at lower temperatures than TI and TPV systems.
Piezoelectric devices are used for power generation from mechanical strain, particularly
inpower harvesting.
Betavoltaics are another type of solid-state power generator which produces electricity
from radioactive decay. Fluid-based magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation has
been studied as a method for extracting electrical power from nuclear reactors and also
from more conventional fuel combustion systems. Osmotic power finally is another
possibility at places where salt and fresh water merges (e.g. deltas, ...)

Economics of generation and production of electricity...

The selection of electricity production modes and their economic viability varies in
accordance with demand and region. The economics vary considerably around the world,
resulting in widespread selling prices, e.g. the price in Venezuela is 3 cents per kWh while
in Denmark it is 40 cents per kWh. Hydroelectric plants, nuclear power plants, thermal
power plants and renewable sources have their own pros and cons, and selection is based
upon the local power requirement and the fluctuations in demand. All power grids have
varying loads on them but the daily minimum is the base load, supplied by plants which run
continuously. Nuclear, coal, oil and gas plants can supply base load.
Thermal energy is economical in areas of high industrial density, as the high demand
cannot be met by renewable sources. The effect of localized pollution is also minimized as
industries are usually located away from residential areas. These plants can also withstand
variation in load and consumption by adding more units or temporarily decreasing the
production of some units. Nuclear power plants can produce a huge amount of power from
a single unit. However, recent disasters in Japan have raised concerns over the safety of
nuclear power, and the capital cost of nuclear plants is very high. Hydroelectric power
plants are located in areas where the potential energy from falling water can be harnessed
for moving turbines and the generation of power. It is not an economically viable source of
production where the load varies too much during the annual production cycle and the
ability to store the flow of water is limited.

Page 30 of 170
Due to advancements in technology, and with mass production, renewable sources other
than hydroelectricity (solar power, wind energy, tidal power, etc.) experienced decreases
in cost of production, and the energy is now in many cases cost-comparative with fossil
fuels. Many governments around the world provide subsidies to offset the higher cost of
any new power production, and to make the installation of renewable energy systems
economically feasible. However, their use is frequently limited by their intermittent nature.
If natural gas prices are below $3 per million British thermal units, generating electricity
from natural gas is cheaper than generating power by burning coal..11.

Production...
The production of electricity in 2009 was 20,053TWh. Sources of electricity were fossil
fuels 67%, renewable energy 16% (mainly hydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass), and
nuclear power 13%, and other sources were 3%. The majority of fossil fuel usage for the
generation of electricity was coal and gas. Oil was 5.5%, as it is the most expensive common
commodity used to produce electrical energy. Ninety-two percent of renewable energy was
hydroelectric followed by wind at 6% and geothermal at 1.8%. Solar photovoltaic was
0.06%, and solar thermal was 0.004%. Data are from OECD 2011-12 Factbook (2009
data)..12.

6. QUESTION : Elaborate various sources of Electricity.

Source of Electricity (World total year 2008)

Natural
- Coal Oil Nuclear Renewables other Total
Gas

Average electric power

8,263 1,111 4,301 2,731 3,288 568 20,261
(TWh/year)

Average electric power

942.6 126.7 490.7 311.6 375.1 64.8 2311.4
(GW)

Proportion 41% 5% 21% 13% 16% 3% 100%

data source IEA/OECD

Total energy consumed at all power plants for the generation

of electricity was 4,398,768 ktoe (kilo ton of oil equivalent)
Page 31 of 170
which was 36% of the total for primary energy sources
(TPES) of 2008.
Electricity output (gross) was 1,735,579 ktoe (20,185 TWh),
efficiency was 39%, and the balance of 61% was generated
heat. A small part (145,141 ktoe, which was 3% of the input
total) of the heat was utilized at co-generation heat and
power plants. The in-house consumption of electricity and
power transmission losses were 289,681 ktoe. The amount
supplied to the final consumer was 1,445,285 ktoe (16,430
TWh) which was 33% of the total energy consumed at power
plants and heat and power co-generation (CHP) plants..13.
Historical results of production of electricity...

Production by country...
: Electricity consumption
The United States has long been the largest producer and
consumer of electricity, with a global share in 2005 of at least
25%, followed by China, Japan, Russia, and India. As of Jan-
2010, total electricity generation for the 2 largest generators
was as follows: USA: 3992 billion kWh (3992 TWh) and
China: 3715 billion kWh (3715 TWh).
List of countries with source of electricity 2008...
Data source of values (electric power generated) is
IEA/OECD..14. Listed countries are top 20 by population or top
20 by GDP (PPP) and Saudi Arabia based on CIA World
Factbook 2009..15.

Page 32 of 170
 7. QUESTION :Give the most recent worldwide date about Composition of
Electricity by Resource ( TWh per year ). For any five countries including
Pakistan.

Composition of Electricity by Resource (TWh per year 2008)

Fossil Fuel Renewable

Country's
electricity Nuclear rank
sector sub Geo Solar Solar
Coal Oil Gas rank Hydro
total Thermal PV* Thermal

World total 8,263 1,111 4,301 13,675 - 2,731 - 3,288 65 12 0.9

Proportion 41% 5.5% 21% 67% - 13% - 16% 0.3% 0.06% 0.004%

China 2,733 23 31 2,788 2 68 8 585 - 0.2 -

India 569 34 82 685 5 15 12 114 - 0.02 -

USA 2,133 58 1011 3,101 1 838 1 282 17 1.6 0.88

Indonesia 61 43 25 130 19 - - 12 8.3 - -

Brazil 13 18 29 59 23 14 13 370 - - -

Pakistan 0.1 32 30 62 22 1.6 16 28 - - -

Bangladesh 0.6 1.7 31 33 27 - - 1.5 - - -

Page 33 of 170
 Nigeria - 3.1 12 15 28 - - 5.7 - - -

Russia 197 16 495 708 4 163 4 167 0.5 - -

Japan 288 139 283 711 3 258 3 83 2.8 2.3 -

Mexico 21 49 131 202 13 9.8 14 39 7.1 0.01 -

Philippines 16 4.9 20 40 26 - - 9.8 11 0.001 -

Vietnam 15 1.6 30 47 25 - - 26 - - -

Ethiopia - 0.5 - 0.5 29 - - 3.3 0.01 - -

Egypt - 26 90 115 20 - - 15 - - -

Germany 291 9.2 88 388 6 148 6 27 0.02 4.4 -

Turkey 58 7.5 99 164 16 - - 33 0.16 - -

DR
- 0.02 0.03 0.05 30 - - 7.5 - - -
Congo

Iran 0.4 36 173 209 11 - - 5.0 - - -

Thailand 32 1.7 102 135 18 - - 7.1 0.002 0.003 -

France 27 5.8 22 55 24 439 2 68 - 0.04 -

Page 34 of 170
 UK 127 6.1 177 310 7 52 10 9.3 - 0.02 -

Italy 49 31 173 253 9 - - 47 5.5 0.2 -

South
192 15 81 288 8 151 5 5.6 - 0.3 -
Korea

Spain 50 18 122 190 14 59 9 26 - 2.6 0.02

Canada 112 9.8 41 162 17 94 7 383 - 0.03 -

Saudi
- 116 88 204 12 - - - - - -
Arabia

Taiwan 125 14 46 186 15 41 11 7.8 - 0.004 -

Australia 198 2.8 39 239 10 - - 12 - 0.2 0.004

Netherlands 27 2.1 63 92 21 4.2 15 0.1 - 0.04 -

sub Geo Solar Solar

Country Coal Oil Gas rank Nuclear rank Hydro
total Thermal PV Thermal

Solar PV* is Photovoltaics Bio other* = 198TWh (Biomass) +

69TWh (Waste) + 4TWh (other)

Cogeneration...
: Cogeneration
: Electrification
Co-generation is the practice of using exhaust or extracted
steam from a turbine for heating purposes, such as drying
paper, distilling petroleum in a refinery or for building heat.

Page 35 of 170
 Before central power stations were widely introduced it was
common for industries, large hotels and commercial buildings
to generate their own power and use low pressure exhaust
steam for heating..16. This practice carried on for many years
after central stations became common and is still in use in
many industries.

Environmental concerns...
: Environmental impact of electricity generation
: Global warming and Coal phase out
Variations between countries generating electrical power
affect concerns about the environment. In France only 10% of
electricity is generated from fossil fuels, the US is higher at
70% and China is at 80%..14. The cleanliness of electricity
depends on its source. Most scientists agree that emissions of
pollutants and greenhouse gases from fossil fuel-based
electricity generation account for a significant portion of
world greenhouse gas emissions; in the United States,
electricity generation accounts for nearly 40% of emissions,
the largest of any source. Transportation emissions are close
behind, contributing about one-third of U.S. production
of carbon dioxide..17. In the United States, fossil fuel
combustion for electric power generation is responsible for
65% of all emissions of sulfur dioxide, the main component of
acid rain..18. Electricity generation is the fourth highest
combined source of NOx, carbon monoxide, and particulate
matter in the US..19. In July 2011, the UK parliament tabled a
motion that "levels of (carbon) emissions from nuclear power
were approximately three times lower per kilowatt hour than
those of solar, four times lower than clean coal and 36 times
lower than conventional coal"..20.
: Life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions of energy sources

Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by electricity source..21.

50th percentile
Technology Description
(g CO2/kWhe)

Hydroelectric reservoir 4

Page 36 of 170
Lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions by electricity source..21.

50th percentile
Technology Description
(g CO2/kWhe)

Wind onshore 12

Nuclear various generation II reactor types 16

Biomass various 18

Solar thermal parabolic trough 22

Geothermal hot dry rock 45

Solar PV Polycrystalline silicon 46

Natural gas various combined cycle turbines without scrubbing 469

Coal various generator types without scrubbing 1001

Water consumption...
Most large scale thermoelectric power stations consume
considerable amounts of water for cooling purposes and
boiler water make up - 1 L/kWh for once through (e.g. river
cooling), and 1.7 L/kWh for cooling tower cooling..22. Water
abstraction for cooling water accounts for about 40% of
European total water abstraction, although most of this water
is returned to its source, albeit slightly warmer. Different
cooling systems have different consumption vs. abstraction
characteristics. Cooling towers withdraw a small amount of
water from the environment and evaporate most of it. Once-

Page 37 of 170
 through systems withdraw a large amount but return it to the
environment immediately, at a higher temperature.

...
Energy portal

Renewable energy portal

Infrastructure portal

 Cost of electricity by source

 Directive on Electricity Production from Renewable
Energy Sources
 Distributed generation
 Electrification
 Emissions & Generation Resource Integrated Database
 Droop speed control
 Electric power transmission
 Electric utility
 Eurelectric
 Electric power distribution
 Electricity retailing
 Energy development
 Environmental concerns with electricity generation
 Eugene Green Energy Standard
 Generating Availability Data System
 Load profile
 List of countries by electricity production
 List of countries by electricity production from renewable
sources
 Mains electricity
 Parallel generation
 Power quality
 Virtual power plant
 Voltage drop
 World energy consumption

...

Page 38 of 170
DISTRIBUTION

8 Question: Explain final stage of delivery of Electric Power,

THE DISTRIBUTION.

Electric power distribution

An electric power distribution system is the final stage in the delivery of electric power;
it carries electricity from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution
substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission voltage to
medium voltage ranging between 2 kV and 35 kV with the use
oftransformers. Primary distribution lines carry this medium voltage power to distribution
transformers located near the customer's premises. Distribution transformers again lower
the voltage to the utilization voltage of household appliances and typically feed several
customers through secondary distribution lines at this voltage. Commercial and residential
customers are connected to the secondary distribution lines through service drops.
Customers demanding a much larger amount of power may be connected directly to the
primary distribution level or the subtransmission level.

..

 1History
o 1.1First commercial distribution of electric power
o 1.2Introduction of alternating current
 2Variations
 3Modern distribution systems
o 3.1International differences
o 3.2Rural services
o 3.3Metering
o 3.4Terms
 4Distribution network configurations
 5Distribution industry

History...

9 QUESTION : What do you know about the history of

Electricity Distribution , in early days?

First commercial distribution of electric power...

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In the very early days of electricity distribution (for example Thomas Edison's Pearl Street
Station), direct current (DC) generators were connected to loads at the same voltage. The
generation, transmission and loads had to be of the same voltage because there was no way
of changing DC voltage levels, other than inefficient motor-generator sets. Low DC voltages
(around 100 volts) were used since that was a practical voltage for incandescent lamps,
which were the primary electrical load. Low voltage also required less insulation for safe
distribution within buildings. Theloss in a cable is proportional to the square of the current,
and the resistance of the cable. And, since voltage and current are inversely proportional in
this system, by greatly increasing the voltage the current is correspondingly reduced.
Therefore, a higher transmission voltage would reduce the copper size to transmit a given
quantity of power, but no efficient method existed to change the voltage of DC power
circuits. To keep losses to an economically practical level the Edison DC system needed
thick cables and local generators. Early DC generating plants needed to be within about 1.5
miles (2.4 km) of the farthest customer to avoid excessively large and expensive
conductors.
Introduction of alternating current...

General layout of electricity networks. The voltages and loadings are typical of a European
network.

The competition between the direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) (in the U.S.
backed by Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse respectively.1.) was known as the War
of Currents. At the conclusion of their campaigning, AC became the dominant form of
transmission of power. Power transformers, installed at power stations, could be used to
raise the voltage from the generators, and transformers at local substations could reduce
voltage to supply loads. Increasing the voltage reduced the current in the transmission and
distribution lines and hence the size of conductors and distribution losses. This made it
more economical to distribute power over long distances. Generators (such
as hydroelectric sites) could be located far from the loads.

Variations...

North American and European power distribution systems differ in that North American
systems tend to have a greater number of low-voltage step-down transformers located
close to customers' premises. For example, in the US a pole-mounted transformer in a
suburban setting may supply 7-11 houses,. needed.whereas in the UK a typical urban or
suburban low-voltage substation would normally be rated between 315 kVA and 1 MVA
and supply a whole neighborhood. This is because the higher domestic voltage used in
Europe (230 V vs 120 V) may be carried over a greater distance with acceptable power
loss. An advantage of the North American system is that failure or maintenance on a single
transformer will only affect a few customers. Advantages of the UK system are that the
transformers are fewer in number, larger and more efficient, and due to the diversity of
many loads there is reduced waste due to there being less need for spare capacity in the

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transformers. In North American city areas with many customers per unit area, network
distribution may be used, with multiple transformers interconnected with low voltage
distribution buses over several city blocks.
Rural electrification systems, in contrast to urban systems, tend to use higher distribution
voltages because of the longer distances covered by distribution lines (see Rural
Electrification Administration). 7.2, 12.47, 25, and 34.5 kV distribution is common in the
United States; 11 kV and 33 kV are common in the UK, Australia and New Zealand; 11 kV
and 22 kV are common in South Africa. Other voltages are occasionally used.
In New Zealand, Australia, Saskatchewan, Canada, and South Africa, single wire earth
return systems (SWER) are used to electrify remote rural areas.
While power electronics now allow for conversion between DC voltage levels, AC is
preferred in distribution due to the economy, efficiency and reliability of transformers.
High-voltage DC is used for transmission of large blocks of power over long distances, for
transmission over submarine cables for medium distances or for interconnecting adjacent
AC networks, but not for local distribution to customers.
Because the maximum voltage a generator can produce is economically limited by the
insulation of its windings, electric power is normally generated at a "medium" voltage, less
than 33 kV, in a power station. The voltage is stepped up to "high " voltage (more than 66
kV) at the generating station for transmission to distant load centers. The exact voltage
level depends on the amount of power to be transmitted and the distance. Different
standardized voltages are used in different countries, depending on local engineering
practice.
Power is carried through this transmission network of high voltage lines for up to
hundreds of kilometers. For reliability and economy, transmission systems are
interconnected to form the "electric grid" which may have many sources and loads
interconnected. Sometimes intermediate "sub transmission" voltage levels are used for
smaller loads or geographically isolated places.
At electrical substations, the voltage is stepped down to lower values for distribution, for
example, around a city. "Medium" voltage, lower than 33 kV, is used for distribution. Near
each customer's premises, a final transformer is used to reduce the transmission voltage to
the level used by the customer's lighting and power equipment. Depending on the
geographic density of customers, a single transformer may serve only one user or might
have many individual customers. In very densely populated areas, "secondary networks"
are used, with many distribution transformers feeding a "grid" at the utilization voltage.
This improves reliability since many distribution transformers share the collected load.

Modern distribution systems...

The modern distribution system begins as the primary circuit leaves the sub-station and
ends as the secondary service enters the customer's meter socket by way of a service drop.
Distribution circuits serve many customers. The voltage used is appropriate for the shorter

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distance and varies from 2,300 to about 35,000 volts depending on utility standard
practice, distance, and load to be served. Distribution circuits are fed from
a transformer located in a substation, where the voltage is reduced from the high values
used for power transmission.
Conductors for distribution may be carried on overhead pole lines, or in densely populated
areas, buried underground. Urban and suburban distribution is done with three-
phase systems to serve both residential, commercial, and industrial loads. Distribution in
rural areas may be only single-phase if it is not economical to install three-phase power for
relatively few and small customers.
Only large consumers are fed directly from distribution voltages; most utility customers
are connected to a transformer, which reduces the distribution voltage to the relatively low
voltage used by lighting and interior wiring systems. The transformer may be pole-
mounted or set on the ground in a protective enclosure. In rural areas a pole-mount
transformer may serve only one customer, but in more built-up areas multiple customers
may be connected. In very dense city areas, a secondary network may be formed with many
transformers feeding into a common bus at the utilization voltage. Each customer has
a service drop connection and a meter for billing. (Some very small loads, such as yard
lights, may be too small to meter and so are charged only a monthly rate.)
A ground connection to local earth is normally provided for the customer's system as well
as for the equipment owned by the utility. The purpose of connecting the customer's
system to ground is to limit the voltage that may develop if high voltage conductors fall
down onto lower-voltage conductors which are usually mounted lower to the ground, or if
a failure occurs within a distribution transformer. If all conductive objects are bonded to
the same earth grounding system, the risk of electric shock is minimized. However,
multiple connections between the utility ground and customer ground can lead tostray
voltage problems; customer piping, swimming pools or other equipment may develop
objectionable voltages. These problems may be difficult to resolve since they often
originate from places other than the customer's premises.
International differences...
In many areas, "delta" three phase service is common. Delta service has no distributed
neutral wire and is therefore less expensive. In North America and Latin America, three
phase service is often a Y (wye) in which the neutral is grounded at various points. The
neutral provides a low-resistance metallic return to the distribution transformer. Wye
service is recognizable when a line has four conductors, one of which is lightly insulated.
Three-phase wye service is ideal for motors and heavy power usage.
Many areas in the world use single-phase 220 V or 230 V residential and light industrial
service. In this system, the high voltage distribution network supplies a few substations per
area, and the 230 V power from each substation is directly distributed. A live (hot) wire
and neutral are connected to the building from one phase of three phase service. Single-
phase distribution is used where motor loads are light.
The Americas

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Many countries in north, central and south america use 60 Hz AC, the 120/240 volt split
phase system is used domestically and three phase is used for larger installations.
Europe
In Europe, electricity is normally distributed for industry and domestic use by the three-
phase, four wire system. This gives a three-phase voltage of 400 volts wye service and a
single-phase voltage of 230 volts. For industrial customers, 3-phase690 / 400 volt is also
available.. needed.. Large industrial customers have their own transformers with an input
from 10 kV to 220 kV.
Japan
Japan has a large number of small industrial manufacturers, and therefore supplies
standard low-voltage three phase-service in many suburbs. Also, Japan normally supplies
residential service as two phases of a three phase service, with a neutral. These work well
for both lighting and motors. Japan provides 50 Hz or 60 Hz AC power from different power
providers.
Rural services...
: Rural electrification
Rural services normally try to minimize the number of poles and wires. Single-wire earth
return (SWER) is the least expensive, with one wire. It uses higher voltages (than urban
distribution), which in turn permits use of galvanized steel wire. The strong steel wire
allows for less expensive wide pole spacing.
Higher voltage split-phase or three phase service at a higher infrastructure higher cost,
provide increased equipment efficiency and lower energy cost for large agricultural
facilities, petroleum pumping facilities, or water plants.
Metering...
Electricity meters use different metering equations depending on the form of electrical
service. Since the math differs from service to service, the number of conductors and
sensors in the meters also vary.
Terms...
Besides referring to the physical wiring, the term electrical service also refers in an abstract
sense to the provision ofelectricity to a building.

10 QUESTION : Explain Distribution Networks Configurations.

Distribution network configurations...

Distribution networks are divided into two types, radial or network..2. A radial system is
arranged like a tree where each customer has one source of supply. A network system has
multiple sources of supply operating in parallel. The secondary networkis commonly found

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in big cities and is the most reliable system. Spot networks are used for concentrated loads.
Radial systems are commonly used in rural or suburban areas.
Radial systems usually include emergency connections where the system can be
reconfigured in case of problems, such as a fault or required replacement. This can be done
by opening and closing switches. It may be acceptable to close a loop for a short time.
Within these networks there may be a mix of overhead line construction utilizing
traditional utility poles and wires and, increasingly, underground construction with cables
and indoor or cabinet substations. However, underground distribution is significantly more
expensive than overhead construction. In part to reduce this cost, underground power lines
are sometimes co-located with other utility lines in what are called common utility ducts.
Distribution feeders emanating from a substation are generally controlled by a circuit
breaker which will open when a fault is detected. Automatic circuit reclosers may be
installed to further segregate the feeder thus minimizing the impact of faults.

Long feeders experience voltage drop (power factor distortion) requiring capacitors to be
installed.
Characteristics of the supply given to customers are generally mandated
by contract between the supplier and customer. Variables of the supply include:

 AC or DC - Virtually all public electricity supplies are AC

today. Users of large amounts of DC power such as
someelectric railways, telephone exchanges and industrial
processes such as aluminium smelting usually either operate
their own or have adjacent dedicated generating equipment,
or use rectifiers to derive DC from the public AC supply
 Nominal voltage, and tolerance (for example, +/- 5 per cent)
 Frequency, commonly 50 or 60 Hz, 16.7 Hz and 25 Hz for
some railways and, in a few older industrial and mining
locations, 25 Hz.
 Phase configuration (single-phase, polyphase including two-
phase and three-phase)
 Maximum demand (some energy providers measure as the
largest mean power delivered within a 15 or 30 minute
period during a billing period)
 Load factor, expressed as a ratio of average load to peak load
over a period of time. Load factor indicates the degree of
effective utilization of equipment (and capital investment) of
distribution line or system.
 Power factor of connected load
 Earthing systems - TT, TN-S, TN-C-S or TN-C
 Prospective short circuit current
 Maximum level and frequency of occurrence of transients

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Reconfiguration, by exchanging the functional links between the elements of the system,
represents one of the most important measures which can improve the operational
performance of a distribution system. The problem of optimization through the
reconfiguration of a power distribution system, in terms of its definition, is a historical
single objective problem with constraints. Since 1975, when Merlin and Back.3. introduced
the idea of distribution system reconfiguration for active power loss reduction, until
nowadays, a lot of researchers have proposed diverse methods and algorithms to solve the
reconfiguration problem as a single objective problem. Some authors have proposed Pareto
optimality based approaches (including active power losses and reliability indices as
objectives). For this purpose, different artificial intelligence based methods have been
used: microgenetic,.4. branch exchange,.5. particle swarm optimization.6. and non-dominated
sorting genetic algorithm..7. .

Distribution industry...
In the first half of the 20th century, electricity providers were vertically-integrated,
meaning that the same company (a corporation or municipally-owned utility) provided
power generation, transmission, distribution, and metering and billing. However, starting
in the 1970s and 1980s nations began the process of deregulation and privatisation,
leading to electricity markets. A major focus of these was the elimination of the former so
called natural monopoly of generation, transmission, and distribution. Under deregulation,
the distribution system would remain regulated, but generation, retail (e.g., customer
interaction and billing) and sometimes transmission systems were transformed into
competitive markets. The de-verticalization of the traditional electric utility led to new
terminology to describe the business units (e.g., line company, wires business and network
company, as opposed to a "supply" company or energy retailer).. needed.

...
Energy portal
Sustainable development portal

 C37.94 - IEEE standard / rules to interconnect tele-protection

and multiplexer devices of power utility companies
 Cutout
 Distribution companies by country
 Electric generator
 Electric utility
 Electricity generation
 Electricity retailing
 Fault indicator
 Infrastructure
 List of energy storage projects
 Load profile
 Mains distribution unit

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  Network protector
 Power quality
 Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
 Transmission system operator

...

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POWER SYSTEM PROTECTION

Power-system protection

Power-system protection is a branch of electrical power engineering that deals with the
protection of electrical power systems from faults through the isolation of faulted parts
from the rest of the electrical network. The objective of a protection scheme is to keep the
power system stable by isolating only the components that are under fault, whilst leaving
as much of the network as possible still in operation. Thus, protection schemes must apply
a very pragmatic and pessimistic approach to clearing system faults.

..

 1Components
 2Protective device
 3Types of protection
 4Coordination
 5Disturbance-monitoring equipment
 6Performance measures

Components...
11 QUESTION : Explain the Power system Components in detail.

Protection systems usually comprise five components:

 Current and voltage transformers to step down the high

voltages and currents of the electrical power system to
convenient levels for the relays to deal with
 Protective relays to sense the fault and initiate a trip, or
disconnection, order;
 Circuit breakers to open/close the system based on relay and
autorecloser commands;
 Batteries to provide power in case of power disconnection in
the system.
 Communication channels to allow analysis of current and
voltage at remote terminals of a line and to allow remote
tripping of equipment.

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For parts of a distribution system, fuses are capable of both sensing and
disconnecting faults.
Failures may occur in each part, such as insulation failure, fallen or broken transmission
lines, incorrect operation of circuit breakers, short circuits and open circuits. Protection
devices are installed with the aims of protection of assets, and ensure continued supply of
energy.
Switchgear is a combination of electrical disconnect switches, fuses or circuit breakers used
to control, protect and isolate electrical equipment. Switches are safe to open under normal
load current, while protective devices are safe to open under fault current. .1.
12 QUESTION :Explain Protective Devices.

Protective device...

A digital (numeric) multifunction protective relay for distribution networks. A single such
device can replace many single-function electromechanical relays, and provides self-testing
and communication functions.

 Protective relays control the tripping of the circuit breakers

surrounding the faulted part of the network
 Automatic operation, such as auto-re-closing or system
restart
 Monitoring equipment which collects data on the system for
post event analysis
While the operating quality of these devices, and especially of protective relays, is always
critical, different strategies are considered for protecting the different parts of the system.
Very important equipment may have completely redundant and independent protective
systems, while a minor branch distribution line may have very simple low-cost protection.
There are three parts of protective devices:

 Instrument transformer: current or potential (CT or

VT)
 Relay
 Circuit breaker
Advantages of protected devices with these three basic
components include safety, economy, and accuracy..2..3.

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 Safety: Instrument transformers create electrical
isolation from the power system, and thus establishing
a safer environment for personnel working with the
relays.
 Economy: Relays are able to be simpler, smaller, and
cheaper given lower-level relay inputs.
 Accuracy: Power system voltages and currents are
accurately reproduced by instrument transformers
over large operating ranges.
13 QUESTION : What are various types of Protection.

Types of protection...

 Generator sets – In a power plant, the protective

relays are intended to prevent damage
to alternators or to the transformers in case of
abnormal conditions of operation, due to internal
failures, as well as insulating failures or regulation
malfunctions. Such failures are unusual, so the
protective relays have to operate very rarely. If a
protective relay fails to detect a fault, the resulting
damage to the alternator or to the transformer might
require costly equipment repairs or replacement, as
well as income loss from the inability to produce and
sell energy.

 High-voltage transmission network – Protection on

the transmission and distribution serves two
functions: Protection of plant and protection of the
public (including employees). At a basic level,
protection looks to disconnect equipment which
experience an overload or a short to earth. Some
items in substations such as transformers might
require additional protection based on temperature
or gas pressure, among others.

 Overload and back-up for distance (overcurrent) –

Overload protection requires a current transformer
which simply measures the current in a circuit. There
are two types of overload protection: instantaneous
overcurrent and time overcurrent (TOC).
Instantaneous overcurrent requires that the current
exceeds a predetermined level for the circuit breaker

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 to operate. TOC protection operates based on a
current vs time curve. Based on this curve if the
measured current exceeds a given level for the preset
amount of time, the circuit breaker or fuse will
operate.

 Earth fault ("ground fault" in the United States) –

Earth fault protection again requires current
transformers and senses an imbalance in a three-
phase circuit. Normally the three phase currents are
in balance, i.e. roughly equal in magnitude. If one or
two phases become connected to earth via a low
impedance path, their magnitudes will increase
dramatically, as will current imbalance. If this
imbalance exceeds a pre-determined value, a circuit
breaker should operate. Restricted earth fault
protection is a type of earth fault protection which
looks for earth fault between two sets current
transformers.4. (hence restricted to that zone).

 Distance (impedance relay)– Distance protection

detects both voltage and current. A fault on a circuit
will generally create a sag in the voltage level. If the
ratio of voltage to current measured at the relay
terminals, which equates to an impedance, lands
within a predetermined level the circuit breaker will
operate. This is useful for reasonable length lines,
lines longer than 10 miles, because its operating
characteristics are based on the line characteristics.
This means that when a fault appears on the line the
impedance setting in the relay is compared to the
apparent impedance of the line from the relay
terminals to the fault. If the relay setting is
determined to be below the apparent impedance it is
determined that the fault is within the zone of
protection. When the transmission line length is too
short, less than 10 miles, distance protection becomes
more difficult to coordinate. In these instances the
best choice of protection is current differential
protection.

 Back-up – The objective of protection is to remove

only the affected portion of plant and nothing else. A
circuit breaker or protection relay may fail to operate.
In important systems, a failure of primary protection
will usually result in the operation of back-up
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 protection. Remote back-up protection will generally
remove both the affected and unaffected items of
plant to clear the fault. Local back-up protection will
remove the affected items of the plant to clear the
fault.

 Low-voltage networks – The low-voltage network

generally relies upon fuses or low-voltage circuit
breakers to remove both overload and earth faults.

Coordination...
Protective device coordination is the process of
determining the "best fit" timing of current interruption
when abnormal electrical conditions occur. The goal is to
minimize an outage to the greatest extent possible.
Historically, protective device coordination was done on
translucent log–log paper. Modern methods normally
include detailed computer based analysis and reporting.
Protection coordination is also handled through dividing
the power system into protective zones. If a fault were to
occur in a given zone, necessary actions will be executed
to isolate that zone from the entire system. Zone
definitions account forgenerators,
buses, transformers, transmission and distribution lines,
and motors. Additionally, zones possess the following
features: zones overlap, overlap regions denote circuit
breakers, and all circuit breakers in a given zone with a
fault will open in order to isolate the fault. Overlapped
regions are created by two sets of instrument
transformers and relays for each circuit breaker. They are
designed for redundancy to eliminate unprotected areas;
however, overlapped regions are devised to remain as
small as possible such that when a fault occurs in an
overlap region and the two zones which encompass the
fault are isolated, the sector of the power system which is
lost from service is still small despite two zones being
isolated.
14 QUESTION : Explain Disturbance Monitoring Equipment.

Disturbance-monitoring equipment...

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Disturbance-monitoring equipment (DME) monitors and
records system data pertaining to a fault. DME accomplish
three main purposes:

1. model validation,
2. disturbance investigation, and
3. assessment of system protection performance..6.
DME devices include:.7.

 Sequence of event recorders, which record equipment

response to the event
 Fault recorders, which record actual waveform data of
the system primary voltages and currents.
 Dynamic disturbance recorders (DDRs), which record
incidents that portray power system behavior during
dynamic events such as low frequency (0.1 Hz – 3 Hz)
oscillations and abnormal frequency or voltage
excursions

Performance measures...
Protection engineers define dependability as the tendency
of the protection system to operate correctly for in-zone
faults. They define security as the tendency not to operate
for out-of-zone faults. Both dependability and security are
reliability issues. Fault tree analysis is one tool with
which a protection engineer can compare the relative
reliability of proposed protection schemes. Quantifying
protection reliability is important for making the best
decisions on improving a protection system, managing
dependability versus security tradeoffs, and getting the
best results for the least money. A quantitative
understanding is essential in the competitive utility
industry. .8..9.
Performance and design criteria for system-protection
devices include reliability, selectivity, speed, cost, and
simplicity..10.

 Reliability: Devices must function consistently when

fault conditions occur, regardless of possibly being
idle for months or years. Without this reliability,
systems may result in high costly damages.
 Selectivity: Devices must avoid unwarranted, false
trips.

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 Speed: Devices must function quickly to reduce
equipment damage and fault duration, with only very
precise intentional time delays.
 Economy: Devices must provide maximum protection
at minimum cost.
 Simplicity: Devices must minimize protection
circuitry and equipment.

...

 Fault current limiter

 Network analyzer (AC power)
 Prospective short circuit current

Page 53 of 170
Page 54 of 170
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated byhydropower; the
production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or
flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy, accounting for 16
percent of global electricity generation – 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in
2010,.1. and is expected to increase about 3.1% each year for the next 25 years.
Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generating 32
percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with
721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic
electricity use.
The cost of hydroelectricity is relatively low, making it a competitive source of renewable
electricity. The average cost of electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is
3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour..1. It is also a flexible source of electricity since the
amount produced by the station can be changed up or down very quickly to adapt to
changing energy demands. However, damming interrupts the flow of rivers and can harm
local ecosystems, and building large dams and reservoirs often involves displacing people
and wildlife..1. Once a hydroelectric complex is constructed, the project produces no direct
waste, and has a considerably lower output level of the greenhouse gas carbon
dioxide (CO2) than fossil fuelpowered energy plants..2.

..

 1History
 2Generating methods
o 2.1Conventional (dams)
o 2.2Pumped-storage
o 2.3Run-of-the-river
o 2.4Tide
 3Sizes, types and capacities of hydroelectric facilities
o 3.1Large facilities
o 3.2Small
o 3.3Micro
o 3.4Pico
o 3.5Underground
o 3.6Calculating available power
 4Advantages and disadvantages
o 4.1Advantages
 4.1.1Flexibility
 4.1.2Low power costs
 4.1.3Suitability for industrial applications
 4.1.4Reduced CO2 emissions
 4.1.5Other uses of the reservoir
o 4.2Disadvantages

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  4.2.1Ecosystem damage and loss of land
 4.2.2Siltation and flow shortage
 4.2.3Methane emissions (from reservoirs)
 4.2.4Relocation
 4.2.5Failure risks
o 4.3Comparison with other methods of power generation
 5World hydroelectric capacity
 6Major projects under construction

History
: Hydropower § History

Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other tasks. In
the mid-1770s, French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidorpublished Architecture
Hydraulique which described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines. By the late
19th century, the electrical generator was developed and could now be coupled with
hydraulics..5. The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development
as well..6. In 1878 the world's first hydroelectric power scheme was developed
at Cragside inNorthumberland, England by William George Armstrong. It was used to
power a single arc lamp in his art gallery..7. The old Schoelkopf Power Station No.
1near Niagara Falls in the U.S. side began to produce electricity in 1881. The
first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating
September 30, 1882, in Appleton, Wisconsin, with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts..8. By
1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the U.S. and Canada. By 1889 there
were 200 in the U.S. alone..5.
At the beginning of the 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being
constructed by commercial companies in mountains near metropolitan areas. Grenoble,
France held the International Exhibition of Hydropower and Tourism with over one million
visitors. By 1920 as 40% of the power produced in the United States was hydroelectric,
theFederal Power Act was enacted into law. The Act created the Federal Power
Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land and water. As the
power stations became larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes to
include flood control, irrigation and navigation. Federal funding became necessary for
large-scale development and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley
Authority (1933) and the Bonneville Power Administration(1937) were
created..6. Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation which had begun a series of western U.S.
irrigation projects in the early 20th century was now constructing large hydroelectric
projects such as the 1928 Hoover Dam..9. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was also
involved in hydroelectric development, completing the Bonneville Dam in 1937 and being
recognized by the Flood Control Act of 1936 as the premier federal flood control agency..10.
Hydroelectric power stations continued to become larger throughout the 20th century.
Hydropower was referred to as white coal for its power and plenty..11. Hoover Dam's initial
1,345 MW power station was the world's largest hydroelectric power station in 1936; it

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was eclipsed by the 6809 MW Grand Coulee Dam in 1942..12. The Itaipu Dam opened in
1984 in South America as the largest, producing 14,000 MW but was surpassed in 2008 by
the Three Gorges Dam in China at 22,500 MW. Hydroelectricity would eventually supply
some countries, including Norway, Democratic Republic of the Congo,Paraguay and Brazil,
with over 85% of their electricity. The United States currently has over 2,000 hydroelectric
power stations that supply 6.4% of its total electrical production output, which is 49% of
its renewable electricity..6.
15 QUESTION : Explain various Hyro Electricity Generation Facilities in
detail.

Generating methods

Conventional (dams)
: List of conventional hydroelectric power stations
Most hydroelectric power comes from the potential energy of dammedwater driving
a water turbine and generator. The power extracted from the water depends on the volume
and on the difference in height between the source and the water's outflow. This height
difference is called the head. A large pipe (the "penstock") delivers water from
thereservoir to the turbine..13.
Pumped-storage
: Pumped-storage hydroelectricity
: List of pumped-storage hydroelectric power stations
This method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water
between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, the excess
generation capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir. When the demand
becomes greater, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine.
Pumped-storage schemes currently provide the most commercially important means of
large-scale grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the generation
system. Pumped storage is not an energy source, and appears as a negative number in
listings..14.
Run-of-the-river
: Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity
: List of run-of-the-river hydroelectric power stations
Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so
that only the water coming from upstream is available for generation at that moment, and
any oversupply must pass unused. A constant supply of water from a lake or existing
reservoir upstream is a significant advantage in choosing sites for run-of-the-river. In the

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United States, run of the river hydropower could potentially provide 60,000 megawatts
(80,000,000 hp) (about 13.7% of total use in 2011 if continuously available)..15.
Tide
: Tide power
: List of tidal power stations
A tidal power station makes use of the daily rise and fall of ocean water due to tides; such
sources are highly predictable, and if conditions permit construction of reservoirs, can also
be dispatchable to generate power during high demand periods. Less common types of
hydro schemes use water's kinetic energy or undammed sources such as
undershot waterwheels. Tidal power is viable in a relatively small number of locations
around the world. In Great Britain, there are eight sites that could be developed, which
have the potential to generate 20% of the electricity used in 2012..16.

Sizes, types and capacities of hydroelectric facilities

Large facilities
: List of largest power stations in the world and List of largest hydroelectric power stations
Large-scale hydroelectric power stations are more commonly seen as the largest power
producing facilities in the world, with some hydroelectric facilities capable of generating
more than double the installed capacities of the current largest nuclear power stations.
Although no official definition exists for the capacity range of large hydroelectric power
stations, facilities from over a few hundred megawatts are generally considered large
hydroelectric facilities.
Currently, only four facilities over 10 GW (10,000 MW) are in operation worldwide, see
table below..1.

Capacity
Rank Station Country Location
(MW)

1. Three Gorges Dam China 30°49′15″N 111°00′08″E 22,500

Brazil
2. Itaipu Dam 25°24′31″S 54°35′21″W 14,000
Paraguay

3. Xiluodu Dam China 28°15′35″N 103°38′58″E 13,860

4. Guri Dam Venezuela 07°45′59″N 62°59′57″W 10,200

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Panoramic view of the Itaipu Dam, with the spillways (closed at the time of the photo) on
the left. In 1994, the American Society of Civil Engineers elected the Itaipu Dam as one of
the seven modern Wonders of the World..17.
Small
: Small hydro
Small hydro is the development of hydroelectric power on a scale serving a small
community or industrial plant. The definition of a small hydro project varies but a
generating capacity of up to 10 megawatts (MW) is generally accepted as the upper limit of
what can be termed small hydro. This may be stretched to 25 MW and 30 MW
in Canada and the United States. Small-scale hydroelectricity production grew by 28%
during 2008 from 2005, raising the total world small-hydro capacity to 85 GW. Over 70%
of this was in China (65 GW), followed by Japan (3.5 GW), the United States (3 GW),
andIndia (2 GW)..18.
Small hydro stations may be connected to conventional electrical distribution networks as
a source of low-cost renewable energy. Alternatively, small hydro projects may be built in
isolated areas that would be uneconomic to serve from a network, or in areas where there
is no national electrical distribution network. Since small hydro projects usually have
minimal reservoirs and civil construction work, they are seen as having a relatively low
environmental impact compared to large hydro. This decreased environmental impact
depends strongly on the balance between stream flow and power production.
Micro
: Micro hydro
Micro hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power installations that typically produce up
to 100 kW of power. These installations can provide power to an isolated home or small
community, or are sometimes connected to electric power networks. There are many of
these installations around the world, particularly in developing nations as they can provide
an economical source of energy without purchase of fuel..19. Micro hydro systems
complement photovoltaic solar energy systems because in many areas, water flow, and
thus available hydro power, is highest in the winter when solar energy is at a minimum.
Pico
: Pico hydro

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Pico hydro is a term used for hydroelectric power generation of under5 kW. It is useful in
small, remote communities that require only a small amount of electricity. For example, to
power one or two fluorescent light bulbs and a TV or radio for a few homes..20. Even smaller
turbines of 200-300W may power a single home in a developing country with a drop of
only 1 m (3 ft). A Pico-hydro setup is typically run-of-the-river, meaning that dams are not
used, but rather pipes divert some of the flow, drop this down a gradient, and through the
turbine before returning it to the stream.
Underground
: Underground power station
An underground power station is generally used at large facilities and makes use of a large
natural height difference between two waterways, such as a waterfall or mountain lake. An
underground tunnel is constructed to take water from the high reservoir to the generating
hall built in an underground cavern near the lowest point of the water tunnel and a
horizontal tailrace taking water away to the lower outlet waterway.
16 QUESTION : How do we calculate the available power for Hyro Electric
Power Plants.

Calculating available power

: Hydropower
A simple formula for approximating electric power production at a hydroelectric station

is: , where

 is Power in watts,

 is the density of water (~1000 kg/m3),

 is height in meters,

 is flow rate in cubic meters per second,

 is acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2,

 is a coefficient of efficiency ranging from 0 to 1.

Efficiency is often higher (that is, closer to 1) with larger and
more modern turbines.
Annual electric energy production depends on the available water supply. In some
installations, the water flow rate can vary by a factor of 10:1 over the course of a year.

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 17 QUESTION : What are advantages and disadvantages of Hydro Power
Generation?

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

The Ffestiniog Power Station can generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the
demand arising.

Flexibility
Hydropower is a flexible source of electricity since stations can be ramped up and down
very quickly to adapt to changing energy demands..1. Hydro turbines have a start-up time of
the order of a few minutes..21. It takes around 60 to 90 seconds to bring a unit from cold
start-up to full load; this is much shorter than for gas turbines or steam plants..22. Power
generation can also be decreased quickly when there is a surplus power
generation..23. Hence the limited capacity of hydropower units is not generally used to
produce base power except for vacating the flood pool or meeting downstream
needs..24. Instead, it serves as backup for non-hydro generators..23.
Low power costs
The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel. The cost of
operating a hydroelectric station is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil
fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed. The average cost of
electricity from a hydro station larger than 10 megawatts is 3 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt-
hour..1.
Hydroelectric stations have long economic lives, with some plants still in service after 50–
100 years..25. Operating labor cost is also usually low, as plants are automated and have few
personnel on site during normal operation.
Where a dam serves multiple purposes, a hydroelectric station may be added with
relatively low construction cost, providing a useful revenue stream to offset the costs of
dam operation. It has been calculated that the sale of electricity from theThree Gorges
Dam will cover the construction costs after 5 to 8 years of full generation..26. Additionally,
some data shows that in most countries large hydropower dams will be too costly and take
too long to build to deliver a positive risk adjusted return, unless appropriate risk
management measures are put in place..27.
Suitability for industrial applications
While many hydroelectric projects supply public electricity networks, some are created to
serve specific industrialenterprises. Dedicated hydroelectric projects are often built to
provide the substantial amounts of electricity needed foraluminium electrolytic plants, for
example. The Grand Coulee Dam switched to support Alcoa aluminium in Bellingham,
Washington, United States for American World War II airplanes before it was allowed to

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provide irrigation and power to citizens (in addition to aluminium power) after the war.
In Suriname, the Brokopondo Reservoir was constructed to provide electricity for
the Alcoa aluminium industry. New Zealand's Manapouri Power Station was constructed to
supply electricity to the aluminium smelter at Tiwai Point.
Reduced CO2 emissions
Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not directly produce carbon
dioxide. While some carbon dioxide is produced during manufacture and construction of
the project, this is a tiny fraction of the operating emissions of equivalent fossil-fuel
electricity generation. One measurement of greenhouse gas related and other externality
comparison between energy sources can be found in the ExternE project by the Paul
Scherrer Institut and the University of Stuttgart which was funded by the European
Commission..28. According to that study, hydroelectricity produces the least amount
of greenhouse gases and externality of any energy source..29. Coming in second place
was wind, third was nuclear energy, and fourth wassolar photovoltaic..29. The
low greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is found especially in temperate climates.
The above study was for local energy in Europe; presumably similar conditions prevail in
North America and Northern Asia, which all see a regular, natural freeze/thaw cycle (with
associated seasonal plant decay and regrowth). Greater greenhouse gas emission impacts
are found in the tropical regions because the reservoirs of power stations in tropical
regions produce a larger amount of methane than those in temperate areas..30.
Other uses of the reservoir
Reservoirs created by hydroelectric schemes often provide facilities for water sports, and
become tourist attractions themselves. In some countries, aquaculture in reservoirs is
common. Multi-use dams installed for irrigation supportagriculture with a relatively
constant water supply. Large hydro dams can control floods, which would otherwise affect
people living downstream of the project..31.
Disadvantages
: Renewable energy debate § Disadvantages of hydroelectricity
Ecosystem damage and loss of land

Hydroelectric power stations that use dams would submerge large areas of land due to the
requirement of areservoir.

Large reservoirs associated with traditional hydroelectric power stations result in

submersion of extensive areas upstream of the dams, sometimes destroying biologically
rich and productive lowland and riverine valley forests, marshland and grasslands. The loss
of land is often exacerbated by habitat fragmentation of surrounding areas caused by the
reservoir..32.
Hydroelectric projects can be disruptive to surrounding aquatic ecosystems both upstream
and downstream of the plant site. Generation of hydroelectric power changes the
downstream river environment. Water exiting a turbine usually contains very little
suspended sediment, which can lead to scouring of river beds and loss of

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riverbanks..33. Since turbine gates are often opened intermittently, rapid or even daily
fluctuations in river flow are observed.
Siltation and flow shortage
When water flows it has the ability to transport particles heavier than itself downstream.
This has a negative effect on dams and subsequently their power stations, particularly
those on rivers or within catchment areas with high siltation. Siltation can fill a reservoir
and reduce its capacity to control floods along with causing additional horizontal pressure
on the upstream portion of the dam. Eventually, some reservoirs can become full of
sediment and useless or over-top during a flood and fail..34..35.
Changes in the amount of river flow will correlate with the amount of energy produced by a
dam. Lower river flows will reduce the amount of live storage in a reservoir therefore
reducing the amount of water that can be used for hydroelectricity. The result of
diminished river flow can be power shortages in areas that depend heavily on
hydroelectric power. The risk of flow shortage may increase as a result of climate
change..36. One study from the Colorado River in the United States suggest that modest
climate changes, such as an increase in temperature in 2 degree Celsius resulting in a 10%
decline in precipitation, might reduce river run-off by up to 40%..36. Brazil in particular is
vulnerable due to its heavy reliance on hydroelectricity, as increasing temperatures, lower
water flow and alterations in the rainfall regime, could reduce total energy production by
7% annually by the end of the century..36.
Methane emissions (from reservoirs)

The Hoover Dam in the United States is a large conventional dammed-hydro facility, with
an installed capacity of 2,080 MW.

: Environmental impacts of reservoirs

Lower positive impacts are found in the tropical regions, as it has been noted that the
reservoirs of power plants in tropical regions produce substantial amounts ofmethane.
This is due to plant material in flooded areas decaying in an anaerobicenvironment, and
forming methane, a greenhouse gas. According to the World Commission on
Dams report,.37. where the reservoir is large compared to the generating capacity (less than
100 watts per square metre of surface area) and no clearing of the forests in the area was
undertaken prior to impoundment of the reservoir, greenhouse gas emissions from the
reservoir may be higher than those of a conventional oil-fired thermal generation plant..38.
In boreal reservoirs of Canada and Northern Europe, however, greenhouse gas emissions
are typically only 2% to 8% of any kind of conventional fossil-fuel thermal generation. A
new class of underwater logging operation that targets drowned forests can mitigate the
effect of forest decay..39.
Relocation
Another disadvantage of hydroelectric dams is the need to relocate the people living where
the reservoirs are planned. In 2000, the World Commission on Dams estimated that dams
had physically displaced 40-80 million people worldwide..40.

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Failure risks
: Dam failure and List of hydroelectric power station failures
Because large conventional dammed-hydro facilities hold back large volumes of water, a
failure due to poor construction, natural disasters or sabotage can be catastrophic to
downriver settlements and infrastructure. Dam failures have been some of the largest man-
made disasters in history.
The Banqiao Dam failure in Southern China directly resulted in the deaths of 26,000 people,
and another 145,000 from epidemics. Millions were left homeless. Also, the creation of a
dam in a geologically inappropriate location may cause disasters such as 1963 disaster
at Vajont Dam in Italy, where almost 2,000 people died..41.
The Malpasset Dam failure in Fréjus on the French Riviera (Côte d'Azur), southern France,
collapsed on December 2, 1959, killing 423 people in the resulting flood..42.retrieved
02sep2015
Smaller dams and micro hydro facilities create less risk, but can form continuing hazards
even after being decommissioned. For example, the small Kelly Barnes Dam failed in 1967,
causing 39 deaths with the Toccoa Flood, ten years after its power station was
decommissioned the earthen embankment dam failed..43.
Comparison with other methods of power generation
Hydroelectricity eliminates the flue gas emissions from fossil fuel combustion, including
pollutants such as sulfur dioxide,nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, dust, and mercury in
the coal. Hydroelectricity also avoids the hazards of coal mining and the indirect health
effects of coal emissions. Compared to nuclear power, hydroelectricity generates
no nuclear waste, has none of the dangers associated with uranium mining, nor nuclear
leaks.
Compared to wind farms, hydroelectricity power stations have a more predictable load
factor. If the project has a storage reservoir, it can generate power when needed.
Hydroelectric stations can be easily regulated to follow variations in power demand.

World hydroelectric capacity

World renewable energy share (2008)

Trends in the top five hydroelectricity-producing countries

: List of countries by electricity production from renewable sources and Cost of electricity by
source
: Category:Hydroelectricity by country
The ranking of hydro-electric capacity is either by actual annual energy production or by
installed capacity power rating. Hydro accounted for 16 percent of global electricity
consumption, and 3,427 terawatt-hours of electricity production in 2010, which continues
the rapid rate of increase experienced between 2003 and 2009..1.

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Hydropower is produced in 150 countries, with the Asia-Pacific region generated 32
percent of global hydropower in 2010. China is the largest hydroelectricity producer, with
721 terawatt-hours of production in 2010, representing around 17 percent of domestic
electricity use.Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Austria, Switzerland,
and Venezuela have a majority of the internal electric energy production from
hydroelectric power. Paraguay produces 100% of its electricity from hydroelectric dams,
and exports 90% of its production to Brazil and to Argentina. Norway produces 98–99% of
its electricity from hydroelectric sources..44.
A hydro-electric station rarely operates at its full power rating over a full year; the ratio
between annual average power and installed capacity rating is the capacity factor. The
installed capacity is the sum of all generator nameplate power ratings..45.
18 QUESTION : Give data for 5 largest HydroElectric Producers in the world

Ten of the largest hydroelectric producers as at 2009..44..46.

Annual hydroelectric Installed Capacity % of total
Country
production (TWh) capacity (GW) factor production
China 652.05 196.79 0.37 22.25
Canada 369.5 88.974 0.59 61.12
Brazil 363.8 69.080 0.56 85.56
United States 250.6 79.511 0.42 5.74
Russia 167.0 45.000 0.42 17.64
Norway 140.5 27.528 0.49 98.25
India 115.6 33.600 0.43 15.80
Venezuela 85.96 14.622 0.67 69.20
Japan 69.2 27.229 0.37 7.21
Sweden 65.5 16.209 0.46 44.34

Major projects under construction

Maximu Scheduled
Countr Constructio
Name m completio Comments
y n started
Capacity n

Belo Monte
11,181 MW Brazil March, 2011 2015 Preliminary
Dam construction

Page 65 of 170
 Maximu Scheduled
Countr Constructio
Name m completio Comments
y n started
Capacity n

underway..47.

Construction
suspended 14
days by court
order Aug
2012.48.

Multi-phase
construction
over a period
Siang Upper HE of 15 years.
11,000 MW India April, 2009 2024
Project Construction
was delayed
due to dispute
with China..49.
Controversial
228 meter tall
dam with
TaSang Dam 7,110 MW Burma March, 2007 2022 capacity to
produce
35,446 GWh
annually.
November 26,
Xiangjiaba Dam 6,400 MW China 2015
2006
Located in the
Grand
upper Nile
Ethiopian
6,000 MW Ethiopia 2011 2017 Basin, drawing
Renaissance
complaint
Dam
from Egypt
Nuozhadu Dam 5,850 MW China 2006 2017
To build this
dam, 23
Jinping 2 families and
January 30,
Hydropower 4,800 MW China 2014 129 local
2007
Station residents need
to be moved. It
works

Page 66 of 170
 Maximu Scheduled
Countr Constructio
Name m completio Comments
y n started
Capacity n

with Jinping 1
Hydropower
Stationas a
group.
Diamer-Bhasha October 18,
4,500 MW Pakistan 2023
Dam 2011
Jinping 1
November 11,
Hydropower 3,600 MW China 2014
2005
Station
Construction
halted in
Jirau Power
3,300 MW Brazil 2008 2013 March 2011
Station
due to worker
riots..50.
Construction
Guanyinyan of the roads
3,000 MW China 2008 2015
Dam and spillway
started.
Lianghekou
3,000 MW China 2009 2015
Dam.51.
Dagangshan August 15,
2,600 MW China 2014
Dam 2008.52.
Liyuan Dam 2,400 MW China 2008.53. 2013
This power
station would
be the last
development
in the Low
Caroni Basin,
Tocoma
bringing the
DamBolívar 2,160 MW Venezuela 2004 2014
total to six
State
power stations
on the same
river,
including the
10,000MWGur
i Dam..54.

Page 67 of 170
 Maximu Scheduled
Countr Constructio
Name m completio Comments
y n started
Capacity n

Brief
construction
halt in 2009
Ludila Dam 2,100 MW China 2007 2015
for
environmental
assessment.
Shuangjiangko December, The dam will
2,000 MW China 2018
u Dam 2007.55. be 312 m high.
Ahai Dam 2,000 MW China July 27, 2006 2015
Teles Pires
1,820 MW Brazil 2011 2015
Dam
Lower
2,000 MW India 2005 2014
Subansiri Dam

Renewable energy portal

Energy portal

 Hydraulic engineering
 International Rivers
 List of energy storage projects
 List of hydroelectric power station failures
 List of hydroelectric power stations
 List of largest power stations in the world
 Xcel Energy Cabin Creek Hydroelectric Plant Fire

Page 68 of 170
Page 69 of 170
SOLAR POWER

Solar power

Solar power is the conversion of sunlight into electricity, either directly

using photovoltaics (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power(CSP). Concentrated
solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of
sunlight into a small beam. Photovoltaics convert light into an electric current using
thephotovoltaic effect..1.
The International Energy Agency projected in 2014 that under its "high renewables"
scenario, by 2050, solar photovoltaics and concentrated solar power would contribute
about 16 and 11 percent, respectively, of the worldwide electricity consumption, and solar
would be the world's largest source of electricity. Most solar installations would be
in Chinaand India..2.
Photovoltaics were initially solely used as a source of electricity for small and medium-
sized applications, from the calculator powered by a single solar cell to remote homes
powered by an off-grid rooftop PV system. As the cost of solar electricity has fallen, the
number of grid-connected solar PV systems has grown into the millions and utility-
scale solar power stations with hundreds of megawatts are being built. Solar PV is rapidly
becoming an inexpensive, low-carbon technology to harness renewable energy from the
Sun.
Commercial concentrated solar power plants were first developed in the 1980s. The
392 MW Ivanpah installation is the largest concentrating solar power plant in the world,
located in the Mojave Desert of California. Other large CSP plants include
the SEGS(354 MW) in the Mojave Desert of California, the Solnova Solar Power
Station (150 MW) and the Andasol solar power station (150 MW), both in Spain. The
579 MW Solar Star, in the United States, is the world's largest PV power station.

..

 1Mainstream technologies
o 1.1Photovoltaics
o 1.2Concentrated solar power
 2Development and deployment
o 2.1Early days
o 2.2Mid-1990s to early 2010s

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 2.3Current status
o
o 2.4Forecasts
o 2.5Photovoltaic power stations
o 2.6Concentrating solar power stations
 3Economics
o 3.1Cost
o 3.2Grid parity
o 3.3Self consumption
o 3.4Energy pricing and incentives
 4Environmental impacts
o 4.1Greenhouse gases
o 4.2Energy payback
o 4.3Other issues
 5Emerging technologies
o 5.1Concentrator photovoltaics
o 5.2Floatovoltaics
 6Grid integration
19 QUESTION : Explain Main stream Solar Power Technologies.

Mainstream technologies
Many industrialized nations have installed significant solar power capacity into their grids
to supplement or provide an alternative to conventional energy sources while an
increasing number of less developed nations have turned to solar to reduce dependence on
expensive imported fuels (see solar power by country). Long distance transmission allows
remoterenewable energy resources to displace fossil fuel consumption. Solar power plants
use one of two technologies:

 Photovoltaic (PV) systems use solar panels, either

on rooftops or in ground-mounted solar farms, converting
sunlight directly into electric power.
 Concentrated solar power (CSP, also known as "concentrated
solar thermal") plants use solar thermal energy to make
steam, that is thereafter converted into electricity by a
turbine.
Photovoltaics
: Photovoltaics
A solar cell, or photovoltaic cell (PV), is a device that converts light into electric current
using the photovoltaic effect. The first solar cell was constructed byCharles Fritts in the
1880s..4. The German industrialist Ernst Werner von Siemens was among those who

Page 71 of 170
recognized the importance of this discovery..5.In 1931, the German engineer Bruno Lange
developed a photo cell using silver selenide in place of copper oxide,.6. although the
prototype selenium cells converted less than 1% of incident light into electricity. Following
the work ofRussell Ohl in the 1940s, researchers Gerald Pearson, Calvin Fuller and Daryl
Chapin created the silicon solar cell in 1954..7. These early solar cells cost 286 USD/watt
and reached efficiencies of 4.5–6%..8.
Conventional PV systems
The array of a photovoltaic power system, or PV system, produces direct current (DC)
power which fluctuates with the sunlight's intensity. For practical use this usually requires
conversion to certain desired voltages or alternating current (AC), through the use
of inverters..3. Multiple solar cells are connected inside modules. Modules are wired
together to form arrays, then tied to an inverter, which produces power at the desired
voltage, and for AC, the desired frequency/phase..3.
Many residential PV systems are connected to the grid wherever available, especially in
developed countries with large markets..9. In these grid-connected PV systems, use of
energy storage is optional. In certain applications such as satellites, lighthouses, or in
developing countries, batteries or additional power generators are often added as back-
ups. Such stand-alone power systems permit operations at night and at other times of
limited sunlight.
Concentrated solar power
: Concentrated solar power
Concentrated solar power (CSP), also called "concentrated solar thermal", uses lenses or
mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Contrary
to photovoltaics – which converts light directly into electricity – CSP uses the heat of the
sun's radiation to generate electricity from conventional steam-driven turbines.
A wide range of concentrating technologies exists: among the best known are the parabolic
trough, the compact linear Fresnel reflector, the Stirling dish and the solar power tower.
Various techniques are used to track the sun and focus light. In all of these systems
aworking fluid is heated by the concentrated sunlight, and is then used for power
generation or energy storage..10. Thermal storage efficiently allows up to 24-hour electricity
generation..11.
A parabolic trough consists of a linear parabolic reflector that concentrates light onto a
receiver positioned along the reflector's focal line. The receiver is a tube positioned right
above the middle of the parabolic mirror and is filled with a working fluid. The reflector is
made to follow the sun during daylight hours by tracking along a single axis. Parabolic
trough systems provide the best land-use factor of any solar technology..12. The SEGSplants
in California and Acciona's Nevada Solar One near Boulder City, Nevada are representatives
of this technology..13..14.
Compact Linear Fresnel Reflectors are CSP-plants which use many thin mirror strips instead
of parabolic mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto two tubes with working fluid. This has
the advantage that flat mirrors can be used which are much cheaper than parabolic
mirrors, and that more reflectors can be placed in the same amount of space, allowing more

Page 72 of 170
of the available sunlight to be used. Concentrating linear fresnel reflectors can be used in
either large or more compact plants..15..16.
The Stirling solar dish combines a parabolic concentrating dish with a Stirling engine which
normally drives an electric generator. The advantages of Stirling solar over photovoltaic
cells are higher efficiency of converting sunlight into electricity and longer lifetime.
Parabolic dish systems give the highest efficiency among CSP technologies..17. The
50 kW Big Dish inCanberra, Australia is an example of this technology..13.
A solar power tower uses an array of tracking reflectors (heliostats) to concentrate light on
a central receiver atop a tower. Power towers are more cost effective, offer higher
efficiency and better energy storage capability among CSP technologies..13. The PS10 Solar
Power Plant and PS20 solar power plant are examples of this technology.
20 QUESTION : Explain Hybrid Technologies in Solar Power Generation.

Hybrid systems
A hybrid system combines (C)PV and CSP with one
another or with other forms of generation such as diesel,
wind andbiogas. The combined form of generation may
enable the system to modulate power output as a function
of demand or at least reduce the fluctuating nature of
solar power and the consumption of non renewable fuel.
Hybrid systems are most often found on islands.
CPV/CSP system
A novel solar CPV/CSP hybrid system has been proposed,
combining concentrator photovoltaics with the non-PV
technology of concentrated solar power, or also known as
concentrated solar thermal..18.
ISCC system
The Hassi R'Mel power station in Algeria, is an example of
combining CSP with a gas turbine, where a 25-megawatt
CSP-parabolic trough array supplements a much larger
130 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant. Another
example is the Yazd power station in Iran.
PVT system
Hybrid PV/T), also known as photovoltaic thermal hybrid
solar collectors convert solar radiation into thermal and
electrical energy. Such a system combines a solar (PV)
module with a solar thermal collector in an
complementary way.
CPVT system
A concentrated photovoltaic thermal hybrid (CPVT)
system is similar to a PVT system. It uses concentrated

Page 73 of 170
 photovoltaics (CPV) instead of conventional PV
technology, and combines it with a solar thermal collector.
PV diesel system
It combines a photovoltaic system with a diesel
generator..19. Combinations with other renewables are
possible and include wind turbines..20.
PV-thermoelectric system
Thermoelectric, or "thermovoltaic" devices convert a
temperature difference between dissimilar materials into
an electric current. Solar cells use only the high frequency
part of the radiation, while the low frequency heat energy
is wasted. Several patents about the use of thermoelectric
devices in tandem with solar cells have been filed..21. The
idea is to increase the efficiency of the combined
solar/thermoelectric system to convert the solar radiation
into useful electricity.

Development and deployment

: Solar power by country and Concentrated solar power §
Deployment around the world
Deployment of Solar Power
Capacity in MW by Technology
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
125,000
150,000
2007
2010
2013
Worldwide deployment of solar power by technology
since 2006..22.
Solar PV CSP - Solar thermal

Electricity Generation from

Solar

Energy % of
Year
(TWh) Total

2004 2.6 0.01%

2005 3.7 0.02%

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2006 5.0 0.03%

2007 6.8 0.03%

2008 11.4 0.06%

2009 19.3 0.10%

2010 31.4 0.15%

2011 60.6 0.27%

2012 96.7 0.43%

2013 134.5 0.58%

2014 185.9 0.79%

Source: BP-Statistical Review

of World Energy, 2015.23..24.

Early days
The early development of solar technologies starting in
the 1860s was driven by an expectation that coal would
soon become scarce. However, development of solar
technologies stagnated in the early 20th century in the
face of the increasing availability, economy, and utility of
coal and petroleum..25. In 1974 it was estimated that only
six private homes in all of North America were entirely
heated or cooled by functional solar power
systems..26. The 1973 oil embargo and 1979 energy
crisiscaused a reorganization of energy policies around
the world and brought renewed attention to developing
solar technologies..27..28. Deployment strategies focused on
incentive programs such as the Federal Photovoltaic
Utilization Program in the US and the Sunshine Program
in Japan. Other efforts included the formation of research
facilities in the United States (SERI, now NREL), Japan
(NEDO), and Germany (Fraunhofer–ISE)..29. Between
1970 and 1983 installations of photovoltaic systems grew
rapidly, but falling oil prices in the early 1980s moderated
the growth of photovoltaics from 1984 to 1996.
Mid-1990s to early 2010s
In the mid-1990s, development of both, residential and
commercial rooftop solar as well as utility-
scale photovoltaic power stations, began to accelerate

Page 75 of 170
 again due to supply issues with oil and natural gas, global
warming concerns, and the improving economic position
of PV relative to other energy technologies..30. In the early
2000s, the adoption of feed-in tariffs—a policy
mechanism, that gives renewables priority on the grid
and defines a fixed price for the generated electricity—
lead to a high level of investment security and to a soaring
number of PV deployments in Europe.

21 QUESTION :What is the current status of PV Technology?

Current status
Further information: Growth of photovoltaics
For several years, worldwide growth of solar PV was
driven by European deployment, but has since shifted to
Asia, especially China and Japan, and to a growing number
of countries and regions all over the world, including, but
not limited
to, Australia,Canada, Chile, India, Israel, Mexico, South
Africa, South Korea, Thailand, and theUnited States.
Worldwide growth of photovoltaics has averaged 40%
per year since 2000 and total installed capacity reached
139 GW at the end of 2013 with Germany having the most
cumulative installations (35.7 GW) and Italy having the
highest percentage of electricity generated by solar PV
(7.0%)..31.
Concentrated solar power (CSP) also started to grow
rapidly, increasing its capacity nearly tenfold from 2004
to 2013, albeit from a lower level and involving fewer
countries than solar PV..32.:51 As of the end of
2013, worldwide cumulative CSP-capacity reached
3,425 MW.
Forecasts
In 2010, the International Energy Agency predicted that
global solar PV capacity could reach 3,000 GW or 11% of
projected global electricity generation by 2050—enough
to generate 4,500 TWh of electricity..33. Four years later,
in 2014, the agency projected that, under its "high
renewables" scenario, solar power could supply 27% of
global electricity generation by 2050 (16% from PV and
11% from CSP)..2.
Photovoltaic power stations

Page 76 of 170
 : List of photovoltaic power stations
The Desert Sunlight Solar Farm is a 550 MW power plant
under construction in Riverside County, California, that
will usethin-film CdTe-modules made by First Solar..34. As
of November 2014, the 550 megawatt Topaz Solar
Farm was the largest photovoltaic power plant in the
world. This has now been surpassed by the 579 MW Solar
Star complex.

22 QUESTION : Explain in detail about any 3 world’s largest PV Power

stations.

World's largest photovoltaic power stations as of 2015

Capacity Year Completed
Name Location
(MW) Info
Solar Star I and II 579 USA 2015.35.
California,
Topaz Solar Farm 550 2014
USA
California,
Desert Sunlight Solar Farm 550 2015
USA
Longyangxia Dam Solar Park 320 Qinghai, China 2013
California,
California Valley Solar Ranch 292 2013
USA
Agua Caliente Solar Project 290 Arizona, USA 2014
California,
Mount Signal Solar 266 2014.36.
USA
California,
Antelope Valley Solar Ranch 266 pending
USA
Charanka Solar Park 224 Gujarat, India 2012
pending
Mesquite Solar project 207 Arizona, USA (planned 700
MW)
Huanghe Hydropower Golmud
200 Qinghai, China 2011
Solar Park
Gonghe Industrial Park Phase I 200 China 2013.37.

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 California,
Imperial Valley Solar Project 200 2013
USA

Note: figures rounded. List may change frequently. For more detailed and up to date
information see:
List of world's largest photovoltaic power stations or corresponding article.
Concentrating solar power stations
: List of solar thermal power stations
Commercial concentrating solar power (CSP) plants, also
called "solar thermal power stations", were first
developed in the 1980s. The 377 MW Ivanpah Solar
Power Facility, located in California's Mojave Desert, is
the world’s largest solar thermal power plant project.
Other large CSP plants include the Solnova Solar Power
Station (150 MW), the Andasol solar power
station (150 MW), and Extresol Solar Power
Station (150 MW), all in Spain. The principal advantage of
CSP is the ability to efficiently add thermal storage,
allowing the dispatching of electricity over up to a 24-
hour period. Since peak electricity demand typically
occurs at about 5 pm, many CSP power plants use 3 to
5 hours of thermal storage..38.

23 QUESTION : Provide data for any three world’s largest operational solar
thermal power stations.

Largest operational solar thermal power stations

Capacity
Name Location Notes
(MW)

Mojave Operational since February

Ivanpah Solar
377 Desert, California, 2014. Located southwest
Power Facility
USA of Las Vegas.

Solar Energy Mojave Commissioned between

Generating 354 Desert, California, 1984 and 1991. Collection of
Systems USA 9 units.

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Mojave Solar Barstow, California,
280 Completed December 2014
Project USA

Solana Completed October 2013

Gila Bend, Arizona,
Generating 280 Includes a 6h thermal energy
USA
Station storage

Genesis Solar Blythe, California,

250 Completed April 2014
Energy Project USA

Solaben Solar
200 Logrosán, Spain Completed 2012–2013.40.
Power Station.39.

Solnova Solar
150 Seville, Spain Completed in 2010
Power Station

Andasol solar Completed 2011. Includes a

150 Granada, Spain
power station 7.5h thermal energy storage.

Completed 2010–2012
Extresol Solar Torre de Miguel
150 Extresol 3 includes a 7.5h
Power Station Sesmero, Spain
thermal energy storage

For a more detailed, sourced and complete list, see: List of solar thermal power
stations#Operational or corresponding article.

Part of the 354 MW Solar Energy Generating

Systems (SEGS) parabolic trough solar complex in
northern San Bernardino County, California

Economics
Cost

Solar PV – LCOE for Europe until 2020 (in euro-cts.

per kWh).41.

Page 79 of 170
 Economic photovoltaic capacity vs installation cost, in
the United States

Photovoltaic systems use no fuel, and modules typically

last 25 to 40 years. Thus, capital costs make up most of
the cost of solar power. Operations and maintenance
costs for new utility-scale solar plants in the US are
estimated to be 9 percent of the cost of photovoltaic
electricity, and 17 percent of the cost of solar thermal
electricity..42. Governments have created various financial
incentives to encourage the use of solar power, such
as feed-in tariff programs. Also,Renewable portfolio
standards impose a government mandate that utilities
generate or acquire a certain percentage of renewable
power regardless of increased energy procurement costs.
In most states, RPS goals can be achieved by any
combination of solar, wind, biomass, landfill gas, ocean,
geothermal,municipal solid waste, hydroelectric,
hydrogen, or fuel cell technologies..43.
Levelized cost of electricity
The PV industry is beginning to adopt levelized cost of
electricity (LCOE) as the unit of cost. The electrical energy
generated is sold in units of kilowatt-hours(kWh). As a
rule of thumb, and depending on the local insolation, 1
watt-peak of installed solar PV capacity generates about 1
to 2 kWh of electricity per year. This corresponds to
a capacity factor of around 10–20%. The product of the
local cost of electricity and the insolation determines the
break even point for solar power. The International
Conference on Solar Photovoltaic Investments, organized
byEPIA, has estimated that PV systems will pay back their
investors in 8 to 12 years..44. As a result, since 2006 it has
been economical for investors to install photovoltaics for
free in return for a long term power purchase agreement.
Fifty percent of commercial systems in the United States
were installed in this manner in 2007 and over 90% by
2009..45.
Shi Zhengrong has said that, as of 2012, unsubsidised
solar power is already competitive with fossil fuels in
India, Hawaii, Italy and Spain. He said "We are at a tipping
point. No longer are renewable power sources like solar
and wind a luxury of the rich. They are now starting to
compete in the real world without subsidies". "Solar

Page 80 of 170
 power will be able to compete without subsidies against
conventional power sources in half the world by 2015"..46.
Current installation prices
In its 2014 .ion of the Technology Roadmap: Solar
Photovoltaic Energy report, the International Energy
Agency (IEA) published prices for residential, commercial
and utility-scale PV systems for eight major markets as of
2013 (see table below)..2. However, DOE's SunShot
Initiative has reported much lower U.S. installation prices.
In 2014, prices continued to decline. The SunShot
Initiative modeled U.S. system prices to be in the range of
$1.80 to $3.29 per watt..47. Other sources identify similar
price ranges of $1.70 to $3.50 for the different market
segments in the U.S.,.48. and in the highly penetrated
German market, prices for residential and small
commercial rooftop systems of up to 100 kW declined to
$1.36 per watt (€1.24/W) by the end of 2014..49. In 2015,
Deutsche Bank estimated costs for small residential
rooftop systems in the U.S. around $2.90 per watt. Costs
for utility-scale systems in China and India were
estimated as low as $1.00 per watt.

Typical PV system prices in 2013 in selected countries (USD)

United Unite
Australi Chin Franc German Ital Japa
USD/W Kingdo d
a a e y y n
m States

Residentia
1.8 1.5 4.1 2.4 2.8 4.2 2.8 4.91
l

Commerci
1.7 1.4 2.7 1.8 1.9 3.6 2.4 4.51
al

Utility-
2.0 1.4 2.2 1.4 1.5 2.9 1.9 3.31
scale

Source: IEA – Technology Roadmap: Solar Photovoltaic Energy report, September

2014'.2.:15
1U.S figures are lower in DOE's Photovoltaic System Pricing Trends.47.

Page 81 of 170
24 QUESTION : What is a Grid Parity.

Grid parity
: Grid parity
Grid parity, the point at which the cost of photovoltaic
electricity is equal to or cheaper than the price of grid
power, is more easily achieved in areas with abundant
sun and high costs for electricity such as
in California and Japan..51. In 2008, The levelized cost of
electricity for solar PV was $0.25/kWh or less in most of
the OECD countries. By late 2011, the fully loaded cost
was predicted to fall below $0.15/kWh for most of
the OECD and to reach $0.10/kWh in sunnier regions.
These cost levels are driving three emerging trends:
vertical integration of the supply chain, origination
of power purchase agreements(PPAs) by solar power
companies, and unexpected risk for traditional power
generation companies, grid operators andwind turbine
manufacturers..52..dead link.
Grid parity was first reached in Spain in
2013,.53. Hawaii and other islands that otherwise
use fossil fuel (diesel fuel) to produce electricity, and
most of the US is expected to reach grid parity by
2015..54..not in given..55..not in given.
In 2007, General Electric's Chief Engineer predicted grid
parity without subsidies in sunny parts of the United
States by around 2015; other companies predicted an
earlier date:.56. the cost of solar power will be below grid
parity for more than half of residential customers and
10% of commercial customers in the OECD, as long as
grid electricity prices do not decrease through 2010..52.
Self consumption
In cases of self consumption of the solar energy, the
payback time is calculated based on how much electricity
is not purchased from the grid. For example, in Germany,
with electricity prices of 0.25 Euro/KWh and insolation of
900 KWh/KW, one KWp will save 225 Euro per year, and
with an installation cost of 1700 Euro/KWp the system
cost will be returned in less than 7 years..57. However, in
many cases, the patterns of generation and consumption
do not coincide, and some or all of the energy is fed back

Page 82 of 170
 into the grid. The electricity is sold, and at other times
when energy is taken from the grid, electricity is bought.
The relative costs and prices obtained affect the
economics.
Energy pricing and incentives
: PV financial incentives
The political purpose of incentive policies for PV is to
facilitate an initial small-scale deployment to begin to
grow the industry, even where the cost of PV is
significantly above grid parity, to allow the industry to
achieve the economies of scale necessary to reach grid
parity. The policies are implemented to promote national
energy independence, high tech job creation and
reduction of CO2 emissions. Three incentive mechanisms
are often used in combination as investment subsidies:
the authorities refund part of the cost of installation of the
system, the electricity utility buys PV electricity from the
producer under a multiyear contract at a guaranteed rate
(), and Solar Renewable Energy Certificates (SRECs)
Rebates
With investment subsidies, the financial burden falls upon
the taxpayer, while with feed-in tariffs the extra cost is
distributed across the utilities' customer bases. While the
investment subsidy may be simpler to administer, the
main argument in favour of feed-in tariffs is the
encouragement of quality. Investment subsidies are paid
out as a function of the nameplate capacity of the installed
system and are independent of its actual power yield over
time, thus rewarding the overstatement of power and
tolerating poor durability and maintenance. Some electric
companies offer rebates to their customers, such asAustin
Energy in Texas, which offers $2.50/watt installed up to
$15,000..58.

25 QUESTION : What is Net metering?

Net metering

Net metering, unlike a feed-in tariff, requires only one

meter, but it must be bi-directional.
In net metering the price of the electricity produced is the
same as the price supplied to the consumer, and the

Page 83 of 170
consumer is billed on the difference between production
and consumption. Net metering can usually be done with
no changes to standard electricity meters, which
accurately measure power in both directions and
automatically report the difference, and because it allows
homeowners and businesses to generate electricity at a
different time from consumption, effectively using the
grid as a giant storage battery. With net metering, deficits
are billed each month while surpluses are rolled over to
the following month. Best practices call for perpetual roll
over of kWh cr.s..59.Excess cr.s upon termination of service
are either lost, or paid for at a rate ranging from
wholesale to retail rate or above, as can be excess annual
cr.s. In New Jersey, annual excess cr.s are paid at the
wholesale rate, as are left over cr.s when a customer
terminates service..60.
Feed-in tariffs (FIT)
With feed-in tariffs, the financial burden falls upon the
consumer. They reward the number of kilowatt-hours
produced over a long period of time, but because the rate
is set by the authorities, it may result in perceived
overpayment. The price paid per kilowatt-hour under a
feed-in tariff exceeds the price of grid electricity. Net
metering refers to the case where the price paid by the
utility is the same as the price charged.
The complexity of approvals in California, Spain and Italy
has prevented comparable growth to Germany even
though the return on investment is better.. needed. In some
countries, additional incentives are offered
for BIPV compared to stand alone PV.

 France + EUR 0.16 /kWh (compared to semi-

integrated) or + EUR 0.27/kWh (compared to stand
alone)
 Italy + EUR 0.04-0.09 kWh
 Germany + EUR 0.05/kWh (facades only)
Solar Renewable Energy Cr.s (SRECs)
Alternatively, SRECs allow for a market mechanism to set
the price of the solar generated electricity subsity. In this
mechanism, a renewable energy production or
consumption target is set, and the utility (more
technically the Load Serving Entity) is obliged to purchase
renewable energy or face a fine (Alternative Compliance

Page 84 of 170
Payment or ACP). The producer is cr.ed for an SREC for
every 1,000 kWh of electricity produced. If the utility
buys this SREC and retires it, they avoid paying the ACP.
In principle this system delivers the cheapest renewable
energy, since the all solar facilities are eligible and can be
installed in the most economic locations. Uncertainties
about the future value of SRECs have led to long-term
SREC contract markets to give clarity to their prices and
allow solar developers to pre-sell and hedge their cr.s.
Financial incentives for photovoltaics differ across
countries,
including Australia, China,.61. Germany,.62. Israel,.63. Japan,
and the United States and even across states within the
US.
The Japanese government through its Ministry of
International Trade and Industry ran a successful
programme of subsidies from 1994 to 2003. By the end of
2004, Japan led the world in installed PV capacity with
over 1.1 GW..64.
In 2004, the German government introduced the first
large-scale feed-in tariff system, under the German
Renewable Energy Act, which resulted in explosive
growth of PV installations in Germany. At the outset the
FIT was over 3x the retail price or 8x the industrial price.
The principle behind the German system is a 20-year flat
rate contract. The value of new contracts is programmed
to decrease each year, in order to encourage the industry
to pass on lower costs to the end users. The programme
has been more successful than expected with over 1GW
installed in 2006, and political pressure is mounting to
decrease the tariff to lessen the future burden on
consumers.
Subsequently, Spain, Italy, Greece—that enjoyed an early
success with domestic solar-thermal installations for hot
water needs—and France introduced feed-in tariffs. None
have replicated the programmed decrease of FIT in new
contracts though, making the German incentive relatively
less and less attractive compared to other countries. The
French and Greek FIT offer a high premium (EUR
0.55/kWh) for building integrated systems. California,
Greece, France and Italy have 30-50% more insolation
than Germany making them financially more attractive.
The Greek domestic "solar roof" programme (adopted in
June 2009 for installations up to 10 kW) has internal rates

Page 85 of 170
 of return of 10-15% at current commercial installation
costs, which, furthermore, is tax free.
In 2006 California approved the 'California Solar
Initiative', offering a choice of investment subsidies or FIT
for small and medium systems and a FIT for large
systems. The small-system FIT of $0.39 per kWh (far less
than EU countries) expires in just 5 years, and the
alternate "EPBB" residential investment incentive is
modest, averaging perhaps 20% of cost. All California
incentives are scheduled to decrease in the future
depending as a function of the amount of PV capacity
installed.
At the end of 2006, the Ontario Power Authority (OPA,
Canada) began its Standard Offer Program, a precursor to
theGreen Energy Act, and the first in North America for
distributed renewable projects of less than 10 MW. The
feed-in tariff guaranteed a fixed price of $0.42 CDN per
kWh over a period of twenty years. Unlike net metering,
all the electricity produced was sold to the OPA at the
given rate.

Environmental impacts
Unlike fossil fuel based technologies, solar power does
not lead to any harmful emissions during operation, but
the production of the panels leads to some amount of
pollution.
26 QUESTION : What do you know about Green House Gases?

Greenhouse gases
The Life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions of solar
power are in the range of 22 to 46 gram (g) per kilowatt-
hour (kWh) depending on if solar thermal or solar PV is
being analyzed, respectively. With this potentially being
decreased to 15 g/kWh in the future..65. For comparison
(of weighted averages), a combined cycle gas-fired power
plant emits some 400–599 g/kWh,.66. an oil-fired power
plant 893 g/kWh,.66. a coal-fired power plant 915–
994 g/kWh.67. or with carbon capture and storage some
200 g/kWh, and a geothermal high-temp. power plant
91–122 g/kWh..66. The life cycle emission intensity
ofhydro, wind and nuclear power are lower than solar's
as of 2011 as published by the IPCC, and discussed in the

Page 86 of 170
 article Life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions of energy
sources. Similar to all energy sources were their total life
cycle emissions primarily lay in the construction and
transportation phase, the switch to low carbon power in
the manufacturing and transportation of solar devices
would further reduce carbon emissions. BP Solar owns
two factories built by Solarex (one in Maryland, the other
in Virginia) in which all of the energy used to manufacture
solar panels is produced by solar panels. A 1-kilowatt
system eliminates the burning of approximately 170
pounds of coal, 300 pounds of carbon dioxide from being
released into the atmosphere, and saves up to 105 gallons
of water consumption monthly..68.
The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), in
harmonizing the disparate estimates of life-cycle GHG
emissions for solar PV, found that the most critical
parameter was the solar insolation of the site: GHG
emissions factors for PV solar are inversely proportional
to insolation..69. For a site with insolation of 1700
kWh/m2/year, typical of southern Europe, NREL
researchers estimated GHG emissions of 45 gCO2e/kWh.
Using the same assumptions, at Phoenix, USA, with
insolation of 2400 kWh/m2/year, the GHG emissions
factor would be reduced to 32 g of CO2e/kWh..70.
27 QUESTION : Can we implement Energy payback in Pakistan?

Energy payback
The energy payback time (EPBT) of a power generating
system is the time required to generate as much energy as
is consumed during production and lifetime operation of
the system. Due to improving production technologies the
payback time has been decreasing constantly since the
introduction of PV systems in the energy market..71. In
2000 the energy payback time of PV systems was
estimated as 8 to 11 years.72. and in 2006 this was
estimated to be 1.5 to 3.5 years forcrystalline
silicon silicon PV systems.65. and 1–1.5 years for thin film
technologies (S. Europe)..65. These figures fell to 0.75–3.5
years in 2013, with an average of about 2 years for
crystalline silicon PV and CIS systems..73.
Another economic measure, closely related to the energy
payback time, is the energy returned on energy

Page 87 of 170
invested (EROEI) or energy return on
investment (EROI),.74. which is the ratio of electricity
generated divided by the energy required to buildand
maintain the equipment. (This is not the same as
the economic return on investment (ROI), which varies
according to local energy prices, subsidies available and
metering techniques.) With expected lifetimes of 30
years,.75. the EROEI of PV systems are in the range of 10 to
30, thus generating enough energy over their lifetimes to
reproduce themselves many times (6-31 reproductions)
depending on what type of material, balance of
system (BOS), and the geographic location of the
system..76.
Other issues
One issue that has often raised concerns is the use
of cadmium (Cd), a toxic heavy metal that has the
tendency toaccumulate in ecological food chains. It is used
as semiconductor component in CdTe solar cellss and as
buffer layer for certain CIGS cells in the form
of CdS..77. The amount of cadmium used in thin-film PV
modules is relatively small (5–10 g/m²) and with proper
recycling and emission control techniques in place the
cadmium emissions from module production can be
almost zero. Current PV technologies lead to cadmium
emissions of 0.3–0.9 microgram/kWh over the whole life-
cycle..65. Most of these emissions actually arise through
the use of coal power for the manufacturing of the
modules, and coal and lignite combustion leads to much
higher emissions of cadmium. Life-cycle cadmium
emissions from coal is 3.1 microgram/kWh, lignite 6.2,
and natural gas 0.2 microgram/kWh.
In a life-cycle analysis it has been noted, that if electricity
produced by photovoltaic panels were used to
manufacture the modules instead of electricity from
burning coal, cadmium emissions from coal power usage
in the manufacturing process could be entirely
eliminated..78.
In the case of crystalline silicon modules,
the solder material, that joins together the copper strings
of the cells, contains about 36 percent of lead (Pb).
Moreover, the paste used for screen printing front and
back contacts contains traces of Pb and sometimes Cd as
well. It is estimated, that about 1,000 metric tonnes of Pb
have been used for 100 gigawatts of c-Si solar modules.

Page 88 of 170
 However, there is no fundamental need for lead in the
solder alloy..77.
Some media sources have reported that concentrated
solar power plants have injured or killed large numbers
of birds due to intense heat from the concentrated
sunrays..79..80. This adverse effect does not apply to PV
solar power plants, and some of the claims may have been
overstated or exaggerated..81.
A 2014-published life-cycle analysis of land use for
various sources of electricity concluded that the large-
scale implementation of solar and wind potentially
reduces pollution-related environmental impacts. The
study found that the land-use footprint, given in square
meter-years per megawatt-hour (m2a/MWh), was lowest
for wind, natural gas and rooftop PV, with 0.26, 0.49 and
0.59, respectively, and followed by utility-scale solar PV
with 7.9. For CSP, the footprint was 9 and 14, using
parabolic troughs and solar towers, respectively. The
largest footprint had coal-fired power plants with
18 m2a/MWh..82.

28 QUESTION : Explain some of the emerging technologies in terms of Solar

Power.

Emerging technologies
Concentrator photovoltaics

Concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) systems employ

sunlight concentrated onto photovoltaic surfaces for the
purpose of electrical power production. Contrary to
conventional photovoltaic systems, it
uses lenses and curved mirrors to focus sunlight onto
small, but highly efficient, multi-junction solar cells. Solar
concentrators of all varieties may be used, and these are
often mounted on asolar tracker in order to keep the focal
point upon the cell as the sun moves across the
sky..83. Luminescent solar concentrators (when combined
with a PV-solar cell) can also be regarded as a CPV system.
Concentrated photovoltaics are useful as they can improve
efficiency of PV-solar panels drastically..84.

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In addition, most solar panels on spacecraft are also made
of high efficient multi-junction photovoltaic cells to derive
electricity from sunlight when operating in the inner Solar
System.
Floatovoltaics
Floatovoltaics are an emerging form of PV systems that
float on the surface of irrigation canals, water reservoirs,
quarry lakes, and tailing ponds. Several systems exist in
France, India, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom and the
United States..85..86..87..88. These systems reduce the need of
valuable land area, save drinking water that would
otherwise be lost through evaporation, and show a higher
efficiency of solar energy conversion, as the panels are
kept at a cooler temperature than they would be on
land..89.

Grid integration
s: Energy storage and Grid energy storage

Construction of the Salt Tanks which

provide efficient thermal energy
storage.90. so that output can be provided
after the sun goes down, and output can be
scheduled to meet demand
requirements..91. The 280 MWSolana
Generating Station is designed to provide
six hours of energy storage. This allows the
plant to generate about 38 percent of its
rated capacity over the course of a year..92.

Thermal energy storage. The AndasolCSP

plant uses tanks of molten salt to store
solar energy.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH).

This facility in Geesthacht, Germany, also
includes a solar array.

Since solar energy is not available at

night, storing its energy is an important issue
in order to have continuous energy

Page 90 of 170
 availability..93. Both wind power and solar
power are intermittent energy sources,
meaning that all available output must be
taken when it is available, and either stored
for when it can be used later, or transported
over transmission lines to where it can be used
now. Concentrated solar powerplants typically
use thermal energy storage to store the solar
energy, such as in high-temperature molten
salts. These salts are an effective storage
medium because they are low-cost, have a
high specific heat capacity, and can deliver
heat at temperatures compatible with
conventional power systems. This method of
energy storage is used, for example, by
the Solar Two power station, allowing it to
store 1.44 TJ in its 68 m³ storage tank, enough
to provide full output for close to 39 hours,
with an efficiency of about 99%..94.

The Powerwall is arechargeable lithium-ion

battery

Rechargeable batteries have been traditionally

used to store excess electricity instand alone
PV systems. With grid-connected photovoltaic
power system, excess electricity can be sent to
the electrical grid. Net metering and feed-in
tariff programs give these systems a cr. for the
electricity they produce. This cr. offsets
electricity provided from the grid when the
system cannot meet demand, effectively using
the grid as a storage mechanism. Cr.s are
normally rolled over from month to month
and any remaining surplus settled
annually..95. When wind and solar are a small
fraction of the grid power, other generation
techniques can adjust their output
appropriately, but as these forms of variable
power grow, this becomes less practical. As
prices are rapidly declining, PV systems
increasingly use rechargeable batteries to
store a surplus to be later used at
night. Batteries used for grid-storage also
stabilize the electrical grid by leveling out

Page 91 of 170
 peak loads, and play an important role in
a smart grid, as they can charge during periods
of low demand and feed their stored energy
into the grid when demand is high.
Common battery technologies used in today's
PV systems include, the valve regulated lead-
acid battery– a modified version of the
conventional lead–acid battery, nickel–
cadmium and lithium-ion batteries. Lead-acid
batteries are currently the predominant
technology used in small-scale, residential PV
systems, due to their high reliability, low self
discharge and investment and maintenance
costs, despite shorter lifetime and lower
energy density. However, lithium-ion batteries
have the potential to replace lead-acid
batteries in the near future, as they are being
intensively developed and lower prices are
expected due to economies of scale provided
by large production facilities such as
the Gigafactory 1. In addition, the Li-ion
batteries of plug-in electric cars may serve as a
future storage devices in a vehicle-to-
grid system. Since most vehicles are parked an
average of 95 percent of the time, their
batteries could be used to let electricity flow
from the car to the power lines and back.
Other rechargeable batteries used
for distributed PV systems include, sodium–
sulfur and vanadium redox batteries, two
prominent types of a molten saltand
a flow battery, respectively..96..97..98.
Conventional hydroelectricity works very well
in conjunction with intermittent electricity
sources such as solar and wind, the water can
be held back and allowed to flow as required
with virtually no energy loss. Where a suitable
river is not available,pumped-storage
hydroelectricity stores energy in the form of
water pumped when surplus electricity is
available, from a lower elevation reservoir to a
higher elevation one. The energy is recovered
when demand is high by releasing the water:
the pump becomes a turbine, and the motor a
hydroelectric power generator..99. However,

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 this loses some of the energy to pumpage
losses.
The combination of wind and solar PV has the
advantage that the two sources complement
each other because the peak operating times
for each system occur at different times of the
day and year. The power generation of
such solar hybrid power systems is therefore
more constant and fluctuates less than each of
the two component subsystems..100. Solar
power is seasonal, particularly in
northern/southern climates, away from the
equator, suggesting a need for long term
seasonal storage in a medium such as
hydrogen. The storage requirements vary and
in some cases can be met withbiomass..101. The
Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology
of the University of Kassel pilot-tested
a combined power plant linking solar,
wind, biogas and hydrostorage to provide
load-following power around the clock,
entirely from renewable sources..102.
Research is also undertaken in this field
of artificial photosynthesis. It involves the use
of nanotechnology to store solar
electromagnetic energy in chemical bonds, by
splitting water to produce hydrogen fuel or
then combining with carbon dioxide to make
biopolymers such as methanol. Many large
national and regional research projects on
artificial photosynthesis are now trying to
develop techniques integrating improved light
capture, quantum coherence methods of
electron transfer and cheap catalytic materials
that operate under a variety of atmospheric
conditions..103. Senior researchers in the field
have made the public policy case for a Global
Project on Artificial Photosynthesis to address
critical energy security and environmental
sustainability issues..104.

Energy portal

Page 93 of 170
Sustainable development portal
Environment portal

 Cost of electricity by source

 List of energy storage projects
 List of renewable energy organizations
 List of solar energy topics
 List of solar thermal power stations
 Renewable energy
 Renewable energy commercialization
 Solar energy
 Solar lamp
 Sustainable energy
 Thin-film cell
 Timeline of solar energy

Page 94 of 170
Page 95 of 170
WIND POWER

Wind power

Wind energy or wind power is extracted from air flow using wind turbines or sails to
produce mechanical or electrical energy. Windmillsare used for their mechanical
power, windpumps for water pumping, and sails to propel ships. Wind power as an
alternative to fossil fuels, is plentiful, renewable, widely distributed, clean, produces
no greenhouse gas emissions during operation, and uses little land..2. The net effects on the
environment are far less problematic than those of nonrenewable power sources.
Wind farms consist of many individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric
power transmission network. Onshore wind is an inexpensive source of electricity,
competitive with or in many places cheaper than coal or gas plants..3..4..5. Offshore wind is
steadier and stronger than on land, and offshore farms have less visual impact, but
construction and maintenance costs are considerably higher. Small onshore wind farms can
feed some energy into the grid or provide electricity to isolated off-grid locations..6.
Wind power is very consistent from year to year but has significant variation over shorter
time scales. It is therefore used in conjunction with other electric power sources to give a
reliable supply. As the proportion of windpower in a region increases, a need to upgrade
the grid, and a lowered ability to supplant conventional production can occur..7..8. Power
management techniques such as having excess capacity, geographically distributed
turbines, dispatchable backing sources, sufficient hydroelectric power, exporting and
importing power to neighboring areas, using vehicle-to-grid strategies or reducing demand
when wind production is low, can in many cases overcome these problems..9..10. In
addition,weather forecasting permits the electricity network to be readied for the
predictable variations in production that occur..11..12..13.
As of 2014, Denmark has been generating around 40% of its electricity from wind,.14..15. and
at least 83 other countries around the world are using wind power to supply their
electricity grids..16. Wind power capacity has expanded to 369,553 MW by December
2014,.17. and total wind energy production is growing rapidly and has reached around 4%
of worldwide electricity usage..18.

 1History
 2Wind farms
o 2.1Generator characteristics and stability
o 2.2Offshore wind power
o 2.3Collection and transmission network

Page 96 of 170
  3Wind power capacity and production
o 3.1Growth trends
o 3.2Capacity factor
o 3.3Penetration
o 3.4Variability
o 3.5Predictability
o 3.6Energy storage
o 3.7Capacity cr., fuel savings and energy payback
 4Economics
o 4.1Electricity cost and trends
o 4.2Incentives and community benefits
 5Small-scale wind power
 6Environmental effects
 7Politics
o 7.1Central government
o 7.2Public opinion
o 7.3Community
 8Turbine design
 9Wind energy

History...
: History of wind power
Wind power has been used as long as humans have put sails into the wind. For more than
two millennia wind-powered machines have ground grain and pumped water. Wind power
was widely available and not confined to the banks of fast-flowing streams, or later,
requiring sources of fuel. Wind-powered pumps drained the polders of the Netherlands,
and in arid regions such as the American mid-westor the Australian outback, wind
pumps provided water for live stock and steam engines.
The first windmill used for the production of electricity was built in Scotland in July 1887
by Prof James Blyth of Anderson's College, Glasgow (the precursor ofStrathclyde
University)..19. Blyth's 10 m high, cloth-sailed wind turbine was installed in the garden of
his holiday cottage at Marykirk in Kincardineshire and was used to
charge accumulators developed by the Frenchman Camille Alphonse Faure, to power the
lighting in the cottage,.19. thus making it the first house in the world to have its electricity
supplied by wind power..20. Blyth offered the surplus electricity to the people of Marykirk
for lighting the main street, however, they turned down the offer as they thought electricity
was "the work of the devil.".19. Although he later built a wind turbine to supply emergency
power to the local Lunatic Asylum, Infirmary and Dispensary of Montrose the invention
never really caught on as the technology was not considered to be economically viable..19.
Across the Atlantic, in Cleveland, Ohio a larger and heavily engineered machine was
designed and constructed in the winter of 1887–1888 by Charles F. Brush,.21. this was built
by his engineering company at his home and operated from 1886 until 1900..22. The Brush
wind turbine had a rotor 17 m (56 foot) in diameter and was mounted on an 18 m (60 foot)
Page 97 of 170
tower. Although large by today's standards, the machine was only rated at 12 kW. The
connected dynamo was used either to charge a bank of batteries or to operate up to
100 incandescent light bulbs, three arc lamps, and various motors in Brush's laboratory..23.
With the development of electric power, wind power found new applications in lighting
buildings remote from centrally-generated power. Throughout the 20th century parallel
paths developed small wind stations suitable for farms or residences, and larger utility-
scale wind generators that could be connected to electricity grids for remote use of power.
Today wind powered generators operate in every size range between tiny stations for
battery charging at isolated residences, up to near-gigawatt sized offshore wind farms that
provide electricity to national electrical networks.

Wind farms...
s: Wind farm and List of onshore wind farms
29 QUESTION : Explain 5 Large Onshore Wind Farms in the world.

Large onshore wind farms

Current
Wind farm capacity Country Refs
(MW)

Gansu Wind Farm 6,000 China .24..25.

Muppandal wind farm 1,500 India .26.

Alta (Oak Creek-Mojave) 1,320 United States .27.

Jaisalmer Wind Park 1,064 India .28.

Shepherds Flat Wind Farm 845 United States .29.

Roscoe Wind Farm 782 United States .30.

Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center 736 United States .31..32.

Capricorn Ridge Wind Farm 662 United States .31..32.

Fântânele-Cogealac Wind Farm 600 Romania .33.

Fowler Ridge Wind Farm 600 United States .34.

Whitelee Wind Farm 539 United Kingdom .35.

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used for production of
electricity. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines

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distributed over an extended area, but the land between the turbines may be used for
agricultural or other purposes. For example,Gansu Wind Farm, the largest wind farm in the
world, has several thousand turbines. A wind farm may also be located offshore.
Almost all large wind turbines have the same design — a horizontal axis wind turbine
having an upwind rotor with three blades, attached to a nacelle on top of a tall tubular
tower.
In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (often 34.5
kV), power collection system and communications network. At a substation, this medium-
voltage electric current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the
high voltage electric power transmission system.. needed.

30 QUESTION : Explain Generator Characteristics and Stability

Generator characteristics and stability...
Induction generators, which were often used for wind power projects in the 1980s and
1990s, require reactive power forex so substations used in wind-power collection systems
include substantial capacitor banks for power factor correction. Different types of wind
turbine generators behave differently during transmission grid disturbances, so extensive
modelling of the dynamic electromechanical characteristics of a new wind farm is required
by transmission system operators to ensure predictable stable behaviour during system
faults. In particular, induction generators cannot support the system voltage during faults,
unlike steam or hydro turbine-driven synchronous generators.
Today these generators aren't used any more in modern turbines. Instead today most
turbines use variable speed generators combined with partial- or full-scale power
converter between the turbine generator and the collector system, which generally have
more desirable properties for grid interconnection and have Low voltage ride through-
capabilities. Modern concepts use either doubly fed machines with partial-scale converters
or squirrel-cage induction generators or synchronous generators (both permanently and
electrically excited) with full scale converters..36.
Transmission systems operators will supply a wind farm developer with a grid code to
specify the requirements for interconnection to the transmission grid. This will
include power factor, constancy of frequency and dynamic behaviour of the wind farm
turbines during a system fault..37..38.
31 QUESTION : Explain offshore wind power .

Offshore wind power...

The world's second full-scalefloating wind turbine (and first to be installed without the use
of heavy-lift vessels), WindFloat, operating at rated capacity (2 MW) approximately 5 km
offshore of Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal

Page 99 of 170
s: Offshore wind power and List of offshore wind farms
Offshore wind power refers to the construction of wind farms in large bodies of water to
generate electricity. These installations can utilize the more frequent and powerful winds
that are available in these locations and have less aesthetic impact on the landscape than
land based projects. However, the construction and the maintenance costs are considerably
higher..39..40.
Siemens and Vestas are the leading turbine suppliers for offshore wind power.DONG
Energy, Vattenfall and E.ON are the leading offshore operators..41. As of October 2010, 3.16
GW of offshore wind power capacity was operational, mainly in Northern Europe.
According to BTM Consult, more than 16 GW of additional capacity will be installed before
the end of 2014 and the UK and Germany will become the two leading markets. Offshore
wind power capacity is expected to reach a total of 75 GW worldwide by 2020, with
significant contributions from China and the US..41.
At the end of 2012, 1,662 turbines at 55 offshore wind farms in 10 European countries are
generating 18 TWh, which can power almost five million households..42. As of August 2013
the London Array in the United Kingdom is the largest offshore wind farm in the world at
630 MW. This is followed by Gwynt y Môr (576 MW), also in the UK..43.

World's largest offshore wind farms

Turbines and
Wind farm Capacity (MW) Country Commissioned Refs
model

175
London Array 630 United × Siemens SWT- 2012 .44..45..46.
Kingdom 3.6

160
Gwynt y Môr 576 United × Siemens SWT- 2015 .43.
Kingdom 3.6 107

140
Greater Gabbard 504 United × Siemens SWT- 2012 .47.
Kingdom 3.6

Anholt 400 111 2013 .48.

Denmark
× Siemens SWT-

Page 100 of 170

 3.6–120

80 BARD 5.0
BARD Offshore 1 400 Germany turbines 2013 .49.

32 QUESTION : What do you know about Collection and Transmission

Network of a Wind Farm?

Collection and transmission network...

In a wind farm, individual turbines are interconnected with a medium voltage (usually 34.5
kV) power collection system and communications network. At a substation, this medium-
voltage electric current is increased in voltage with a transformer for connection to the
high voltage electric power transmission system.
A transmission line is required to bring the generated power to (often remote) markets.
For an off-shore plant this may require a submarine cable. Construction of a new high-
voltage line may be too costly for the wind resource alone, but wind sites may take
advantage of lines installed for conventionally fueled generation.
One of the biggest current challenges to wind power grid integration in the United States is
the necessity of developing new transmission lines to carry power from wind farms,
usually in remote lowly populated states in the middle of the country due to availability of
wind, to high load locations, usually on the coasts where population density is higher. The
current transmission lines in remote locations were not designed for the transport of large
amounts of energy..50. As transmission lines become longer the losses associated with
power transmission increase, as modes of losses at lower lengths are exacerbated and new
modes of losses are no longer negligible as the length is increased, making it harder
transport large loads over large distances..51. However, resistance from state and local
governments makes it difficult to construct new transmission lines. Multi state power
transmission projects are discouraged by states with cheap electricity rates for fear that
exporting their cheap power will lead to increased rates. A 2005 energy law gave the
Energy Department authority to approve transmission projects states refused to act on, but
after an attempt to use this authority, the Senate declared the department was being overly
aggressive in doing so..50. Another problem is that wind companies find out after the fact
that the transmission capacity of a new farm is below the generation capacity, largely
because federal utility rules to encourage renewable energy installation allow feeder lines
to meet only minimum standards. These are important issues that need to be solved, as
when the transmission capacity does not meet the generation capacity, wind farms are
forced to produce below their full potential or stop running all together, in a process
known as curtailment. While this leads to potential renewable generation left untapped, it
prevents possible grid overload or risk to reliable service..52.

Wind power capacity and production...

Page 101 of 170

: Wind power by country

Worldwide wind generation up to 2012 (Source EIA, January 2015)..53.

10,000
20,000
30,000
40,000
50,000
60,000
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
Global annual new installed wind capacity 1997–2014 (inMW).17.:3

Worldwide there are now over two hundred thousand wind turbines operating, with a
total nameplate capacity of 282,482 MW as of end 2012..54. The European Unionalone
passed some 100,000 MW nameplate capacity in September 2012,.55. while the United
States surpassed 50,000 MW in August 2012 and China's grid connected capacity passed
50,000 MW the same month..56..57.
World wind generation capacity more than quadrupled between 2000 and 2006, doubling
about every three years. The United States pioneered wind farms and led the world in
installed capacity in the 1980s and into the 1990s. In 1997 installed capacity in Germany
surpassed the U.S. and led until once again overtaken by the U.S. in 2008. China has been
rapidly expanding its wind installations in the late 2000s and passed the U.S. in 2010 to
become the world leader. As of 2011, 83 countries around the world were using wind
power on a commercial basis..16.
Wind power capacity has expanded rapidly to 336 GW in June 2014, and wind energy
production was around 4% of total worldwide electricity usage, and growing
rapidly..18. The actual amount of electricity that wind is able to generate is calculated by
multiplying the nameplate capacity by the capacity factor, which varies according to
equipment and location. Estimates of the capacity factors for wind installations are in the
range of 35% to 44%..58.
Europe accounted for 48% of the world total wind power generation capacity in 2009. In
2010, Spain became Europe's leading producer of wind energy, achieving 42,976 GWh.
Germany held the top spot in Europe in terms of installed capacity, with a total of 27,215
MW as of 31 December 2010..59.

 China: 23,351 MW (45.4%)

 Germany: 5,279 MW (10.3%)

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 United States: 4,854 MW (9.4%)
 Brazil: 2,472 MW (4.8%)
 India: 2,315 MW (4.5%)
 Canada: 1,871 MW (3.6%)
 United Kingdom: 1,736 MW (3.4%)
 Sweden: 1,050 MW (2.0%)
 France: 1,042 MW (2.0%)
 Turkey: 804 MW (1.6%)
 Rest of the world: 6,702 MW (13.0%)
33 QUESTION What is world’s new installed capacity for 2014

Worldwide new installed capacity, 2014.17.

 China: 114,763 MW (31.1%)

 United States: 65,879 MW (17.8%)
 Germany: 39,165 MW (10.6%)
 Spain: 22,987 MW (6.2%)
 India: 22,465 MW (6.1%)
 United Kingdom: 12,440 MW (3.4%)
 Canada: 9,694 MW (2.6%)
 France: 9,285 MW (2.5%)
 Italy: 8,663 MW (2.3%)
 Brazil: 5,939 MW (1.6%)
 Rest of the world: 58,275 MW (15.8%)
Worldwide cumulative capacity, 2014.17.

Top windpower electricity producing countries in 2012 (TWh)

Country Windpower Production % of World Total

United States 140.9 26.4

China 118.1 22.1

Spain 49.1 9.2

Germany 46.0 8.6

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India 30.0 5.6

United Kingdom 19.6 3.7

France 14.9 2.8

Italy 13.4 2.5

Canada 11.8 2.2

Denmark 10.3 1.9

(rest of world) 80.2 15.0

World Total 534.3 TWh 100%

Source:Observ'ER – Electricity Production From Wind Sources.60.

34 QUESTION : What are various growth trends in Wind Power sector?

Growth trends...

In 2010, more than half of all new wind power was added outside of the traditional
markets in Europe and North America. This was largely from new construction in China,
which accounted for nearly half the new wind installations (16.5 GW)..62.
Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) figures show that 2007 recorded an increase of
installed capacity of 20 GW, taking the total installed wind energy capacity to 94 GW, up
from 74 GW in 2006. Despite constraints facing supply chains for wind turbines, the annual
market for wind continued to increase at an estimated rate of 37%, following 32% growth
in 2006. In terms of economic value, the wind energy sector has become one of the
important players in the energy markets, with the total value of new generating equipment
installed in 2007 reaching €25 billion, or US$36 billion..63.
Although the wind power industry was affected by the global financial crisis in 2009 and
2010, a BTM Consult five-year forecast up to 2013 projects substantial growth. Over the
past five years the average growth in new installations has been 27.6% each year. In the
forecast to 2013 the expected average annual growth rate is 15.7%..64..65. More than 200 GW
of new wind power capacity could come on line before the end of 2014. Wind power
market penetration is expected to reach 3.35% by 2013 and 8% by 2018..64..65.
In 2013 wind power constituted 13% of installed power generation capacity in the EU and
generated 7.8% of power used.66.

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Capacity factor...
Since wind speed is not constant, a wind farm's annual energy production is never as much
as the sum of the generator nameplate ratings multiplied by the total hours in a year. The
ratio of actual productivity in a year to this theoretical maximum is called the capacity
factor. Typical capacity factors are 15–50%; values at the upper end of the range are
achieved in favourable sites and are due to wind turbine design improvements..67..68..nb 1.
Online data is available for some locations, and the capacity factor can be calculated from
the yearly output..69..70. For example, the German nationwide average wind power capacity
factor over all of 2012 was just under 17.5%
(45867 GW·h/yr / (29.9 GW × 24 × 366) = 0.1746),.71. and the capacity factor for Scottish
wind farms averaged 24% between 2008 and 2010..72.
Unlike fueled generating plants, the capacity factor is affected by several parameters,
including the variability of the wind at the site and the size of thegenerator relative to the
turbine's swept area. A small generator would be cheaper and achieve a higher capacity
factor but would produce less electricity (and thus less profit) in high winds. Conversely, a
large generator would cost more but generate little extra power and, depending on the
type, may stall out at low wind speed. Thus an optimum capacity factor of around 40–50%
would be aimed for..68..73.
A 2008 study released by the U.S. Department of Energy noted that the capacity factor of
new wind installations was increasing as the technology improves, and projected further
improvements for future capacity factors..74. In 2010, the department estimated the
capacity factor of new wind turbines in 2010 to be 45%..75. The annual average capacity
factor for wind generation in the US has varied between 28.1% and 32.3% during the
period 2008–2013..76.

35 QUESTION : What is penetration data?

Penetration...
Country Penetration

Denmark (2014).14..77. 39%

Portugal (2011).78. 19%

Spain (2011).79. 16%

Ireland (2012).80. 16%

United Kingdom (2014).81. 9.3%

Germany (2011).82. 8%

United States (2013).83. 4.5%

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Wind energy penetration refers to the fraction of energy produced by wind compared with
the total generation. There is no generally accepted maximum level of wind penetration.
The limit for a particular grid will depend on the existing generating plants, pricing
mechanisms, capacity for energy storage, demand management and other factors. An
interconnected electricity grid will already include reserve generating and transmission
capacity to allow for equipment failures. This reserve capacity can also serve to
compensate for the varying power generation produced by wind stations. Studies have
indicated that 20% of the total annual electrical energy consumption may be incorporated
with minimal difficulty..84. These studies have been for locations with geographically
dispersed wind farms, some degree of dispatchable energy or hydropower with storage
capacity, demand management, and interconnected to a large grid area enabling the export
of electricity when needed. Beyond the 20% level, there are few technical limits, but the
economic implications become more significant. Electrical utilities continue to study the
effects of large scale penetration of wind generation on system stability and
economics..85..86..87..88.
A wind energy penetration figure can be specified for different durations of time, but is
often quoted annually. To obtain 100% from wind annually requires substantial long term
storage or substantial interconnection to other systems which may already have
substantial storage. On a monthly, weekly, daily, or hourly basis—or less—wind might
supply as much as or more than 100% of current use, with the rest stored or exported.
Seasonal industry might then take advantage of high wind and low usage times such as at
night when wind output can exceed normal demand. Such industry might include
production of silicon, aluminum,.89. steel, or of natural gas, and hydrogen, and using future
long term storage to facilitate 100% energy from variable renewable energy..90..91. Homes
can also be programmed to accept extra electricity on demand, for example by remotely
turning up water heater thermostats..92.
In Australia, the state of South Australia generates around half of the nation's wind power
capacity. By the end of 2011 wind power in South Australia, championed by Premier (and
Climate Change Minister) Mike Rann, reached 26% of the State's electricity generation,
edging out coal for the first time..93. At this stage South Australia, with only 7.2% of
Australia's population, had 54% of Australia's installed capacity..79..93.

36 QUESTION : What do you know about variability of renewable energy?

Variability...
: Variable renewable energy

Windmills are typically installed in favourable windy locations. In the image, wind
power generators in Spain, near an Osborne bull.

Electricity generated from wind power can be highly variable at several different
timescales: hourly, daily, or seasonally. Annual variation also exists, but is not as significant.
Because instantaneous electrical generation and consumption must remain in balance to
maintain grid stability, this variability can present substantial challenges to incorporating

Page 106 of 170

large amounts of wind power into a grid system. Intermittency and the non-
dispatchable nature of wind energy production can raise costs for regulation,
incremental operating reserve, and (at high penetration levels) could require an increase in
the already existing energy demand management, load shedding, storage solutions or
system interconnection with HVDC cables.
Fluctuations in load and allowance for failure of large fossil-fuel generating units require
reserve capacity that can also compensate for variability of wind generation.
Increase in system operation costs, Euros per MWh, for 10% & 20% wind share.7.

Country 10% 20%

Germany 2.5 3.2

Denmark 0.4 0.8

Finland 0.3 1.5

Norway 0.1 0.3

Sweden 0.3 0.7

Wind power is variable, and during low wind periods it must be replaced by other power
sources. Transmission networks presently cope with outages of other generation plants
and daily changes in electrical demand, but the variability of intermittent power
sources such as wind power, are unlike those of conventional power generation plants
which, when scheduled to be operating, may be able to deliver their nameplate capacity
around 95% of the time.
Presently, grid systems with large wind penetration require a small increase in the
frequency of usage of natural gas spinning reserve power plants to prevent a loss of
electricity in the event that conditions are not favorable for power production from the
wind. At lower wind power grid penetration, this is less of an issue..94..95..96.
GE has installed a prototype wind turbine with onboard battery similar to that of an
electric car, equivalent of 1 minute of production. Despite the small capacity, it is enough to
guarantee that power output complies with forecast for 15 minutes, as the battery is used
to eliminate the difference rather than provide full output. The increased predictability can
be used to take wind power penetration from 20 to 30 or 40 per cent. The battery cost can
be retrieved by selling burst power on demand and reducing backup needs from gas
plants..97.
A report on Denmark's wind power noted that their wind power network provided less
than 1% of average demand on 54 days during the year 2002..98. Wind power advocates
argue that these periods of low wind can be dealt with by simply restarting existing power
stations that have been held in readiness, or interlinking with HVDC..99. Electrical grids with
slow-responding thermal power plants and without ties to networks with hydroelectric
generation may have to limit the use of wind power..98. According to a 2007 Stanford

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University study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology,
interconnecting ten or more wind farms can allow an average of 33% of the total energy
produced (i.e. about 8% of total nameplate capacity) to be used as reliable, baseload
electric power which can be relied on to handle peak loads, as long as minimum criteria are
met for wind speed and turbine height..100..101.
Conversely, on particularly windy days, even with penetration levels of 16%, wind power
generation can surpass all other electricity sources in a country. In Spain, in the early hours
of 16 April 2012 wind power production reached the highest percentage of electricity
production till then, at 60.46% of the total demand..102. In Denmark, which had power
market penetration of 30% in 2013, over 90 hours, wind power generated 100% of the
country's power, peaking at 122% of the country's demand at 2 am on 28 October..103.
A 2006 International Energy Agency forum presented costs for managing intermittency as
a function of wind-energy's share of total capacity for several countries, as shown in the
table on the right. Three reports on the wind variability in the UK issued in 2009, generally
agree that variability of wind needs to be taken into account, but it does not make the grid
unmanageable. The additional costs, which are modest, can be quantified..8.
The combination of diversifying variable renewables by type and location, forecasting their
variation, and integrating them with dispatchable renewables, flexible fueled generators,
and demand response can create a power system that has the potential to meet power
supply needs reliably. Integrating ever-higher levels of renewables is being successfully
demonstrated in the real world:.104.
In 2009, eight American and three European authorities, writing in the leading electrical
engineers' professional journal, didn't find "a credible and firm technical limit to the
amount of wind energy that can be accommodated by electricity grids". In fact, not one of
more than 200 international studies, nor official studies for the eastern and western U.S.
regions, nor the International Energy Agency, has found major costs or technical barriers to
reliably integrating up to 30% variable renewable supplies into the grid, and in some
studies much more. –Reinventing Fire.104.

Solar power tends to be complementary to wind..105..106. On daily to weekly timescales, high

pressure areas tend to bring clear skies and low surface winds, whereas low pressure
areas tend to be windier and cloudier. On seasonal timescales, solar energy peaks in
summer, whereas in many areas wind energy is lower in summer and higher in winter..nb
2..107. Thus the intermittencies of wind and solar power tend to cancel each other somewhat.

In 2007 the Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel pilot-
tested a combined power plant linking solar, wind, biogas andhydrostorage to provide
load-following power around the clock and throughout the year, entirely from renewable
sources..108.
37 QUESTION : Explain Wind power Forecasting.

Predictability...
: Wind power forecasting

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Wind power forecasting methods are used, but predictability of any particular wind farm is
low for short-term operation. For any particular generator there is an 80% chance that
wind output will change less than 10% in an hour and a 40% chance that it will change
10% or more in 5 hours..109.
However, studies by Graham Sinden (2009) suggest that, in practice, the variations in
thousands of wind turbines, spread out over several different sites and wind regimes, are
smoothed. As the distance between sites increases, the correlation between wind speeds
measured at those sites, decreases..110.
Thus, while the output from a single turbine can vary greatly and rapidly as local wind
speeds vary, as more turbines are connected over larger and larger areas the average
power output becomes less variable and more predictable..13..111.
Wind power hardly ever suffers major technical failures, since failures of individual wind
turbines have hardly any effect on overall power, so that the distributed wind power is
reliable and predictable,.112..unreliable source?. whereas conventional generators, while far less
variable, can suffer major unpredictable outages.
Energy storage...
: Grid energy storage. : List of energy storage projects.

The Sir Adam Beck Generating Complex at Niagara Falls,

Canada, includes a large pumped-storage hydroelectricity
reservoir. During hours of low electrical demand
excesselectrical grid power is used to pump water up into
the reservoir, which then provides an extra 174 MW of
electricity during periods of peak demand.

Typically, conventional hydroelectricity complements wind

power very well. When the wind is blowing strongly, nearby
hydroelectric stations can temporarily hold back their water.
When the wind drops they can, provided they have the
generation capacity, rapidly increase production to
compensate. This gives a very even overall power supply and
virtually no loss of energy and uses no more water.
Alternatively, where a suitable head of water is not
available, pumped-storage hydroelectricity or other forms
of grid energy storage such as compressed air energy
storage and thermal energy storage can store energy
developed by high-wind periods and release it when
needed..113. The type of storage needed depends on the wind
penetration level – low penetration requires daily storage,
and high penetration requires both short and long term
storage – as long as a month or more. Stored energy increases
the economic value of wind energy since it can be shifted to

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displace higher cost generation during peak demand periods.
The potential revenue from this arbitrage can offset the cost
and losses of storage; the cost of storage may add 25% to the
cost of any wind energy stored but it is not envisaged that
this would apply to a large proportion of wind energy
generated. For example, in the UK, the 1.7 GW Dinorwig
pumped-storage plant evens out electrical demand peaks, and
allows base-load suppliers to run their plants more
efficiently. Although pumped-storage power systems are only
about 75% efficient, and have high installation costs, their
low running costs and ability to reduce the required electrical
base-load can save both fuel and total electrical generation
costs..114..115.
In particular geographic regions, peak wind speeds may not
coincide with peak demand for electrical power. In the U.S.
states of California and Texas, for example, hot days in
summer may have low wind speed and high electrical
demand due to the use of air conditioning. Some utilities
subsidize the purchase of geothermal heat pumps by their
customers, to reduce electricity demand during the summer
months by making air conditioning up to 70% more
efficient;.116. widespread adoption of this technology would
better match electricity demand to wind availability in areas
with hot summers and low summer winds. A possible future
option may be to interconnect widely dispersed geographic
areas with an HVDC "super grid". In the U.S. it is estimated
that to upgrade the transmission system to take in planned or
potential renewables would cost at least $60 billion,.117. while
the society value of added windpower would be more than
that cost..83.
Germany has an installed capacity of wind and solar that can
exceed daily demand, and has been exporting peak power to
neighboring countries, with exports which amounted to some
14.7 billion kilowatt hours in 2012..118. A more practical
solution is the installation of thirty days storage capacity able
to supply 80% of demand, which will become necessary when
most of Europe's energy is obtained from wind power and
solar power. Just as the EU requires member countries to
maintain 90 days strategic reserves of oil it can be expected
that countries will provide electricity storage, instead of
expecting to use their neighbors for net metering..119.
Capacity cr., fuel savings and energy payback...
The capacity cr. of wind is estimated by determining the
capacity of conventional plants displaced by wind power,

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whilst maintaining the same degree of system
security..120. However, the precise value is irrelevant since the
main value of wind is its fuel and CO2 savings,. needed. and wind
is not expected to be constantly available..121.
The energy needed to build a wind farm divided into the total
output over its life, Energy Return on Energy Invested, of
wind power varies but averages about 20–25..122..123. Thus, the
energy payback time is typically around one year.

Economics...
Wind turbines reached grid parity (the point at which the
cost of wind power matches traditional sources) in some
areas of Europe in the mid-2000s, and in the US around the
same time. Falling prices continue to drive the levelized cost
down and it has been suggested that it has reached general
grid parity in Europe in 2010, and will reach the same point
in the US around 2016 due to an expected reduction in capital
costs of about 12%..124.
Electricity cost and trends...

Estimated cost per MWh for wind power in Denmark

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory projects that

the levelized cost of wind power in the U.S. will decline
about 25% from 2012 to 2030..125.

A turbine blade convoy passing through Edenfield in the

U.K. (2008). Even longer two-piece blades are now
manufactured, and then assembled on-site to reduce
difficulties in transportation.

Wind power is capital intensive, but has no fuel costs..126. The

price of wind power is therefore much more stable than the
volatile prices of fossil fuel sources..127. Themarginal cost of
wind energy once a station is constructed is usually less than
1-cent per kW·h..128.
However, the estimated average cost per unit of electricity
must incorporate the cost of construction of the turbine and
transmission facilities, borrowed funds, return to investors
(including cost of risk), estimated annual production, and
other components, averaged over the projected useful life of

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the equipment, which may be in excess of twenty years.
Energy cost estimates are highly dependent on these
assumptions so published cost figures can differ substantially.
In 2004, wind energy cost a fifth of what it did in the 1980s,
and some expected that downward trend to continue as
larger multi-megawatt turbines were mass-produced..129. As
of 2012capital costs for wind turbines are substantially lower
than 2008–2010 but are still above 2002 levels..130. A 2011
report from the American Wind Energy Association stated,
"Wind's costs have dropped over the past two years, in the
range of 5 to 6 cents per kilowatt-hour recently.... about 2
cents cheaper than coal-fired electricity, and more projects
were financed through debt arrangements than tax equity
structures last year.... winning more mainstream acceptance
from Wall Street's banks.... Equipment makers can also
deliver products in the same year that they are ordered
instead of waiting up to three years as was the case in
previous cycles.... 5,600 MW of new installed capacity is
under construction in the United States, more than double the
number at this point in 2010. Thirty-five percent of all new
power generation built in the United States since 2005 has
come from wind, more than new gas and coal plants
combined, as power providers are increasingly enticed to
wind as a convenient hedge against unpredictable commodity
price moves.".131.
A British Wind Energy Association report gives an average
generation cost of onshore wind power of around 3.2 pence
(between US 5 and 6 cents) per kW·h (2005)..132. Cost per unit
of energy produced was estimated in 2006 to be 5 to 6
percent above the cost of new generating capacity in the US
for coal and natural gas: wind cost was estimated at $55.80
per MW·h, coal at $53.10/MW·h and natural gas at
$52.50..133. Similar comparative results with natural gas were
obtained in a governmental study in the UK in 2011..134. In
2011 power from wind turbines could be already cheaper
than fossil or nuclear plants; it is also expected that wind
power will be the cheapest form of energy generation in the
future..135. The presence of wind energy, even when
subsidised, can reduce costs for consumers (€5 billion/yr in
Germany) by reducing the marginal price, by minimising the
use of expensive peaking power plants..136.
In February 2013 Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF)
reported that the cost of generating electricity from new wind
farms is cheaper than new coal or new baseload gas plants.
When including the current Australian federal government

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carbon pricing scheme their modeling gives costs (in
Australian dollars) of $80/MWh for new wind farms,
$143/MWh for new coal plants and $116/MWh for new
baseload gas plants. The modeling also shows that "even
without a carbon price (the most efficient way to reduce
economy-wide emissions) wind energy is 14% cheaper than
new coal and 18% cheaper than new gas.".137. Part of the
higher costs for new coal plants is due to high financial
lending costs because of "the reputational damage of
emissions-intensive investments". The expense of gas fired
plants is partly due to "export market" effects on local prices.
Costs of production from coal fired plants built in "the 1970s
and 1980s" are cheaper than renewable energy sources
because of depreciation..137. In 2015 BNEF calculated LCOE
prices per MWh energy in new powerplants (excluding
carbon costs) : $85 for onshore wind ($175 for offshore),
$66–75 for coal in the Americas ($82–105 in Europe), gas
$80–100..138..139..140. A 2014 study showed
unsubsidized LCOE costs between $37-81, depending on
region..141.
An 2012 EU study shows base cost of onshore wind power
similar to coal, when subsidies and externalities are
disregarded. Wind power has some of the lowest external
costs..142.
This cost has additionally reduced as wind turbine technology
has improved. There are now longer and lighter wind turbine
blades, improvements in turbine performance and increased
power generation efficiency. Also, wind project capital and
maintenance costs have continued to decline..143. For example,
the wind industry in the USA as of early 2014 is able to
produce more power at lower cost by using taller wind
turbines with longer blades, capturing the faster winds at
higher elevations. This has opened up new opportunities and
in Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio, the price of power from wind
turbines built 300 feet to 400 feet above the ground can now
compete with conventional fossil fuels like coal. Prices have
fallen to about 4 cents per kilowatt-hour in some cases and
utilities have been increasing the amount of wind energy in
their portfolio, saying it is their cheapest option..144.
A number of initiatives are working to reduce costs of
electricity from offshore wind. One example is the Carbon
TrustOffshore Wind Accelerator, a joint industry project,
involving nine offshore wind developers, which aims to
reduce the cost of offshore wind by 10% by 2015. It has been

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suggested that innovation at scale could deliver 25% cost
reduction in offshore wind by 2020..145. Henrik Stiesdal,
former Chief Technical Officer at Siemens Wind Power, has
stated that by 2025 energy from offshore wind will be one of
the cheapest, scalable solutions in the UK, compared to other
renewables and fossil fuel energy sources, if the true cost to
society is factored into the cost of energy equation..146. He
calculates the cost at that time to be 43 EUR/MWh for
onshore, and 72 EUR/MWh for offshore wind..147.
Incentives and community benefits...

U.S. landowners typically receive $3,000–$5,000 annual

rental income per wind turbine, while farmers continue to
grow crops or graze cattle up to the foot of the
turbines..148.Shown: the Brazos Wind Farm, Texas.

Some of the 6,000 turbines in California's Altamont Pass

Wind Farmaided by tax incentives during the 1980s..149.

The U.S. wind industry generates tens of thousands of jobs

and billions of dollars of economic activity..150. Wind projects
provide local taxes, or payments in lieu of taxes and
strengthen the economy of rural communities by providing
income to farmers with wind turbines on their
land..148..151. Wind energy in many jurisdictions receives
financial or other support to encourage its development.
Wind energy benefits fromsubsidies in many jurisdictions,
either to increase its attractiveness, or to compensate for
subsidies received by other forms of production which have
significant negative externalities.
In the US, wind power receives a production tax cr. (PTC) of
1.5¢/kWh in 1993 dollars for each kW·h produced, for the
first ten years; at 2.2 cents per kW·h in 2012, the cr. was
renewed on 2 January 2012, to include construction begun in
2013..152. A 30% tax cr. can be applied instead of receiving the
PTC..153..154.Another tax benefit is accelerated depreciation.
Many American states also provide incentives, such as
exemption from property tax, mandated purchases, and
additional markets for "green cr.s"..155. The Energy
Improvement and Extension Act of 2008 contains extensions
of cr.s for wind, including microturbines. Countries such
as Canada and Germany also provide incentives for wind
turbine construction, such as tax cr.s or minimum purchase
prices for wind generation, with assured grid access

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(sometimes referred to as feed-in tariffs). These feed-in tariffs
are typically set well above average electricity
prices..156..157. In December 2013 U.S. Senator Lamar
Alexander and other Republican senators argued that the
"wind energy production tax cr. should be allowed to expire
at the end of 2013".158. and it expired 1 January 2014 for new
installations.
Secondary market forces also provide incentives for
businesses to use wind-generated power, even if there is
a premium price for the electricity. For example, socially
responsible manufacturers pay utility companies a premium
that goes to subsidize and build new wind power
infrastructure. Companies use wind-generated power, and in
return they can claim that they are undertaking strong
"green" efforts. In the US the organization Green-e monitors
business compliance with these renewable energy cr.s..159.

Small-scale wind power...

Further information: Microgeneration

A small Quietrevolution QR5 Gorlov type vertical axis

wind turbine on the roof of Colston Hall in Bristol,
England. Measuring 3 m in diameter and 5 m high, it has a
nameplate rating of 6.5 kW.

Small-scale wind power is the name given to wind generation

systems with the capacity to produce up to 50 kW of
electrical power..160. Isolated communities, that may
otherwise rely on diesel generators, may use wind turbines as
an alternative. Individuals may purchase these systems to
reduce or eliminate their dependence on grid electricity for
economic reasons, or to reduce their carbon footprint. Wind
turbines have been used for household electricity generation
in conjunction withbattery storage over many decades in
remote areas..161.
Recent examples of small-scale wind power projects in an
urban setting can be found in New York City, where, since
2009, a number of building projects have capped their roofs
with Gorlov-type helical wind turbines. Although the energy
they generate is small compared to the buildings' overall
consumption, they help to reinforce the building's 'green'
credentials in ways that "showing people your high-tech
boiler" can not, with some of the projects also receiving the

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direct support of the New York State Energy Research and
Development Authority..162.
Grid-connected domestic wind turbines may use grid energy
storage, thus replacing purchased electricity with locally
produced power when available. The surplus power
produced by domestic microgenerators can, in some
jurisdictions, be fed into the network and sold to the utility
company, producing a retail cr. for the microgenerators'
owners to offset their energy costs..163.
Off-grid system users can either adapt to intermittent power
or use batteries, photovoltaic or diesel systems to supplement
the wind turbine. Equipment such as parking meters, traffic
warning signs, street lighting, or wireless Internet gateways
may be powered by a small wind turbine, possibly combined
with a photovoltaic system, that charges a small battery
replacing the need for a connection to the power grid..164.
A Carbon Trust study into the potential of small-scale wind
energy in the UK, published in 2010, found that small wind
turbines could provide up to 1.5 terawatt hours (TW·h) per
year of electricity (0.4% of total UK electricity consumption),
saving 0.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (Mt CO2) emission
savings. This is based on the assumption that 10% of
households would install turbines at costs competitive with
grid electricity, around 12 pence (US 19 cents) a kW·h..165. A
report prepared for the UK's government-sponsored Energy
Saving Trust in 2006, found that home power generators of
various kinds could provide 30 to 40% of the country's
electricity needs by 2050..166.
Distributed generation from renewable resources is
increasing as a consequence of the increased awareness
of climate change. The electronic interfaces required to
connect renewable generation units with the utility system
can include additional functions, such as the active filtering to
enhance the power quality..167.

Environmental effects...
: Environmental impact of wind power
The environmental impact of wind power when compared to
the environmental impacts of fossil fuels, is relatively minor.
According to the IPCC, in assessments of the life-cycle global
warming potential of energy sources, wind turbines have
amedian value of between 12 and 11 (gCO2eq/kWh)
depending on whether off- or onshore turbines are being

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assessed..169..170. Compared with other low carbon
power sources, wind turbines have some of the lowest global
warming potential per unit of electrical energy generated..171.
While a wind farm may cover a large area of land, many land
uses such as agriculture are compatible with it, as only small
areas of turbine foundations and infrastructure are made
unavailable for use..172..173.
There are reports of bird and bat mortality at wind turbines
as there are around other artificial structures. The scale of the
ecological impact may.174. or may not.175. be significant,
depending on specific circumstances. Prevention and
mitigation of wildlife fatalities, and protection of peat
bogs,.176. affect the siting and operation of wind turbines.
Wind turbines generate some noise. At a residential distance
of 300 metres (980 ft) this may be around 45 dB, which is
slightly louder than a refrigerator. At 1 mile (1.6 km) distance
they become inaudible..177..178. There are anecdotal reports of
negative health effects from noise on people who live very
close to wind turbines..179. Peer-reviewed research has
generally not supported these claims..180..181..182.
Aesthetic aspects of wind turbines and resulting changes of
the visual landscape are significant..183. Conflicts arise
especially in scenic and heritage protected landscapes.

Politics...
Central government...

Part of the Seto Hill Windfarm in Japan.

Nuclear power and fossil fuels are subsidized by many

governments, and wind power and other forms of renewable
energy are also often subsidized. For example, a 2009 study
by the Environmental Law Institute.184. assessed the size and
structure of U.S. energy subsidies over the 2002–2008 period.
The study estimated that subsidies to fossil-fuel based
sources amounted to approximately $72 billion over this
period and subsidies to renewable fuel sources totalled $29
billion. In the United States, the federal government has paid
US$74 billion for energy subsidies to support R&D for nuclear
power ($50 billion) and fossil fuels ($24 billion) from 1973 to
2003. During this same time frame, renewable
energy technologies andenergy efficiency received a total of
US$26 billion. It has been suggested that a subsidy shift
would help to level the playing field and support growing

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energy sectors, namely solar power, wind power,
and biofuels..185. History shows that no energy sector was
developed without subsidies..185.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) (2011),
energy subsidies artificially lower the price of energy paid by
consumers, raise the price received by producers or lower the
cost of production. "Fossil fuels subsidies costs generally
outweigh the benefits. Subsidies to renewables and low-
carbon energy technologies can bring long-term economic
and environmental benefits"..186. In November 2011, an IEA
report entitled Deploying Renewables 2011 said "subsidies in
green energy technologies that were not yet competitive are
justified in order to give an incentive to investing into
technologies with clear environmental and energy security
benefits". The IEA's report disagreed with claims that
renewable energy technologies are only viable through costly
subsidies and not able to produce energy reliably to meet
demand.
In the U.S., the wind power industry has recently increased its
lobbying efforts considerably, spending about $5 million in
2009 after years of relative obscurity in Washington..187. By
comparison, the U.S. nuclear industry alone spent over $650
million on its lobbying efforts and campaign contributions
during a single ten-year period ending in 2008..188..189..190.
Following the 2011 Japanese nuclear accidents, Germany's
federal government is working on a new plan for
increasingenergy efficiency and renewable energy
commercialization, with a particular focus on offshore wind
farms. Under the plan, large wind turbines will be erected far
away from the coastlines, where the wind blows more
consistently than it does on land, and where the enormous
turbines won't bother the inhabitants. The plan aims to
decrease Germany's dependence on energy derived from coal
and nuclear power plants..191.
Public opinion...

Environmental group members are both more in favor of

wind power (74%) as well as more opposed (24%). Few
are undecided.

Surveys of public attitudes across Europe and in many other

countries show strong public support for wind
power..192..193..194. About 80% of EU citizens support wind
power..195. In Germany, where wind power has gained very
Page 118 of 170
high social acceptance, hundreds of thousands of people have
invested in citizens' wind farms across the country and
thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises are
running successful businesses in a new sector that in 2008
employed 90,000 people and generated 8% of Germany's
electricity..196..197. Although wind power is a popular form of
energy generation, the construction of wind farms is not
universally welcomed, often
for aesthetic reasons..172..192..193..194..195..198..199.
In Spain, with some exceptions, there has been little
opposition to the installation of inland wind parks. However,
the projects to build offshore parks have been more
controversial..200. In particular, the proposal of building the
biggest offshore wind power production facility in the world
in southwestern Spain in the coast of Cádiz, on the spot of the
1805 Battle of Trafalgar.201. has been met with strong
opposition who fear for tourism and fisheries in the
area,.202. and because the area is a war grave..201.

In a survey conducted by Angus Reid Strategies in October

2007, 89 per cent of respondents said that using renewable
energy sources like wind or solar power was positive
for Canada, because these sources were better for the
environment. Only 4 per cent considered using renewable
sources as negative since they can be unreliable and
expensive..204. According to a Saint Consulting survey in April
2007, wind power was the alternative energy source most
likely to gain public support for future development in
Canada, with only 16% opposed to this type of energy. By
contrast, 3 out of 4 Canadians opposed nuclear power
developments..205.
A 2003 survey of residents living around Scotland's 10
existing wind farms found high levels of community
acceptance and strong support for wind power, with much
support from those who lived closest to the wind farms. The
results of this survey support those of an earlier Scottish
Executive survey 'Public attitudes to the Environment in
Scotland 2002', which found that the Scottish public would
prefer the majority of their electricity to come from
renewables, and which rated wind power as the cleanest
source of renewable energy..206. A survey conducted in 2005
showed that 74% of people in Scotland agree that wind farms
are necessary to meet current and future energy needs. When

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 people were asked the same question in a Scottish
renewables study conducted in 2010, 78% agreed. The
increase is significant as there were twice as many wind
farms in 2010 as there were in 2005. The 2010 survey also
showed that 52% disagreed with the statement that wind
farms are "ugly and a blot on the landscape". 59% agreed that
wind farms were necessary and that how they looked was
unimportant..207. Scotland is planning to obtain 100% of
electricity from renewable sources by 2020..208.
In other cases there is direct community ownership of wind
farm projects. The hundreds of thousands of people who have
become involved in Germany's small and medium-sized wind
farms demonstrate such support there..209.
This 2010 Harris Poll reflects the strong support for wind
power in Germany, other European countries, and the
U.S..192..193..210.

Opinion on increase in number of wind farms, 2010 Harris Poll.211.

Great
U.S. France Italy Spain Germany
Britain

% % % % % %

Strongly oppose 3 6 6 2 2 4

Oppose more than favour 9 12 16 11 9 14

Favour more than oppose 37 44 44 38 37 42

Strongly favour 50 38 33 49 53 40

Community...
: Community debate about wind farms

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 Wind turbines such as these, in Cumbria, England, have
been opposed for a number of reasons, including
aesthetics, by some sectors of the population..212..213.

Many wind power companies work with local communities to

reduce environmental and other concerns associated with
particular wind farms..214..215..216. In other cases there is direct
community ownership of wind farm projects. Appropriate
government consultation, planning and approval procedures
also help to minimize environmental risks..192..217..218. Some
may still object to wind farms.219. but, according to The
Australia Institute, their concerns should be weighed against
the need to address the threats posed by climate change and
the opinions of the broader community..220.
In America, wind projects are reported to boost local tax
bases, helping to pay for schools, roads and hospitals. Wind
projects also revitalize the economy of rural communities by
providing steady income to farmers and other
landowners..148.
In the UK, both the National Trust and the Campaign to
Protect Rural England have expressed concerns about the
effects on the rural landscape caused by inappropriately sited
wind turbines and wind farms..221..222.

A panoramic view of the United Kingdom's Whitelee Wind

Farm with Lochgoin Reservoir in the foreground.

Some wind farms have become tourist attractions.

The Whitelee Wind Farm Visitor Centre has an exhibition
room, a learning hub, a café with a viewing deck and also a
shop. It is run by the Glasgow Science Centre..223.
In Denmark, a loss-of-value scheme gives people the right to
claim compensation for loss of value of their property if it is
caused by proximity to a wind turbine. The loss must be at
least 1% of the property's value..224.
Despite this general support for the concept of wind power in
the public at large, local opposition often exists and has
delayed or aborted a number of projects..225..226..227. For
example, there are concerns that some installations can
negatively affect TV and radio reception and Doppler weather
radar, as well as produce excessive sound and vibration levels
leading to a decrease in property values..228. Potential
broadcast-reception solutions include predictive interference

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 modeling as a component of site selection..229..230. A study of
50,000 home sales near wind turbines found no statistical
evidence that prices were affected..231.
While aesthetic issues are subjective and some find wind
farms pleasant and optimistic, or symbols of energy
independence and local prosperity, protest groups are often
formed to attempt to block new wind power sites for various
reasons..219..232..233.
This type of opposition is often described
as NIMBYism,.234. but research carried out in 2009 found that
there is little evidence to support the belief that residents
only object to renewable power facilities such as wind
turbines as a result of a "Not in my Back Yard" attitude..235.

38 QUESTION : Explain the Turbine Design for wind power.

Turbine design...
s: Wind turbine and Wind turbine design. : Wind turbine
aerodynamics.

Typical wind turbine components : 1-Foundation, 2-

Connection to the electric grid, 3-Tower, 4-Access
ladder, 5-Wind orientation control (Yaw control), 6-
Nacelle, 7-Generator, 8-Anemometer, 9-
Electric or MechanicalBrake, 10-Gearbox, 11-Rotor
blade, 12-Blade pitch control, 13-Rotor hub.

Typical components of a wind turbine (gearbox, rotor

shaft and brake assembly) being lifted into position

Wind turbines are devices that convert the wind's kinetic

energy into electrical power. The result of over a
millennium of windmill development and modern
engineering, today's wind turbines are manufactured in a
wide range of horizontal axis and vertical axis types. The
smallest turbines are used for applications such asbattery
charging for auxiliary power. Slightly larger turbines can
be used for making small contributions to a domestic
power supply while selling unused power back to the
utility supplier via the electrical grid. Arrays of large
turbines, known as wind farms, have become an

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increasingly important source of renewable energy and
are used in many countries as part of a strategy to reduce
their reliance on fossil fuels.
Wind turbine design is the process of defining the form
and specifications of a wind turbine to extract energy
from the wind..236. A wind turbine installation consists of
the necessary systems needed to capture the wind's
energy, point the turbine into the wind,
convert mechanical rotation into electrical power, and
other systems to start, stop, and control the turbine.
In 1919 the German physicist Albert Betz showed that for
a hypothetical ideal wind-energy extraction machine, the
fundamental laws of conservation of mass and energy
allowed no more than 16/27 (59.3%) of the kinetic
energy of the wind to be captured. This Betz limit can be
approached in modern turbine designs, which may reach
70 to 80% of the theoretical Betz limit..237..238.
The aerodynamics of a wind turbine are not
straightforward. The air flow at the blades is not the same
as the airflow far away from the turbine. The very nature
of the way in which energy is extracted from the air also
causes air to be deflected by the turbine. In addition
the aerodynamics of a wind turbine at the rotor surface
exhibit phenomena that are rarely seen in other
aerodynamic fields. The shape and dimensions of the
blades of the wind turbine are determined by the
aerodynamic performance required to efficiently extract
energy from the wind, and by the strength required to
resist the forces on the blade..239.
In addition to the aerodynamic design of the blades, the
design of a complete wind power system must also
address the design of the installation's rotor
hub, nacelle,tower structure, generator, controls, and
foundation..240. Further design factors must also be
considered when integrating wind turbines into electrical
power grids.

Wind energy...

Map of available wind power for theUnited States.

Color codes indicate wind power density class. (click
to see larger)

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 Distribution of wind speed (red) and energy (blue) for
all of 2002 at the Lee Ranch facility in Colorado. The
histogram shows measured data, while the curve is the
Rayleigh model distribution for the same average
wind speed.

Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion, also

called wind. Total wind energy flowing through an
imaginary surface with area A during the time t is:

.241.

where ρ is the density of air; v is the

wind speed; Avt is the volume of air passing
through A (which is considered perpendicular to the
direction of the wind); Avtρ is therefore the
mass m passing through "A". Note that ½ ρv2 is the
kinetic energy of the moving air per unit volume.
Power is energy per unit time, so the wind power
incident on A (e.g. equal to the rotor area of a wind
turbine) is:

.241.

Wind power in an open air stream is

thus proportional to the third power of the wind
speed; the available power increases eightfold
when the wind speed doubles. Wind turbines for
grid electricity therefore need to be especially
efficient at greater wind speeds.
Wind is the movement of air across the surface of
the Earth, affected by areas of high pressure and
of low pressure..242. The global wind kinetic energy
averaged approximately 1.50 MJ/m2 over the
period from 1979 to 2010, 1.31 MJ/m2 in the
Northern Hemisphere with 1.70 MJ/m2 in the
Southern Hemisphere. The atmosphere acts as a
thermal engine, absorbing heat at higher
temperatures, releasing heat at lower
temperatures. The process is responsible for
production of wind kinetic energy at a rate of 2.46
W/m2 sustaining thus the circulation of the
atmosphere against frictional dissipation..243. A
global 1km2 map of wind resources is housed
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 at http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/ , based on
calculations by the Technical University of
Denmark..244..245..246.
The total amount of economically extractable
power available from the wind is considerably
more than present human power use from all
sources..247. Axel Kleidon of the Max Planck
Institute in Germany, carried out a "top down"
calculation on how much wind energy there is,
starting with the incoming solar radiation that
drives the winds by creating temperature
differences in the atmosphere. He concluded that
somewhere between 18 TW and 68 TW could be
extracted..248.
Cristina Archer and Mark Z. Jacobson presented a
"bottom-up" estimate, which unlike Kleidon's are
based on actual measurements of wind speeds,
and found that there is 1700 TW of wind power at
an altitude of 100 metres over land and sea. Of
this, "between 72 and 170 TW could be extracted
in a practical and cost-competitive
manner"..248. They later estimated 80
TW..249. However research at Harvard
University estimates 1 Watt/m2 on average and 2–
10 MW/km2 capacity for large scale wind farms,
suggesting that these estimates of total global
wind resources are too high by a factor of about
4..250.
The strength of wind varies, and an average value
for a given location does not alone indicate the
amount of energy a wind turbine could produce
there.
To assess prospective wind power sites a
probability distribution function is often fit to the
observed wind speed data..251.Different locations
will have different wind speed distributions.
The Weibull model closely mirrors the actual
distribution of hourly/ten-minute wind speeds at
many locations. The Weibull factor is often close
to 2 and therefore a Rayleigh distributioncan be
used as a less accurate, but simpler model..252.

39 QUESTION : Explain various applications of Wind Energy.

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Application of wind energy

 Wind turbine
Wind power
 Wind mill

 Sailboat
 Sailing ship
 Power kite
Vehicle propulsion SkySails
 Ice boat
 Land sailing
 Rotor ship

 Kite
Kite applications
 Human-lifting kite

Air current  Windcatcher

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NUCLEAR POWER

Nuclear power

40 QUESTION :Explain Nuclear Fusion & Fission Power.

Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy.. to generate
heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in
a nuclear power station. The term includes nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear
fusion. Presently, the nuclear fission of elements in the actinideseries of the periodic
table produce the vast majority of nuclear energy in the direct service of humankind, with
nuclear decay processes, primarily in the form of geothermal energy, and radioisotope
thermoelectric generators, in niche uses making up the rest.
Nuclear (fission) power stations, excluding the contribution from naval nuclear fission
reactors, provided 11% of the world's electricity in 2012,.6. somewhat less than that
generated by hydro-electric stations at 16%. Since electricity accounts for about 25% of
humanity's energy usage with the majority of the rest coming fromfossil fuel reliant sectors
such as transport, manufacture and home heating, nuclear fission's contribution to
the global final energy consumption is about 2.5%,.7. a little more than the combined global
electricity production from "new renewables"; wind, solar, biofuel and geothermal power,
which together provided 2% of global final energy consumption in 2014..8.
Regional differences in the use of fission energy are large. Fission energy generation, with a
20% share of the U.S. electricity production, is the single largest deployed technology
among current low-carbon power sources in the country..9. In addition, two-thirds of
the European Union's twenty-seven nations's low-carbon energy is produced by
fission..10. Some of these nations have banned its generation, such as Italy, which ended the
use of fission-electric generation, which started in 1963, in 1990. France is the largest user
of nuclear energy, deriving 75% of its electricity from fission.
Along with other sustainable energy sources, nuclear fission power is a low carbon power
generation method of producing electricity, meaning that it is in the renewable
energy family of low associated greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy generated... As
all electricity supplying technologies use cement etc., during construction, emissions are
yet to be brought to zero. A 2014 analysis of the carbon footprint literature by
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC) reported that fission electricities
embodied total life-cycle emission intensity value of 12 g CO2 eq/kWh is the lowest out of
all commercial baseload energy sources,.12..13. and second lowest out of all commercial
electricity technologies known, after wind power which is an Intermittent energy
source with embodied greenhouse gas emissions, per unit of energy generated of 11 g
CO2eq/kWh. Each result is contrasted with coal & fossil gas at 820 and 490 g

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CO2 eq/kWh..12..13. With this translating into, from the beginning of Fission-electric power
station commercialization in the 1970s, having prevented the emission of about 64 billion
tones of carbon dioxide equivalent, greenhouse gases that would have otherwise resulted
from the burning of fossil fuels in thermal power stations..14.
In 2013, the IAEA reported that there are 437 operational civil fission-electric
reactors.15. in 31 countries,.16. although not every reactor is producing electricity..17.In
addition, there are approximately 140 naval vessels using nuclear propulsion in operation,
powered by some 180 reactors..18..19..20. As of 2013, attaining a net energy gain from
sustained nuclear fusion reactions, excluding natural fusion power sources such as the Sun,
remains an ongoing area of international physics andengineering research. With
commercial fusion power production remaining unlikely before 2050..21.
In 2015, the IAEA report that worldwide there were 67 civil fission-electric power reactors
under construction in 15 countries including Gulf states such as the United Arab
Emirates (UAE)..15. Over half of the 67 total being built are in Asia, with 28 in the Peoples
Republic of China (PRC), with the most recently completed fission-electric reactor to be
connected to the electrical grid, as of August 2015, occurring in Wolseong Nuclear Power
Plant in the Republic of Korea..22. Five other new grid connections were completed by the
PRC so far this year..23. In the US, four new Generation III reactors are under construction
at Vogtle and Summer station, while a fifth is nearing completion at Watts Bar station, all
five are expected to enter service before 2020..24. In 2013, four aging uncompetitive U.S
reactors were closed..25..26.
There is a social debate about nuclear power.. Proponents, such as the World Nuclear
Association and Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy, contend that nuclear power is a
safe, sustainable energy source that reduces carbon emissions..30.Opponents, such
as Greenpeace International and NIRS, contend that nuclear power poses many threats
to people and the environment..31..32..33.
Far reaching fission power reactor accidents, or accidents that resulted in medium to long-
lived fission product contamination of inhabited areas, have occurred inGeneration I & II
reactor designs, blueprinted between 1950 and 1980. These include the Chernobyl
disaster which occurred in 1986, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster(2011), and the
more contained Three Mile Island accident (1979)..34. There have also been some nuclear
submarine accidents..34..35..36. In terms of lives lost per unit of energy generated, analysis has
determined that fission-electric reactors have caused less fatalities per unit of energy
generated than the other major sources of energy generation. Energy production from coal,
petroleum, natural gas and hydroelectricity has caused a greater number of fatalities per
unit of energy generated due to air pollution and energy
accident effects..37..38..39..40..41. However, the economic costs of nuclear power accidents is
high, and meltdowns can render areas uninhabitable for very long periods. The human
costs of evacuations of affected populations and lost livelihoods is also
significant..42..43..better source needed.
Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, which occurred in a reactor design from
the 1960s, prompted a re-examination of nuclear safety and nuclear energy policy in many
countries..44. Germany plans to close all its reactors by 2022, and Italy has re-affirmed its

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ban on electric utilities generating, but not importing, fission derived electricity..44. In 2011
the International Energy Agency halved its prior estimate of new generating capacity to be
built by 2035..45..46. In 2013 Japan signed a deal worth $22 billion, in which Mitsubishi
Heavy Industries would build four modern Atmea reactors for Turkey..47. In August 2015,
following 4 years of near zero fission-electricity generation, Japan began restarting
its fission fleet, after safety upgrades were completed, beginning with Sendai fission-
electric station..48.

..

 1Use
o 1.1Use in space
 2History
o 2.1Origins
o 2.2Early years
o 2.3Development
 3Nuclear power plant
 4Life cycle
o 4.1Conventional fuel resources
 4.1.1Breeding
o 4.2Solid waste
 4.2.1High-level radioactive waste
 4.2.2Low-level radioactive waste
 4.2.3Comparing radioactive waste to industrial toxic
waste
 4.2.4Waste disposal
o 4.3Reprocessing
 4.3.1Depleted uranium
 5Economics
 6Accidents and safety, the human and financial costs
 7Nuclear proliferation
 8Environmental issues
o 8.1Climate change
 9Nuclear decommissioning
 10Debate on nuclear power
 11Comparison with renewable energy
 12Nuclear renaissance
 13Future of the industry
o 13.1Nuclear phase out
o 13.2Advanced concepts
o 13.3Hybrid nuclear fusion-fission
o 13.4Nuclear fusion

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  14Nuclear power organizations
o 14.1Proponents

Net electrical generation by source and growth from 1980 to 2010. (Brown) - fossil
fuels.(Red) - Fission.(Green)- "all renewables". In terms of energy generated between 1980
and 2010, the contribution from fission grew the fastest.

Worldwide civilian fission-electric power, installed nameplate capacity (in blue) in units
of GW and actual electrical generation (in red) in units ofTWh. 1980 to 2010 (EIA)

The rate of new construction builds for civilian fission-electric reactors essentially halted in
the late 1980s, with the effects of accidents having a chilling effect. Increased capacity
factorrealizations in existing reactors was primarily responsible for the continuing increase
in electrical energy produced during this period. The halting of new builds c. 1985, resulted
in greater fossil fuel generation, see above graph.

Hydropower(blue) is the dominant electricity generating "renewable" source and more

new hydro-electricity was generated from 1980 to 2010, than all other renewable sources
combined.

Electricitiy generation trends in the top five fission-energy producing countries (US EIA
data)

Percentage of a nations electricity, produced by fission-electric power stations.

: Nuclear power by country and List of nuclear reactors

In 2011 nuclear power provided 10% of the world's electricity.6. In 2007, the IAEAreported
there were 439 nuclear power reactors in operation in the world,.49.operating in
31 countries..16. However, many have now ceased operation in the wake of the Fukushima
nuclear disaster while they are assessed for safety. In 2011 worldwide nuclear output fell
by 4.3%, the largest decline on record, on the back of sharp declines in Japan (-44.3%) and
Germany (-23.2%)..50.
Since commercial nuclear energy began in the mid-1950s, 2008 was the first year that no
new nuclear power plant was connected to the grid, although two were connected in
2009..51..52.

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Annual generation of nuclear power has been on a slight downward trend since 2007,
decreasing 1.8% in 2009 to 2558 TWh with nuclear power meeting 13–14% of the world's
electricity demand..53. One factor in the nuclear power percentage decrease since 2007 has
been the prolonged shutdown of large reactors at theKashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power
Plant in Japan following the Niigata-Chuetsu-Oki earthquake..53.
The United States produces the most nuclear energy, with nuclear power providing
19%.54. of the electricity it consumes, while France produces the highest percentage of its
electrical energy from nuclear reactors—80% as of 2006..55. In theEuropean Union as a
whole, nuclear energy provides 30% of the electricity..56.Nuclear energy policy differs
among European Union countries, and some, such as Austria, Estonia, Ireland and Italy,
have no active nuclear power stations. In comparison, France has a large number of these
plants, with 16 multi-unit stations in current use.
In the US, while the coal and gas electricity industry is projected to be worth $85 billion by
2013, nuclear power generators are forecast to be worth $18 billion..57.
Many military and some civilian (such as some icebreaker) ships use nuclear marine
propulsion, a form of nuclear propulsion..58. A few space vehicles have been launched using
full-fledged nuclear reactors: 33 reactors belong to the SovietRORSAT series and one was
the American SNAP-10A.
International research is continuing into safety improvements such as passively
safe plants,.59. the use of nuclear fusion, and additional uses of process heat such
as hydrogen production (in support of a hydrogen economy), for desalinating sea water,
and for use in district heating systems.
Use in space
: Nuclear power in space
Both fission and fusion appear promising for space propulsion applications, generating
higher mission velocities with less reaction mass. This is due to the much higher energy
density of nuclear reactions: some 7 orders of magnitude (10,000,000 times) more
energetic than the chemical reactions which power the current generation of rockets.
Radioactive decay has been used on a relatively small scale (few kW), mostly to
power space missions and experiments by using radioisotope thermoelectric
generators such as those developed at Idaho National Laboratory.

History
Origins
: Nuclear fission § History and Atomic Age
The pursuit of nuclear energy for electricity generation began soon after the discovery in
the early 20th century that radioactive elements, such as radium, released immense
amounts of energy, according to the principle of mass–energy equivalence. However,
means of harnessing such energy was impractical, because intensely radioactive elements
were, by their very nature, short-lived (high energy release is correlated with short half-
lives). However, the dream of harnessing "atomic energy" was quite strong, even though it
was dismissed by such fathers ofnuclear physics like Ernest Rutherford as

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"moonshine.".60. This situation, however, changed in the late 1930s, with the discovery of
nuclear fission.
In 1932, James Chadwick discovered the neutron,.61. which was immediately recognized as
a potential tool for nuclear experimentation because of its lack of an electric charge.
Experimentation with bombardment of materials with neutrons ledFrédéric and Irène
Joliot-Curie to discover induced radioactivity in 1934, which allowed the creation of
radium-like elements at much less the price of natural radium..62. Further work by Enrico
Fermi in the 1930s focused on using slow neutrons to increase the effectiveness of induced
radioactivity. Experiments bombarding uranium with neutrons led Fermi to believe he had
created a new, transuranic element, which was dubbed hesperium..63.

December 2, 1942. A depiction of the scene when scientists observed the world's first man
made nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, as it became self-sustaining/critical at
the University of Chicago.

But in 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn.64. and Fritz Strassmann, along with Austrian
physicist Lise Meitner.65. and Meitner's nephew, Otto Robert Frisch,.66.conducted
experiments with the products of neutron-bombarded uranium, as a means of further
investigating Fermi's claims. They determined that the relatively tiny neutron split the
nucleus of the massive uranium atoms into two roughly equal pieces, contradicting
Fermi..63. This was an extremely surprising result: all other forms of nuclear decay involved
only small changes to the mass of the nucleus, whereas this process—dubbed "fission" as
a reference to biology—involved a complete rupture of the nucleus. Numerous scientists,
including Leó Szilárd, who was one of the first, recognized that if fission reactions released
additional neutrons, a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction could result. Once this was
experimentally confirmed and announced by Frédéric Joliot-Curie in 1939, scientists in
many countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the
Soviet Union) petitioned their governments for support of nuclear fission research, just on
the cusp of World War II, for the development of a nuclear weapon..67.
In the United States, where Fermi and Szilárd had both emigrated, this led to the creation of
the first man-made reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1, which achieved criticality on
December 2, 1942. This work became part of the Manhattan Project, which made enriched
uranium and built large reactors to breed plutonium for use in the first nuclear weapons,
which wereused on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 at Argonne
National Laboratory-West, December 20, 1951.

Unexpectedly high costs in the U.S. nuclear weapons program, along with competition with
the Soviet Union and a desire to spread democracy through the world, created "...pressure
on federal officials to develop a civilian nuclear power industry that could help justify the
government's considerable expenditures.".68. In 1945, the pocketbook The Atomic
Age heralded the untapped atomic power in everyday objects and depicted a future where

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fossil fuels would go unused. One science writer, David Dietz, wrote that instead of filling
the gas tank of your car two or three times a week, you will travel for a year on a pellet of
atomic energy the size of a vitamin pill. Glenn Seaborg, who chaired the Atomic Energy
Commission, wrote "there will be nuclear powered earth-to-moon shuttles, nuclear
powered artificial hearts, plutonium heated swimming pools for SCUBA divers, and much
more". These overly optimistic predications remain unfulfilled..69.
United Kingdom, Canada,.70. and USSR proceeded over the course of the late 1940s and
early 1950s. Electricity was generated for the first time by a nuclear reactor on December
20, 1951, at the EBR-Iexperimental station near Arco, Idaho, which initially produced about
100 kW..71..72. Work was also strongly researched in the US on nuclear marine propulsion,
with a test reactor being developed by 1953 (eventually, the USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-
powered submarine, would launch in 1955)..73. In 1953, US President Dwight
Eisenhower gave his "Atoms for Peace" speech at the United Nations, emphasizing the need
to develop "peaceful" uses of nuclear power quickly. This was followed by the 1954
Amendments to the Atomic Energy Act which allowed rapid declassification of U.S. reactor
technology and encouraged development by the private sector. This involved a significant
learning phase, with many early partial core meltdowns and accidents at experimental
reactors and research facilities..74.
Early years
On June 27, 1954, the USSR's Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant became the world's first nuclear
power plant to generate electricity for a power grid, and produced around 5 megawatts of
electric power..75..76.
Later in 1954, Lewis Strauss, then chairman of the United States Atomic Energy
Commission (U.S. AEC, forerunner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and
the United States Department of Energy) spoke of electricity in the future being "too cheap
to meter"..77. Strauss was very likely referring to hydrogen fusion.78. —which was secretly
being developed as part of Project Sherwood at the time—but Strauss's statement was
interpreted as a promise of very cheap energy from nuclear fission. The U.S. AEC itself had
issued far more realistic testimony regarding nuclear fission to the U.S. Congress only
months before, projecting that "costs can be brought down... .to.... about the same as the
cost of electricity from conventional sources...".79. Significant disappointment would
develop later on, when the new nuclear plants did not provide energy "too cheap to meter."
In 1955 the United Nations' "First Geneva Conference", then the world's largest gathering
of scientists and engineers, met to explore the technology. In 1957 EURATOM was launched
alongside the European Economic Community (the latter is now the European Union). The
same year also saw the launch of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvaniawas the first

commercial reactor in the USA and was opened in 1957.

The world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall at Windscale, England, was
opened in 1956 with an initial capacity of 50 MW (later 200 MW)..80..81. The first

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commercial nuclear generator to become operational in the United States was
the Shippingport Reactor (Pennsylvania, December 1957).
One of the first organizations to develop nuclear power was the U.S. Navy, for the purpose
of propelling submarines and aircraft carriers. The first nuclear-powered
submarine, USS Nautilus (SSN-571), was put to sea in December 1954..82. Two U.S. nuclear
submarines, USS Scorpion and USS Thresher, have been lost at sea. Eight Soviet and Russian
nuclear submarines have been lost at sea. This includes the Soviet submarine K-19 reactor
accident in 1961 which resulted in 8 deaths and more than 30 other people were over-
exposed to radiation..35. The Soviet submarine K-27 reactor accident in 1968 resulted in 9
fatalities and 83 other injuries..36. Moreover, Soviet submarine K-429 sank twice, but was
raised after each incident. Several serious nuclear and radiation accidents have involved
nuclear submarine mishaps..34..36.
The U.S. Army also had a nuclear power program, beginning in 1954. The SM-1 Nuclear
Power Plant, at Fort Belvoir,Virginia, was the first power reactor in the U.S. to supply
electrical energy to a commercial grid (VEPCO), in April 1957, before Shippingport. The SL-
1 was a U.S. Army experimental nuclear power reactor at the National Reactor Testing
Stationin eastern Idaho. It underwent a steam explosion and meltdown in January 1961,
which killed its three operators..83. In Soviet Union in The Mayak Production Association
there were a number of accidents including an explosion that released 50-100 tonnes of
high-level radioactive waste, contaminating a huge territory in the eastern Urals and
causing numerous deaths and injuries. The Soviet regime kept this accident secret for
about 30 years. The event was eventually rated at 6 on the seven-level INES scale (third in
severity only to the disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima).
Development

The status of nuclear power globally

(click image for legend)

Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Power Plants 3 and 5 were never
completed.

Installed nuclear capacity initially rose relatively quickly, rising from less than
1gigawatt (GW) in 1960 to 100 GW in the late 1970s, and 300 GW in the late 1980s. Since
the late 1980s worldwide capacity has risen much more slowly, reaching 366 GW in 2005.
Between around 1970 and 1990, more than 50 GW of capacity was under construction
(peaking at over 150 GW in the late 1970s and early 1980s) — in 2005, around 25 GW of
new capacity was planned. More than two-thirds of all nuclear plants ordered after January
1970 were eventually cancelled..82. A total of63 nuclear units were canceled in the USA
between 1975 and 1980..84.
During the 1970s and 1980s rising economic costs (related to extended construction times
largely due to regulatory changes and pressure-group litigation).85. and falling fossil fuel
prices made nuclear power plants then under construction less attractive. In the 1980s

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(U.S.) and 1990s (Europe), flat load growth and electricity liberalization also made the
addition of large new baseload capacity unattractive.
The 1973 oil crisis had a significant effect on countries, such as France and Japan, which
had relied more heavily on oil for electric generation (39%.86. and 73% respectively) to
invest in nuclear power..87.
Some local opposition to nuclear power emerged in the early 1960s,.88. and in the late
1960s some members of the scientific community began to express their concerns..89. These
concerns related to nuclear accidents, nuclear proliferation, high cost of nuclear power
plants, nuclear terrorism and radioactive waste disposal..90. In the early 1970s, there were
large protests about a proposed nuclear power plant in Wyhl, Germany. The project was
cancelled in 1975 and anti-nuclear success at Wyhl inspired opposition to nuclear power in
other parts of Europe and North America..91..92. By the mid-1970s anti-nuclear activism had
moved beyond local protests and politics to gain a wider appeal and influence, and nuclear
power became an issue of major public protest..93.Although it lacked a single co-ordinating
organization, and did not have uniform goals, the movement's efforts gained a great deal of
attention..94. In some countries, the nuclear power conflict "reached an intensity
unprecedented in the history of technology controversies"..95.

120,000 people attended an anti-nuclear protest in Bonn, Germany, on October 14, 1979,
following the Three Mile Island accident..96.

In France, between 1975 and 1977, some 175,000 people protested against nuclear power
in ten demonstrations..96. In West Germany, between February 1975 and April 1979, some
280,000 people were involved in seven demonstrations at nuclear sites. Several site
occupations were also attempted. In the aftermath of theThree Mile Island accident in
1979, some 120,000 people attended a demonstration against nuclear power in Bonn..96. In
May 1979, an estimated 70,000 people, including then governor of California Jerry Brown,
attended a march and rally against nuclear power in Washington, D.C..97. Anti-nuclear
power groups emerged in every country that has had a nuclear power programme. Some of
these anti-nuclear power organisations are reported to have developed considerable
expertise on nuclear power and energy issues..98.

The abandoned city of Pripyat with Chernobyl plant in the distance.

Health and safety concerns, the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island, and the 1986Chernobyl
disaster played a part in stopping new plant construction in many countries,.89. although
the public policy organization, the Brookings Institution states that new nuclear units, at
the time of publishing in 2006, had not been built in the U.S. because of soft demand for
electricity, and cost overruns on nuclear plants due to regulatory issues and construction
delays..99. By the end of the 1970s it became clear that nuclear power would not grow
nearly as dramatically as once believed. Eventually, more than 120 reactor orders in the
U.S. were ultimately cancelled.100.and the construction of new reactors ground to a halt. A
cover story in the February 11, 1985, issue of Forbes magazine commented on the overall

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failure of the U.S. nuclear power program, saying it “ranks as the largest managerial
disaster in business history”..101.
Unlike the Three Mile Island accident, the much more serious Chernobyl accident did not
increase regulations affecting Western reactors since the Chernobyl reactors were of the
problematic RBMK design only used in the Soviet Union, for example lacking
"robust" containment buildings..102. Many of these RBMK reactors are still in use today.
However, changes were made in both the reactors themselves (use of a safer enrichment of
uranium) and in the control system (prevention of disabling safety systems), amongst
other things, to reduce the possibility of a duplicate accident..103.
An international organization to promote safety awareness and professional development
on operators in nuclear facilities was created: WANO; World Association of Nuclear
Operators.
Opposition in Ireland and Poland prevented nuclear programs there, while Austria (1978),
Sweden (1980) and Italy (1987) (influenced by Chernobyl) voted in referendums to oppose
or phase out nuclear power. In July 2009, the Italian Parliament passed a law that cancelled
the results of an earlier referendum and allowed the immediate start of the Italian nuclear
program..104. After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster a one-year moratorium was
placed on nuclear power development,.105. followed by a referendum in which over 94% of
voters (turnout 57%) rejected plans for new nuclear power.

41 QUESTION : Explain Function of Nuclear Power Plant

Nuclear power plant

Nuclear power plant

Just as many conventional thermal power stations generate electricity by harnessing
the thermal energy released from burning fossil fuels, nuclear power plants convert the
energy released from the nucleus of an atom via nuclear fission that takes place in a nuclear
reactor. The heat is removed from the reactor core by a cooling system that uses the heat to
generate steam, which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator producing
electricity.

Life cycle

The nuclear fuel cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and manufactured into
nuclear fuel, (1) which is delivered to a nuclear power plant. After usage in the power plant,
the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a final repository (3) for
geological disposition. In reprocessing 95% of spent fuel can potentially be recycled to be
returned to usage in a power plant (4).
: Nuclear fuel cycle

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A nuclear reactor is only part of the life-cycle for nuclear power. The process starts with
mining (see Uranium mining). Uranium mines are underground, open-pit, or in-situ
leach mines. In any case, the uranium ore is extracted, usually converted into a stable and
compact form such as yellowcake, and then transported to a processing facility. Here, the
yellowcake is converted to uranium hexafluoride, which is thenenriched using various
techniques. At this point, the enriched uranium, containing more than the natural 0.7% U-
235, is used to make rods of the proper composition and geometry for the particular
reactor that the fuel is destined for. The fuel rods will spend about 3 operational cycles
(typically 6 years total now) inside the reactor, generally until about 3% of their uranium
has been fissioned, then they will be moved to a spent fuel pool where the short lived
isotopes generated by fission can decay away. After about 5 years in a spent fuel pool the
spent fuel is radioactively and thermally cool enough to handle, and it can be moved to dry
storage casks or reprocessed.
Conventional fuel resources
: Uranium market and Energy development - Nuclear energy

Proportions of the isotopes,uranium-238 (blue) and uranium-235 (red) found naturally,

versus grades that are enriched. light water reactors require fuel enriched to (3-4%), while
others such as theCANDU reactor uses natural uranium.

Uranium is a fairly common element in the Earth's crust. Uranium is approximately as

common as tin or germanium in the Earth's crust, and is about 40 times more common
than silver..107. Uranium is a constituent of most rocks, dirt, and of the oceans. The fact that
uranium is so spread out is a problem because mining uranium is only economically
feasible where there is a large concentration. Still, the world's present measured resources
of uranium, economically recoverable at a price of 130 USD/kg, are enough to last for
between 70 and 100 years..108..109..110.
According to the OECD in 2006, there is an expected 85 years worth of uranium in
identified resources, when that uranium is used in present reactor technology, with 670
years of economically recoverable uranium in total conventional resources
andphosphate ores, while also using present reactor technology, a resource that is
recoverable from between 60-100 US$/kg of Uranium..111. The OECD have noted that:
Even if the nuclear industry expands significantly, sufficient fuel is available for centuries. If
advanced breeder reactors could be designed in the future to efficiently utilize recycled or
depleted uranium and all actinides, then the resource utilization efficiency would be
further improved by an additional factor of eight.

For example, the OECD have determined that with a pure fast reactor fuel cycle with a burn
up of, and recycling of, all the Uranium and actinides, actinides which presently make up
the most hazardous substances in nuclear waste, there is 160,000 years worth of Uranium
in total conventional resources and phosphate ore..112. According to the OECD's red book in
2011, due to increased exploration, known uranium resources have grown by 12.5% since
2008, with this increase translating into greater than a century of uranium available if the
metals usage rate were to continue at the 2011 level..113..114.

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Current light water reactors make relatively inefficient use of nuclear fuel, fissioning only
the very rare uranium-235 isotope. Nuclear reprocessing can make this waste reusable,
and more efficient reactor designs, such as the currently under constructionGeneration III
reactors achieve a higher efficiency burn up of the available resources, than the current
vintage generation II reactors, which make up the vast majority of reactors worldwide..115.

42 QUESTION :Explain Breeder Technology

Breeding

As opposed to current light water reactors which use uranium-235 (0.7% of all natural
uranium), fast breeder reactors use uranium-238 (99.3% of all natural uranium). It has
been estimated that there is up to five billion years' worth of uranium-238 for use in these
power plants..116.
Breeder technology has been used in several reactors, but the high cost of reprocessing fuel
safely, at 2006 technological levels, requires uranium prices of more than 200 USD/kg
before becoming justified economically..117. Breeder reactors are still however being
pursued as they have the potential to burn up all of the actinides in the present inventory of
nuclear waste while also producing power and creating additional quantities of fuel for
more reactors via the breeding process..118..119. In 2005, there were two breeder reactors
producing power: the Phénix in France, which has since powered down in 2009 after 36
years of operation, and the BN-600 reactor, a reactor constructed in 1980 Beloyarsk, Russia
which is still operational as of 2013. The electricity output of BN-600 is 600 MW — Russia
plans to expand the nation's use of breeder reactors with the BN-800 reactor, was
scheduled to become operational in 2014,.120. but due to delays is not scheduled to produce
power until 2017..121. The technical design of a yet larger breeder, the BN-1200 reactor was
originally scheduled to be finalized in 2013, with construction slated for 2015 but has also
been delayed..122. Japan's Monju breeder reactor restarted (having been shut down in 1995)
in 2010 for 3 months, but shut down again after equipment fell into the reactor during
reactor checkups, it is planned to become re-operational in late 2013..123. Both China and
India are building breeder reactors. With the Indian 500 MWe Prototype Fast Breeder
Reactor scheduled to become operational in 2014, with plans to build five more by
2020..124.The China Experimental Fast Reactor began producing power in 2011..125.
Another alternative to fast breeders is thermal breeder reactors that use uranium-233 bred
from thorium as fission fuel in the thorium fuel cycle. Thorium is about 3.5 times more
common than uranium in the Earth's crust, and has different geographic characteristics.
This would extend the total practical fissionable resource base by 450%..126. India's three-
stage nuclear power programme features the use of a thorium fuel cycle in the third stage,
as it has abundant thorium reserves but little uranium.

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Solid waste
: List of nuclear waste treatment technologies
The most important waste stream from nuclear power plants is spent nuclear fuel. It is
primarily composed of unconverted uranium as well as significant quantities of transuranic
actinides (plutonium and curium, mostly). In addition, about 3% of it is fission products
from nuclear reactions. The actinides (uranium, plutonium, and curium) are responsible for
the bulk of the long-term radioactivity, whereas the fission products are responsible for the
bulk of the short-term radioactivity..127.
High-level radioactive waste
: High-level radioactive waste management

Following interim storage in a spent fuel pool, the bundles of used fuel assemblies of a
typical nuclear power station are often stored on site in the likes of the eight dry cask
storagevessels pictured above..128. At Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, which generated
44 billion kilowatt hours of electricity over its lifetime, its complete spent fuel inventory is
contained within sixteen casks..129.

High-level radioactive waste management concerns management and disposal of highly

radioactive materials created during production of nuclear power. The technical issues in
accomplishing this are daunting, due to the extremely long periods radioactive
wastes remain deadly to living organisms. Of particular concern are two long-lived fission
products, Technetium-99 (half-life 220,000 years) andIodine-129 (half-life 15.7 million
years),.130. which dominate spent nuclear fuel radioactivity after a few thousand years. The
most troublesome transuranic elements in spent fuel are Neptunium-237 (half-life two
million years) andPlutonium-239 (half-life 24,000 years)..131. Consequently, high-level
radioactive waste requires sophisticated treatment and management to successfully isolate
it from the biosphere. This usually necessitates treatment, followed by a long-term
management strategy involving permanent storage, disposal or transformation of the
waste into a non-toxic form..132.
Governments around the world are considering a range of waste management and disposal
options, usually involving deep-geologic placement, although there has been limited
progress toward implementing long-term waste management solutions..133. This is partly
because the timeframes in question when dealing with radioactive waste range from
10,000 to millions of years,.134..135. according to studies based on the effect of estimated
radiation doses..136.
Some proposed nuclear reactor designs however such as the American Integral Fast
Reactor and the Molten salt reactor can use the nuclear waste from light water reactors as a
fuel, transmutating it to isotopes that would be safe after hundreds, instead of tens of
thousands of years. This offers a potentially more attractive alternative to deep geological
disposal..137..138..139.

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Another possibility is the use of thorium in a reactor especially designed for thorium
(rather than mixing in thorium with uranium and plutonium (i.e. in existing reactors). Used
thorium fuel remains only a few hundreds of years radioactive, instead of tens of thousands
of years..140.
Since the fraction of a radioisotope's atoms decaying per unit of time is inversely
proportional to its half-life, the relative radioactivity of a quantity of buried human
radioactive waste would diminish over time compared to natural radioisotopes (such as
the decay chains of 120 trillion tons of thorium and 40 trillion tons of uranium which are at
relatively trace concentrations of parts per million each over the crust's 3 * 1019 ton
mass)..141..142..143. For instance, over a timeframe of thousands of years, after the most active
short half-life radioisotopes decayed, burying U.S. nuclear waste would increase the
radioactivity in the top 2000 feet of rock and soil in the United States (10 million km2)
by ≈ 1 part in 10 million over the cumulative amount of natural radioisotopes in such a
volume, although the vicinity of the site would have a far higher concentration of artificial
radioisotopes underground than such an average..144.
Low-level radioactive waste
: Low-level waste
The nuclear industry also produces a large volume of low-level radioactive waste in the
form of contaminated items like clothing, hand tools, water purifier resins, and (upon
decommissioning) the materials of which the reactor itself is built. In the US, the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has repeatedly attempted to allow low-level materials to be
handled as normal waste: landfilled, recycled into consumer items, etcetera.
Comparing radioactive waste to industrial toxic waste
In countries with nuclear power, radioactive wastes comprise less than 1% of total
industrial toxic wastes, much of which remains hazardous for long periods..115. Overall,
nuclear power produces far less waste material by volume than fossil-fuel based power
plants..145. Coal-burning plants are particularly noted for producing large amounts of toxic
and mildly radioactive ash due to concentrating naturally occurring metals and mildly
radioactive material from the coal..146. A 2008 report from Oak Ridge National
Laboratory concluded that coal power actually results in more radioactivity being released
into the environment than nuclear power operation, and that the population effective
dose equivalent, or dose to the public from radiation from coal plants is 100 times as much
as from the ideal operation of nuclear plants..147. Indeed, coal ash is much less radioactive
than spent nuclear fuel on a weight per weight basis, but coal ash is produced in much
higher quantities per unit of energy generated, and this is released directly into the
environment as fly ash, whereas nuclear plants use shielding to protect the environment
from radioactive materials, for example, in dry cask storage vessels..148.
Waste disposal
Disposal of nuclear waste is often said to be the Achilles' heel of the industry..149. Presently,
waste is mainly stored at individual reactor sites and there are over 430 locations around
the world where radioactive material continues to accumulate. Some experts suggest that
centralized underground repositories which are well-managed, guarded, and monitored,
would be a vast improvement..149. There is an "international consensus on the advisability
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of storing nuclear waste in deep geological repositories",.150. with the lack of movement of
nuclear waste in the 2 billion year old natural nuclear fission reactors in Oklo, Gabon being
cited as "a source of essential information today.".151..152.
As of 2009 there were no commercial scale purpose built underground repositories in
operation..150..153..154..155. The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico has been taking
nuclear waste since 1999 from production reactors, but as the name suggests is a research
and development facility.
Reprocessing
For more details on this topic, see Nuclear reprocessing.
Reprocessing can potentially recover up to 95% of the remaining uranium and plutonium
in spent nuclear fuel, putting it into new mixed oxide fuel. This produces a reduction in long
term radioactivity within the remaining waste, since this is largely short-lived fission
products, and reduces its volume by over 90%. Reprocessing of civilian fuel from power
reactors is currently done in Britain, France and (formerly) Russia, soon will be done in
China and perhaps India, and is being done on an expanding scale in Japan. The full
potential of reprocessing has not been achieved because it requires breeder reactors,
which are not commercially available. France is generally cited as the most successful
reprocessor, but it presently only recycles 28% (by mass) of the yearly fuel use, 7% within
France and another 21% in Russia..156.
Reprocessing is not allowed in the U.S..157. The Obama administration has disallowed
reprocessing of nuclear waste, citing nuclear proliferation concerns..158. In the U.S., spent
nuclear fuel is currently all treated as waste..159.
Depleted uranium
: Depleted uranium
Uranium enrichment produces many tons of depleted uranium (DU) which consists of U-
238 with most of the easily fissile U-235 isotope removed. U-238 is a tough metal with
several commercial uses—for example, aircraft production, radiation shielding, and
armor—as it has a higher density than lead. Depleted uranium is also controversially used
in munitions; DU penetrators (bullets or APFSDS tips) "self sharpen", due to uranium's
tendency to fracture along shear bands..160..161.

Economics
: Economics of new nuclear power plants

George W. Bush signing the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which was designed to promote the
US nuclear power industry, through incentives and subsidies, including cost-overrun
support up to a total of $2 billion for six new nuclear plants..162. However, as of 2014 some
electric utilities have rebuffed the loan package, includingSouth Carolina Electric and
Gas which operates Summer Station(the location of 2 new builds), noting instead that "it
was easier to raise .loan. money commercially.".163.

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The Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, apressurized water reactor that cools by utilizing a
secondary coolant heat exchanger with a large body of water, an alternative cooling
approach to largecooling towers.

Nuclear power plants typically have high capital costs for building the plant, but low fuel
costs. Although nuclear power plants can vary their output the electricity is generally less
favorably priced when doing so. Nuclear power plants are therefore run as much as
possible to keep the cost of the generated electrical energy as low as possible, supplying
mostly base-load electricity.. needed.
Internationally the price of nuclear plants rose 15% annually in 1970-1990. Total costs
rose tenfold. The nuclear plant construction time doubled. According to Al Gore if intended
plan does not hold, the delay cost a billion dollars a year..164..page needed. Yet, nuclear power
has total costs in 2012 of about $96 per megawatt hour (MWh), most of which involves
capital construction costs, compared with solar power at $130 per MWh, and natural gas at
the low end at $64 per MWh..165.
In 2015, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists unveiled the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Cost Calculator,
an online tool that estimates the full cost of electricity produced by three configurations of
the nuclear fuel cycle. Two years in the making, this interactive calculator is the first
generally accessible model to provide a nuanced look at the economic costs of nuclear
power; it lets users test how sensitive the price of electricity is to a full range of
components—more than 60 parameters that can be adjusted for the three configurations of
the nuclear fuel cycle considered by this tool (once-through, limited-recycle, full-recycle).
Users can select the fuel cycle they would like to examine, change cost estimates for each
component of that cycle, and even choose uncertainty ranges for the cost of particular
components. This approach allows users around the world to compare the cost of different
nuclear power approaches in a sophisticated way, while taking account of prices relevant
to their own countries or regions.
In recent years there has been a slowdown of electricity demand growth and financing has
become more difficult, which has an impact on large projects such as nuclear reactors, with
very large upfront costs and long project cycles which carry a large variety of risks..166. In
Eastern Europe, a number of long-established projects are struggling to find finance,
notably Belene in Bulgaria and the additional reactors at Cernavoda in Romania, and some
potential backers have pulled out..166. Where the electricity market is competitive, cheap
natural gas is available, and its future supply relatively secure, this also poses a major
problem for nuclear projects.166. and existing plants..167.
Analysis of the economics of nuclear power must take into account who bears the risks of
future uncertainties. To date all operating nuclear power plants were developed by state-
owned or regulated utility monopolies.168. where many of the risks associated with
construction costs, operating performance, fuel price, accident liability and other factors
were borne by consumers rather than suppliers. In addition, because the potential liability
from a nuclear accident is so great, the full cost of liability insurance is generally
limited/capped by the government, which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commissionconcluded constituted a significant subsidy..169. Many countries have now
liberalized the electricity market where these risks, and the risk of cheaper competitors
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emerging before capital costs are recovered, are borne by plant suppliers and operators
rather than consumers, which leads to a significantly different evaluation of the economics
of new nuclear power plants..170.
Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, costs are expected to increase for
currently operating and new nuclear power plants, due to increased requirements for on-
site spent fuel management and elevated design basis threats..171.
The economics of new nuclear power plants is a controversial subject, since there are
diverging views on this topic, and multibillion-dollar investments ride on the choice of an
energy source. Comparison with other power generation methods is strongly dependent on
assumptions about construction timescales and capital financing for nuclear plants as well
as the future costs of fossil fuels and renewables as well as for energy storage solutions for
intermittent power sources. Cost estimates also need to take into account plant
decommissioning and nuclear waste storage costs. On the other hand, measures
to mitigate global warming, such as a carbon tax or carbon emissions trading, may favor the
economics of nuclear power.. needed.

Accidents and safety, the human and financial costs

The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the world's worstnuclear accident since
1986, displaced 50,000 households after radiationleaked into the air, soil and
sea..172.Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish..173.

: Energy accidents, Nuclear safety, Nuclear and radiation accidents andLists of nuclear
disasters and radioactive incidents
Some serious nuclear and radiation accidents have occurred. Benjamin K. Sovacoolhas
reported that worldwide there have been 99 accidents at nuclear power plants..174. Fifty-
seven accidents have occurred since the Chernobyl disaster, and 57% (56 out of 99) of all
nuclear-related accidents have occurred in the USA..174..175.
Nuclear power plant accidents include the Chernobyl accident (1986) with approximately
60 deaths so far attributed to the accident and a predicted, eventual total death toll, of from
4000 to 25,000 latent cancers deaths. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster (2011), has
not caused any radiation related deaths, with a predicted, eventual total death toll, of from
0 to 1000, and the Three Mile Island accident (1979), no causal deaths, cancer or otherwise,
have been found in follow up studies of this accident..34. Nuclear-powered submarine
mishaps include the K-19 reactor accident (1961),.35. the K-27reactor accident
(1968),.36. and the K-431 reactor accident (1985)..34. International research is continuing
into safety improvements such as passively safe plants,.59. and the possible future use of
nuclear fusion.
In terms of lives lost per unit of energy generated, nuclear power has caused fewer
accidental deaths per unit of energy generated than all other major sources of energy
generation. Energy produced by coal, petroleum, natural gas andhydropower has caused
more deaths per unit of energy generated, from air pollution and energy accidents. This is
found in the following comparisons, when the immediate nuclear related deaths from

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accidents are compared to the immediate deaths from these other energy sources,.38. when
the latent, or predicted, indirect cancer deaths from nuclear energy accidents are compared
to the immediate deaths from the above energy sources,.40..41..176. and when the combined
immediate and indirect fatalities from nuclear power and all fossil fuels are compared,
fatalities resulting from the mining of the necessary natural resources to power generation
and to air pollution..37. With these data, the use of nuclear power has been calculated to
have prevented in the region of 1.8 million deaths between 1971 and 2009, by reducing the
proportion of energy that would otherwise have been generated by fossil fuels, and is
projected to continue to do so..177..178.
Although according to Benjamin K. Sovacool, fission energy accidents ranked first in terms
of their total economic cost, accounting for 41 percent of all property damage attributed to
energy accidents..179. Analysis presented in the international Journal, Human and Ecological
Risk Assessment found that coal, oil, Liquid petroleum gas and hydroelectric
accidents(primarily due to the Banqiao dam burst) have resulted in greater economic
impacts than nuclear power accidents..41.
Following the 2011 Japanese Fukushima nuclear disaster, authorities shut down the
nation's 54 nuclear power plants, but it has been estimated that if Japan had never adopted
nuclear power, accidents and pollution from coal or gas plants would have caused more
lost years of life..180. As of 2013, the Fukushima site remains highly radioactive, with some
160,000 evacuees still living in temporary housing, and some land will be unfarmable for
centuries. The difficult Fukushima disaster cleanup will take 40 or more years, and cost
tens of billions of dollars..42..43.
Forced evacuation from a nuclear accident may lead to social isolation, anxiety, depression,
psychosomatic medical problems, reckless behavior, even suicide. Such was the outcome of
the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine. A comprehensive 2005 study concluded
that "the mental health impact of Chernobyl is the largest public health problem unleashed
by the accident to date"..181. Frank N. von Hippel, a U.S. scientist, commented on the 2011
Fukushima nuclear disaster, saying that "fear of ionizing radiation could have long-term
psychological effects on a large portion of the population in the contaminated areas"..182.

Nuclear proliferation
Many technologies and materials associated with the creation of a nuclear power program
have a dual-use capability, in that they can be used to make nuclear weapons if a country
chooses to do so. When this happens a nuclear power program can become a route leading
to a nuclear weapon or a public annex to a "secret" weapons program. The concern
over Iran's nuclear activities is a case in point..183.

United States and USSR/Russiannuclear weapons stockpiles, 1945-2006.The Megatons to

Megawatts Program was the main driving force behind the sharp reduction in the quantity
of nuclear weapons worldwide since the cold war ended..184..185.However without an
increase in nuclear reactors and greater demand for fissilefuel, the cost of dismantling has
dissuaded Russia from continuing their disarmament.

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A fundamental goal for American and global security is to minimize the nuclear
proliferation risks associated with the expansion of nuclear power. If this development is
"poorly managed or efforts to contain risks are unsuccessful, the nuclear future will be
dangerous"..183. The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership is one such international effort to
create a distribution network in which developing countries in need of energy, would
receive nuclear fuel at a discounted rate, in exchange for that nation agreeing to forgo their
own indigenous develop of a uranium enrichment program. The France-
based Eurodif/European Gaseous Diffusion Uranium Enrichment Consortium was/is one
such program that successfully implemented this concept, with Spain and other countries
without enrichment facilities buying a share of the fuel produced at the French controlled
enrichment facility, but without a transfer of technology..186. Iran was an early participant
from 1974, and remains a shareholder of Eurodif via Sofidif.
According to Benjamin K. Sovacool, a "number of high-ranking officials, even within the
United Nations, have argued that they can do little to stop states using nuclear reactors to
produce nuclear weapons"..187. A 2009 United Nations report said that:
the revival of interest in nuclear power could result in the worldwide dissemination of
uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing technologies, which present obvious risks
of proliferation as these technologies can produce fissile materials that are directly usable
in nuclear weapons..187.

On the other hand, one factor influencing the support of power reactors is due to the appeal
that these reactors have at reducing nuclear weapons arsenals through the Megatons to
Megawatts Program, a program which eliminated 425 metric tons of highly enriched
uranium(HEU), the equivalent of 17,000 nuclear warheads, by diluting it with natural
uranium making it equivalent to low enriched uranium(LEU), and thus suitable as nuclear
fuel for commercial fission reactors. This is the single most successful non-
proliferation program to date..184.

The Megatons to Megawatts Program, the brainchild of Thomas Neff of MIT,.188..189.was

hailed as a major success by anti-nuclear weapon advocates as it has largely been the
driving force behind the sharp reduction in the quantity of nuclear weapons worldwide
since the cold war ended..184. However without an increase in nuclear reactors and greater
demand for fissile fuel, the cost of dismantling and down blending has dissuaded Russia
from continuing their disarmament.
Currently, according to Harvard professor Matthew Bunn: "The Russians are not remotely
interested in extending the program beyond 2013. We've managed to set it up in a way that
costs them more and profits them less than them just making new low-enriched uranium
for reactors from scratch. But there are other ways to set it up that would be very
profitable for them and would also serve some of their strategic interests in boosting their
nuclear exports.".190.
Up to 2005, the Megatons to Megawatts Program had processed $8 billion of HEU/weapons
grade uranium into LEU/reactor grade uranium, with that corresponding to the elimination
of 10,000 nuclear weapons..191.

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For approximately two decades, this material generated nearly 10 percent of all the
electricity consumed in the United States (about half of all US nuclear electricity generated)
with a total of around 7 trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity produced..192. Enough energy to
energize the entire United States electric grid for about two years..188. In total it is estimated
to have cost $17 billion, a "bargain for US ratepayers", with Russia profiting $12 billion
from the deal..192. Much needed profit for the Russian nuclear oversight industry, which
after the collapse of the Soviet economy, had difficulties paying for the maintenance and
security of the Russian Federations highly enriched uranium and warheads..188.
In April 2012 there were thirty one countries that have civil nuclear power plants,.193. of
which nine have nuclear weapons, with the vast majority of these nuclear weapons
states having first produced weapons, before commercial fission electricity stations.
Moreover, the re-purposing of civilian nuclear industries for military purposes would be a
breach of the Non-proliferation treaty, of which 190 countries adhere to.

Environmental issues

A 2008 synthesis of 103 studies, published by Benjamin K. Sovacool, estimated that the
value of CO2emissions for nuclear power over the lifecycle of a plant was 66.08 g/kW·h.
Comparative results for variousrenewable power sources were 9–32 g/kW·h..194. A 2012
study by Yale University arrived at a different value, with the mean value, depending on
which Reactor design was analyzed, ranging from 11 to 25 g/kW·h of total life cycle nuclear
power CO2emissions..195.

s: Environmental effects of nuclear power and Comparisons of life-cycle greenhouse gas

emissions
Life cycle analysis (LCA) of carbon dioxide emissions show nuclear power as comparable
to renewable energy sources. Emissions from burning fossil fuels are many times
higher..194..196..197.
According to the United Nations (UNSCEAR), regular nuclear power plant operation
including the nuclear fuel cycle causes radioisotope releases into the environment
amounting to 0.0002 millisieverts (mSv) per year of public exposure as a global
average..198. (Such is small compared to variation in natural background radiation, which
averages 2.4 mSv/a globally but frequently varies between 1 mSv/a and 13 mSv/a
depending on a person's location as determined by UNSCEAR)..198. As of a 2008 report, the
remaining legacy of the worst nuclear power plant accident (Chernobyl) is 0.002 mSv/a in
global average exposure (a figure which was 0.04 mSv per person averaged over the entire
populace of the Northern Hemisphere in the year of the accident in 1986, although far
higher among the most affected local populations and recovery workers)..198.
Climate change
Climate change causing weather extremes such as heat waves, reduced precipitation levels
and droughts can have a significant impact on nuclear energy infrastructure..199. Seawater
is corrosive and so nuclear energy supply is likely to be negatively affected by the

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fresh water shortage..199. This generic problem may become increasingly significant over
time..199. This can force nuclear reactors to be shut down, as happened in France during the
2003 and 2006 heat waves. Nuclear power supply was severely diminished by low river
flow rates and droughts, which meant rivers had reached the maximum temperatures for
cooling reactors..199. During the heat waves, 17 reactors had to limit output or shut down.
77% of French electricity is produced by nuclear power and in 2009 a similar situation
created a 8GW shortage and forced the French government to import electricity..199. Other
cases have been reported from Germany, where extreme temperatures have reduced
nuclear power production 9 times due to high temperatures between 1979 and 2007..199. In
particular:

 the Unterweser nuclear power plant reduced output by 90%

between June and September 2003.199.
 the Isar nuclear power plant cut production by 60% for 14
days due to excess river temperatures and low stream flow in
the river Isar in 2006.199.
Similar events have happened elsewhere in Europe during those same hot summers..199. If
global warming continues, this disruption is likely to increase.

Nuclear decommissioning
The price of energy inputs and the environmental costs of every nuclear power plant
continue long after the facility has finished generating its last useful electricity. Once no
longer economically viable, nuclear reactors and uranium enrichment facilities are
generally decommissioned, returning the facility and its parts to a safe enough level to be
entrusted for other uses, such as greenfield status. After a cooling-off period that may last
decades, reactor core materials are dismantled and cut into small pieces to be packed in
containers for interim storage or transmutation experiments. The process is expensive,
time-consuming, dangerous for workers and potentially hazardous to the natural
environment as it presents opportunities for human error, accidents or sabotage..200.
The total energy required for decommissioning can be.quantify. as much as 50% more than
the energy needed for the original construction..dubious – discuss. In most cases, the
decommissioning process costs between US $300 million to US$5.6 billion.
Decommissioning at nuclear sites which have experienced a serious accident are the most
expensive and time-consuming. In the U.S. in 2011, there are 13 reactors that had
permanently shut down and are in some phase of decommissioning..200. With Yankee Rowe
Nuclear Power Station having completed the process in 2007, after ceasing commercial
electricity production in 1992. The majority of the 15 years, was used to allow the station
to naturally cool-downon its own, which makes the manual disassembly process both safer
and cheaper.

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 43 QUESTION :What do you know about worldwide Debate about Nuclear
Technology?

Debate on nuclear power

: Nuclear power debate

: Nuclear energy policy and Anti-nuclear movement
The nuclear power debate concerns the controversy. which has surrounded the
deployment and use of nuclear fission reactors to generate electricity from nuclear fuel for
civilian purposes. The debate about nuclear power peaked during the 1970s and 1980s,
when it "reached an intensity unprecedented in the history of technology controversies", in
some countries..95..201..page needed.
Proponents of nuclear energy contend that nuclear power is a sustainable energy source
that reduces carbon emissionsand increases energy security by decreasing dependence on
imported energy sources..30. Proponents claim that nuclear power produces virtually no
conventional air pollution, such as greenhouse gases and smog, in contrast to the chief
viable alternative of fossil fuel..202. Nuclear power can produce base-load power unlike
many renewables which are intermittent energy sources lacking large-scale and cheap
ways of storing energy..203. M. King Hubbert saw oil as a resource that wouldrun out, and
proposed nuclear energy as a replacement energy source..204. Proponents claim that the
risks of storing waste are small and can be further reduced by using the latest technology in
newer reactors, and the operational safety record in the Western world is excellent when
compared to the other major kinds of power plants..205.
Opponents believe that nuclear power poses many threats to people and the
environment..31..32..33. These threats include the problems of processing, transport and
storage of radioactive nuclear waste, the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation and
terrorism, as well as health risks and environmental damage from uranium
mining..206..207. They also contend that reactors themselves are enormously complex
machines where many things can and do go wrong; and there have been serious nuclear
accidents..208..209. Critics do not believe that the risks of using nuclear fission as a power
source can be fully offset through the development of new technology. They also argue that
when all the energy-intensive stages of the nuclear fuel chain are considered, from uranium
mining to nuclear decommissioning, nuclear power is neither a low-carbon nor an
economical electricity source..210..211..212.
Arguments of economics and safety are used by both sides of the debate.

Comparison with renewable energy

: Renewable energy debate, Nuclear power proposed as renewable energy and 100%
renewable energy
As of 2013, the World Nuclear Association has said "There is unprecedented interest in
renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, which provide electricity without
giving rise to any carbon dioxide emission. Harnessing these for electricity depends on the

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cost and efficiency of the technology, which is constantly improving, thus reducing costs
per peak kilowatt"..213.
Renewable electricity production, from sources such as wind power and solar power, is
sometimes criticized for being intermittent or variable..214..215. However, the International
Energy Agency concluded that deployment of renewable technologies (RETs), when it
increases the diversity of electricity sources, contributes to the flexibility of the system.
However, the report also concluded (p. 29): "At high levels of grid penetration by RETs the
consequences of unmatched demand and supply can pose challenges for grid management.
This characteristic may affect how, and the degree to which, RETs can displace fossil fuels
and nuclear capacities in power generation.".216.
Renewable electricity supply in the 20-50+% range has already been implemented in
several European systems, albeit in the context of an integrated European grid
system..217. In 2012, the share of electricity generated by renewable sources in Germany
was 21.9%, compared to 16.0% for nuclear power after Germany shut down 7-8 of its 18
nuclear reactors in 2011..218. In the United Kingdom, the amount of energy produced from
renewable energy is expected to exceed that from nuclear power by 2018,.219. and Scotland
plans to obtain all electricity from renewable energy by 2020..220. The majority of installed
renewable energy across the world is in the form of hydro power.
The IPCC has said that if governments were supportive, and the full complement of
renewable energy technologies were deployed, renewable energy supply could account for
almost 80% of the world's energy use within forty years..221. Rajendra Pachauri, chairman
of the IPCC, said the necessary investment in renewables would cost only about 1% of
global GDP annually. This approach could contain greenhouse gas levels to less than 450
parts per million, the safe level beyond which climate change becomes catastrophic and
irreversible..221.
The cost of nuclear power has followed an increasing trend whereas the cost of
electricity is declining for wind power..222. In about 2011, wind power became as
inexpensive as natural gas,. needed. and anti-nuclear groups have suggested that in 2010 solar
power became cheaper than nuclear power..223..224. Data from the EIA in 2011 estimated
that in 2016, solar will have a levelized cost of electricity almost twice that of nuclear
(21¢/kWh for solar, 11.39¢/kWh for nuclear), and wind somewhat less
(9.7¢/kWh)..225. However, the US EIA has also cautioned that levelized costs of intermittent
sources such as wind and solar are not directly comparable to costs of "dispatchable"
sources (those that can be adjusted to meet demand)..226.
From a safety stand point, nuclear power, in terms of lives lost per unit of electricity
delivered, is comparable to and in some cases, lower than many renewable energy
sources..37..38..227. There is however no radioactive spent fuel that needs to be stored or
reprocessed with conventional renewable energy sources..228. A nuclear plant needs to be
disassembled and removed. Much of the disassembled nuclear plant needs to be stored as
low level nuclear waste..229.

Nuclear renaissance

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Olkiluoto 3 under construction in 2009. It is the first EPR design, but problems with
workmanship and supervision have created costly delays which led to an inquiry by the
Finnish nuclear regulator STUK..230. In December 2012, Areva estimated that the full cost of
building the reactor will be about €8.5 billion, or almost three times the original delivery
price of €3 billion..231..232..233.

Production of nuclear power plants.234.

: Nuclear renaissance
Since about 2001 the term nuclear renaissance has been used to refer to a possible nuclear
power industry revival, driven by rising fossil fuel prices and new concerns about
meeting greenhouse gas emission limits..235. However, theWorld Nuclear Association has
reported that nuclear electricity generation in 2012 was at its lowest level since 1999..236.
In March 2011 the nuclear emergencies at Japan's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant and
shutdowns at other nuclear facilities raised questions among some commentators over the
future of the renaissance..237..238..239..240..241. Platts has reported that "the crisis at Japan's
Fukushima nuclear plants has prompted leading energy-consuming countries to review the
safety of their existing reactors and cast doubt on the speed and scale of planned
expansions around the world"..242. In 2011 Siemens exited the nuclear power sector
following the Fukushima disaster and subsequent changes to German energy policy, and
supported the German government's planned energy transition to renewable energy
technologies..243. China, Germany, Switzerland, Israel, Malaysia, Thailand, United Kingdom,
Italy.244. and the Philippines have reviewed their nuclear power programs. Indonesia and
Vietnam still plan to build nuclear power plants..245..246..247..248. Countries such
as Australia, Austria, Denmark,Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Portugal
, Israel, Malaysia,New Zealand, and Norway remain opposed to nuclear power. Following
the Fukushima I nuclear accidents, the International Energy Agency halved its estimate of
additional nuclear generating capacity built by 2035..45.
The World Nuclear Association has said that “nuclear power generation suffered its biggest
ever one-year fall through 2012 as the bulk of the Japanese fleet remained offline for a full
calendar year”. Data from the International Atomic Energy Agency showed that nuclear
power plants globally produced 2346 TWh of electricity in 2012 – seven per cent less than
in 2011. The figures illustrate the effects of a full year of 48 Japanese power reactors
producing no power during the year. The permanent closure of eight reactor units in
Germany was also a factor. Problems at Crystal River, Fort Calhoun and the two San Onofre
units in the USA meant they produced no power for the full year, while in Belgium Doel 3
and Tihange 2 were out of action for six months. Compared to 2010, the nuclear industry
produced 11% less electricity in 2012..236.

Future of the industry

: List of prospective nuclear units in the United States, Nuclear power in the United
States, Nuclear energy policy and Mitigation of global warming

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Brunswick Nuclear Plant discharge canal

The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, the largest nuclear power facility in the world.249.

As already noted, the nuclear power industry in western nations has a history of
construction delays, cost overruns, plant cancellations, and nuclear safety issues
despite significant government subsidies and support..101..250..251..252. In December
2013, Forbes magazine reported that, in developed countries, "reactors are not a viable
source of new power"..253. Even in developed nations where they make economic sense,
they are not feasible because nuclear’s “enormous costs, political and popular opposition,
and regulatory uncertainty”..253. This view echoes the statement of former Exelon CEO John
Rowe, who said in 2012 that new nuclear plants “don’t make any sense right now” and
won’t be economically viable in the foreseeable future..253. John Quiggin, economics
professor, also says the main problem with the nuclear option is that it is not economically-
viable. Quiggin says that we need more efficient energy use and more renewable energy
commercialization..162. Former NRC member Peter Bradford and Professor Ian Lowe have
recently made similar statements..254..255. However, some "nuclear cheerleaders" and
lobbyists in the West continue to champion reactors, often with proposed new but largely
untested designs, as a source of new power..253..254..256..257..258..259..260.
Much more new build activity is occurring in developing countries like South Korea, India
and China. China has 25 reactors under construction, with plans to build
more,.261..262. However, according to a government research unit, China must not build "too
many nuclear power reactors too quickly", in order to avoid a shortfall of fuel, equipment
and qualified plant workers..263.
In the US, licenses of almost half its reactors have been extended to 60 years,.264..265. Two
new Generation III reactors are under construction at Vogtle, a dual construction project
which marks the end of a 34-year period of stagnation in the US construction of civil
nuclear power reactors. The station operator licenses of almost half the present 104 power
reactors in the US, as of 2008, have been given extensions to 60 years..264. As of 2012, U.S.
nuclear industry officials expect five new reactors to enter service by 2020, all at existing
plants..24. In 2013, four aging, uncompetitive, reactors were permanently
closed..25..26. Relevant state legislatures are trying to close Vermont Yankee and Indian Point
Nuclear Power Plant..26.
The U.S. NRC and the U.S. Department of Energy have initiated research into Light water
reactor sustainability which is hoped will lead to allowing extensions of reactor licenses
beyond 60 years, provided that safety can be maintained, as the loss in non-CO2-emitting
generation capacity by retiring reactors "may serve to challenge U.S. energy security,
potentially resulting in increased greenhouse gas emissions, and contributing to an
imbalance between electric supply and demand.".266.
There is a possible impediment to production of nuclear power plants as only a few
companies worldwide have the capacity to forge single-piece reactor pressure
vessels,.267. which are necessary in the most common reactor designs. Utilities across the

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world are submitting orders years in advance of any actual need for these vessels. Other
manufacturers are examining various options, including making the component
themselves, or finding ways to make a similar item using alternate methods..268.
According to the World Nuclear Association, globally during the 1980s one new nuclear
reactor started up every 17 days on average, and by the year 2015 this rate could increase
to one every 5 days..269. As of 2007, Watts Bar 1 in Tennessee, which came on-line on
February 7, 1996, was the last U.S. commercial nuclear reactor to go on-line. This is often
quoted as evidence of a successful worldwide campaign for nuclear power phase-
out..270. Electricity shortages, fossil fuel price increases, global warming, and heavy metal
emissions from fossil fuel use, new technology such as passively safe plants, and national
energy security may renew the demand for nuclear power plants.
Nuclear phase out
: Nuclear power phase-out

Eight of the seventeen operating reactors in Germany were permanently shut down
following the March 2011Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the International Energy Agency halved
its estimate of additional nuclear generating capacity to be built by 2035..45..46. Platts has
reported that "the crisis at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plants has prompted leading energy-
consuming countries to review the safety of their existing reactors and cast doubt on the
speed and scale of planned expansions around the world"..242. In 2011, The
Economist reported that nuclear power "looks dangerous, unpopular, expensive and risky",
and that "it is replaceable with relative ease and could be forgone with no huge structural
shifts in the way the world works"..271.
In early April 2011, analysts at Swiss-based investment bank UBS said: "At Fukushima, four
reactors have been out of control for weeks, casting doubt on whether even an advanced
economy can master nuclear safety . . .. We believe the Fukushima accident was the most
serious ever for the credibility of nuclear power"..272.
In 2011, Deutsche Bank analysts concluded that "the global impact of the Fukushima
accident is a fundamental shift in public perception with regard to how a nation prioritizes
and values its populations health, safety, security, and natural environment when
determining its current and future energy pathways". As a consequence, "renewable energy
will be a clear long-term winner in most energy systems, a conclusion supported by many
voter surveys conducted over the past few weeks. At the same time, we consider natural
gas to be, at the very least, an important transition fuel, especially in those regions where it
is considered secure"..273.
In September 2011, German engineering giant Siemens announced it will withdraw
entirely from the nuclear industry, as a response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in
Japan, and said that it would no longer build nuclear power plants anywhere in the world.
The company’s chairman, Peter Löscher, said that "Siemens was ending plans to cooperate
with Rosatom, the Russian state-controlled nuclear power company, in the construction of
dozens of nuclear plants throughout Russia over the coming two decades"..274..243. Also in

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September 2011, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said the Japanese nuclear disaster
"caused deep public anxiety throughout the world and damaged confidence in nuclear
power"..275.
In February 2012, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the
construction of two additional reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, the first
reactors to be approved in over 30 years since the Three Mile Island accident,.276. but NRC
Chairman Gregory Jaczko cast a dissenting vote citing safety concerns stemming from
Japan's 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, and saying "I cannot support issuing this license
as if Fukushima never happened"..24. One week after Southern received the license to begin
major construction on the two new reactors, a dozen environmental andanti-
nuclear groups are suing to stop the Plant Vogtle expansion project, saying "public safety
and environmental problems since Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactor accident
have not been taken into account"..277.
Countries such as Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal,Israel, Malaysia, New Zealand,
and Norway have no nuclear power reactors and remain opposed to nuclear
power..271..278.However, by contrast, some countries remain in favor, and financially support
nuclear fusion research, including EU wide funding of the ITER project..279..280.
Worldwide wind power has been increasing at 26%/year, and solar power at 58%/year,
from 2006 to 2011, as a replacement for thermal generation of electricity..281.
44 QUESTION : What are some of Advanced Concepts in Nuclear
Technology?

Advanced concepts
: Generation IV reactor
Current fission reactors in operation around the world are second or third generation
systems, with most of the first-generation systems having been retired some time ago.
Research into advanced generation IV reactor types was officially started by the Generation
IV International Forum (GIF) based on eight technology goals, including to improve nuclear
safety, improve proliferation resistance, minimize waste, improve natural resource
utilization, the ability to consume existing nuclear waste in the production of electricity,
and decrease the cost to build and run such plants. Most of these reactors differ
significantly from current operating light water reactors, and are generally not expected to
be available for commercial construction before 2030..282.
The nuclear reactors to be built at Vogtle are new AP1000 third generation reactors, which
are said to have safety improvements over older power reactors..276. However, John Ma, a
senior structural engineer at the NRC, is concerned that some parts of the AP1000 steel
skin are so brittle that the "impact energy" from a plane strike or storm driven projectile
could shatter the wall..283. Edwin Lyman, a senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned
Scientists, is concerned about the strength of the steel containment vessel and the concrete
shield building around the AP1000..283..284.

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The Union of Concerned Scientists has referred to the EPR (nuclear reactor), currently
under construction in China, Finland and France, as the only new reactor design under
consideration in the United States that "...appears to have the potential to be significantly
safer and more secure against attack than today's reactors.".285.
One disadvantage of any new reactor technology is that safety risks may be greater initially
as reactor operators have little experience with the new design. Nuclear engineer David
Lochbaum has explained that almost all serious nuclear accidents have occurred with what
was at the time the most recent technology. He argues that "the problem with new reactors
and accidents is twofold: scenarios arise that are impossible to plan for in simulations; and
humans make mistakes"..286. As one director of a U.S. research laboratory put it,
"fabrication, construction, operation, and maintenance of new reactors will face a steep
learning curve: advanced technologies will have a heightened risk of accidents and
mistakes. The technology may be proven, but people are not"..286.
Hybrid nuclear fusion-fission
Hybrid nuclear power is a proposed means of generating power by use of a combination of
nuclear fusion and fission processes. The concept dates to the 1950s, and was briefly
advocated by Hans Bethe during the 1970s, but largely remained unexplored until a revival
of interest in 2009, due to delays in the realization of pure fusion. When a sustained nuclear
fusion power plant is built, it has the potential to be capable of extracting all the fission
energy that remains in spent fission fuel, reducing the volume of nuclear waste by orders of
magnitude, and more importantly, eliminating all actinides present in the spent fuel,
substances which cause security concerns..287.
Nuclear fusion
s: Nuclear fusion and Fusion power
Nuclear fusion reactions have the potential to be safer and generate less radioactive waste
than fission..288..289. These reactions appear potentially viable, though technically quite
difficult and have yet to be created on a scale that could be used in a functional power
plant. Fusion power has been under theoretical and experimental investigation since the
1950s.
Construction of the ITER facility began in 2007, but the project has run into many delays
and budget overruns. The facility is now not expected to begin operations until the year
2027 – 11 years after initially anticipated..290. A follow on commercial nuclear fusion power
station, DEMO, has been proposed..21..291. There is also suggestions for a power plant based
upon a different fusion approach, that of a Inertial fusion power plant.
Fusion powered electricity generation was initially believed to be readily achievable, as
fission-electric power had been. However, the extreme requirements for continuous
reactions and plasma containment led to projections being extended by several decades. In
2010, more than 60 years after the first attempts, commercial power production was still
believed to be unlikely before 2050..21.

Nuclear power organizations

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There are multiple organizations which have taken a position on nuclear power – some are
proponents, and some are opponents.
Proponents

: List of nuclear power groups

 Environmentalists for Nuclear Energy (International)

 Nuclear Industry Association (United Kingdom)
 World Nuclear Association, a confederation of companies
connected with nuclear power production. (International)
 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
 Nuclear Energy Institute (United States)
 American Nuclear Society (United States)
 United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (United Kingdom)
 EURATOM (Europe)
 European Nuclear Education Network (Europe)
 Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (Canada)
Opponents
: List of anti-nuclear power groups

 Friends of the Earth International, a network

of environmental organizations..292.
 Greenpeace International, a non-governmental
organization.293.
 Nuclear Information and Resource Service (International)
 World Information Service on Energy (International)
 Sortir du nucléaire (France)
 Pembina Institute (Canada)
 Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (United
States)
 Sayonara Nuclear Power Plants (Japan)

Nuclear technology portal

Energy portal

 Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues

 German nuclear energy project
 Linear no-threshold model
 Nuclear power in France

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 Nuclear weapons debate
 Harry Shearer's Le Show— a weekly radio show and podcast
featuring "Clean, Safe, Too Cheap to Meter", a series of regular
updates on nuclear power
 Uranium mining debate
 World energy consumption

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THERMAL POWER

Thermal power station

45 QUESTION : Explain a Thermal Power Station

A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steamdriven.
Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical
generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam iscondensed in a condenser and
recycled to where it was heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in
the design of thermal power stations is due to the different fossil fuel resources generally
used to heat the water. Some prefer to use the term energy center because such facilities
convert forms of heat energy into electrical energy..1. Certain thermal power plants also are
designed to produce heat energy for industrial purposes ofdistrict heating,
or desalination of water, in addition to generating electrical power. Globally, fossil-fuel
power stations produce a large part of man-made CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and
efforts to reduce these are varied and widespread.

..

 1Types of thermal power station

 2History
 3Thermal power generation Efficiency
 4Electricity cost
 5Typical coal thermal power station
 6Boiler and steam cycle
o 6.1Feed water heating and deaeration
o 6.2Boiler operation
o 6.3Boiler furnace and steam drum
o 6.4Superheater
o 6.5Steam condensing
o 6.6Reheater
o 6.7Air path
 7Steam turbine generator
 8Stack gas path and cleanup
o 8.1Fly ash collection
o 8.2Bottom ash collection and disposal
 9Auxiliary systems
o 9.1Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage
o 9.2Fuel preparation system

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 o 9.3Barring gear
o 9.4Oil system
o 9.5Generator cooling
o 9.6Generator high-voltage system
o 9.7Monitoring and alarm system
o 9.8Battery-supplied emergency lighting and communication
o 9.9Circulating water system
 10Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage

46 QUESTION : What are various types of thermal power station...

Almost all coal, nuclear, geothermal, solar thermal electric, and waste incineration plants,
as well as many natural gas power plants are thermal.Natural gas is
frequently combusted in gas turbines as well as boilers. Thewaste heat from a gas turbine
can be used to raise steam, in a combined cycleplant that improves overall efficiency.
Power plants burning coal, fuel oil, or natural gas are often called fossil-fuel power plants.
Some biomass-fueled thermal power plants have appeared also. Non-nuclear thermal
power plants, particularly fossil-fueled plants, which do not use co-generation are
sometimes referred to as conventional power plants.
Commercial electric utility power stations are usually constructed on a large scale and
designed for continuous operation. Electric power plants typically usethree-
phase electrical generators to produce alternating current (AC) electric power at
a frequency of 50 Hz or 60 Hz. Large companies or institutions may have their own power
plants to supply heating or electricity to their facilities, especially if steam is created
anyway for other purposes. Steam-driven power plants have been used in various large
ships, but are now usually used in large naval ships. Shipboard power plants usually
directly couple the turbine to the ship's propellers through gearboxes. Power plants in such
ships also provide steam to smaller turbines driving electric generators to supply
electricity. Shipboard steam power plants can be either fossil fuel or nuclear. Nuclear
marine propulsion is, with few exceptions, used only in naval vessels. There have been
perhaps about a dozen turbo-electric ships in which a steam-driven turbine drives an
electric generator which powers an electric motor for propulsion.
Combined heat and power plants (CH&P plants), often called co-generation plants, produce
both electric power and heat for process heat or space heating. Steam and hot water

History...
The initially developed reciprocating steam engine has been used to produce mechanical
power since the 18th Century, with notable improvements being made by James Watt.
When the first commercially developed central electrical power stations were established
in 1882 at Pearl Street Station in New York and Holborn Viaduct power station in London,
reciprocating steam engines were used. The development of the steam turbine in 1884

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provided larger and more efficient machine designs for central generating stations. By
1892 the turbine was considered a better alternative to reciprocating engines;.2. turbines
offered higher speeds, more compact machinery, and stable speed regulation allowing for
parallel synchronous operation of generators on a common bus. After about 1905, turbines
entirely replaced reciprocating engines in large central power stations.
The largest reciprocating engine-generator sets ever built were completed in 1901 for the
Manhattan Elevated Railway. Each of seventeen units weighed about 500 tons and was
rated 6000 kilowatts; a contemporary turbine set of similar rating would have weighed
about 20% as much..3.

47 QUESTION : Explain Thermal power generation Efficiency..

The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station, considered salable energy
produced as a percent of theheating value of the fuel consumed, is typically 33% to 48%..
needed..4. As with all heat engines, their efficiency is limited, and governed by the laws

of thermodynamics. By comparison, most hydropower stations in the United States are

about 90 percent efficient in converting the energy of falling water into electricity..5.
The energy of a thermal not utilized in power production must leave the plant in the form
of heat to the environment. Thiswaste heat can go through a condenser and be disposed of
with cooling water or in cooling towers. If the waste heat is instead utilized for district
heating, it is called co-generation. An important class of thermal power station are
associated withdesalination facilities; these are typically found in desert countries with
large supplies of natural gas and in these plants, freshwater production and electricity are
equally important co-products.
The Carnot efficiency dictates that higher efficiencies can be attained by increasing the
temperature of the steam. Sub-critical fossil fuel power plants can achieve 36–40%
efficiency.Super critical designs have efficiencies in the low to mid 40% range, with new
"ultra critical" designs using pressures of 4400 psi (30.3 MPa) and multiple stage reheat
reaching about 48% efficiency. Above the critical point for water of 705 °F (374 °C) and
3212 psi (22.06 MPa), there is no phase transition from water to steam, but only a gradual
decrease in density.
Currently most of the nuclear power plants must operate below the temperatures and
pressures that coal-fired plants do, since the pressurized vessel is very large and contains
the entire bundle of nuclear fuel rods. The size of the reactor limits the pressure that can be
reached. This, in turn, limits their thermodynamic efficiency to 30–32%. Some advanced
reactor designs being studied, such as the very high temperature reactor, advanced gas-
cooled reactor and supercritical water reactor, would operate at temperatures and
pressures similar to current coal plants, producing comparable thermodynamic efficiency.

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Electricity cost...
: Relative cost of electricity generated by different sources
The direct cost of electric energy produced by a thermal power station is the result of cost
of fuel, capital cost for the plant, operator labour, maintenance, and such factors as ash
handling and disposal. Indirect, social or environmental costs such as the economic value of
environmental impacts, or environmental and health effects of the complete fuel cycle and
plant decommissioning, are not usually assigned to generation costs for thermal stations in
utility practice, but may form part of an environmental impact assessment.

48 QUESTION : What are components of a typical coal thermal power

station...
1. Cooling tower 10. Steam Control valve 19. Superheater
11. High pressure steam 20. Forced draught
2. Cooling water pump
turbine (draft) fan
3. Transmission line (3-phase) 12. Deaerator 21. Reheater
4. Step-up transformer (3-phase) 13. Feedwater heater 22. Combustion air intake
5. Electrical generator (3-phase) 14. Coal conveyor 23. Economiser
6. Low pressure steam turbine 15. Coal hopper 24. Air preheater
7. Condensate pump 16. Coal pulverizer 25. Precipitator
26. Induced draught
8. Surface condenser 17. Boiler steam drum
(draft) fan
9. Intermediate pressure steam
18. Bottom ash hopper 27. Flue-gas stack
turbine
For units over about 200 MW capacity, redundancy of key components is provided by
installing duplicates of the forced and induced draft fans, air preheaters, and fly ash
collectors. On some units of about 60 MW, two boilers per unit may instead be provided.
The list of coal power stations has the 200 largest power stations ranging in size from
2,000MW to 5,500MW.

Boiler and steam cycle...

In the nuclear plant field, steam generator refers to a specific type of large heat
exchanger used in a pressurized water reactor (PWR) to thermally connect the primary
(reactor plant) and secondary (steam plant) systems, which generates steam. In a nuclear
reactor called a boiling water reactor (BWR), water is boiled to generate steam directly in
the reactor itself and there are no units called steam generators.
In some industrial settings, there can also be steam-producing heat exchangers called heat
recovery steam generators(HRSG) which utilize heat from some industrial process. The
steam generating boiler has to produce steam at the high purity, pressure and temperature
required for the steam turbine that drives the electrical generator.

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Geothermal plants need no boiler since they use naturally occurring steam sources. Heat
exchangers may be used where the geothermal steam is very corrosive or contains
excessive suspended solids.
A fossil fuel steam generator includes an economizer, a steam drum, and the furnace with
its steam generating tubes and superheater coils. Necessary safety valves are located at
suitable points to avoid excessive boiler pressure. The air andflue gas path equipment
include: forced draft (FD) fan, air preheater (AP), boiler furnace, induced draft (ID) fan, fly
ash collectors (electrostatic precipitator or baghouse) and the flue gas stack..6..7..8.
Feed water heating and deaeration...
The boiler feedwater used in the steam boiler is a means of transferring heat energy from
the burning fuel to the mechanical energy of the spinning steam turbine. The total feed
water consists of recirculated condensate water and purified makeup water. Because the
metallic materials it contacts are subject to corrosion at high temperatures and pressures,
the makeup water is highly purified before use. A system of water softeners and ion
exchange demineralizers produces water so pure that it coincidentally becomes an
electrical insulator, with conductivity in the range of 0.3–1.0microsiemens per centimeter.
The makeup water in a 500 MWe plant amounts to perhaps 120 US gallons per minute (7.6
L/s) to replace water drawn off from the boiler drums for water purity management, and to
also offset the small losses from steam leaks in the system.
The feed water cycle begins with condensate water being pumped out of
the condenser after traveling through the steam turbines. The condensate flow rate at full
load in a 500 MW plant is about 6,000 US gallons per minute (400 L/s).

Diagram of boiler feed water deaerator (with vertical, domed aeration section and
horizontal water storage section).

The water is pressurized in two stages, and flows through a series of six or seven
intermediate feed water heaters, heated up at each point with steam extracted from an
appropriate duct on the turbines and gaining temperature at each stage. Typically, in the
middle of this series of feedwater heaters, and before the second stage of pressurization,
the condensate plus the makeup water flows through a deaerator.9..10. that removes
dissolved air from the water, further purifying and reducing its corrosiveness. The water
may be dosed following this point withhydrazine, a chemical that removes the
remaining oxygen in the water to below 5 parts per billion (ppb)..vague. It is also dosed
with pH control agents such as ammonia or morpholine to keep the residual acidity low
and thus non-corrosive.

49 QUESTION : Explian the Boiler Operation

Boiler operation...
The boiler is a rectangular furnace about 50 feet (15 m) on a side and 130 feet (40 m) tall.
Its walls are made of a web of high pressure steel tubes about 2.3 inches (58 mm) in
diameter.

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Pulverized coal is air-blown into the furnace through burners located at the four corners, or
along one wall, or two opposite walls, and it is ignited to rapidly burn, forming a large
fireball at the center. The thermal radiation of the fireball heats the water that circulates
through the boiler tubes near the boiler perimeter. The water circulation rate in the boiler
is three to four times the throughput. As the water in the boiler circulates it absorbs heat
and changes into steam. It is separated from the water inside a drum at the top of the
furnace. The saturated steam is introduced into superheat pendant tubes that hang in the
hottest part of the combustion gases as they exit the furnace. Here the steam is superheated
to 1,000 °F (540 °C) to prepare it for the turbine.
Plants designed for lignite (brown coal) are increasingly used in locations as varied
as Germany, Victoria, Australia andNorth Dakota. Lignite is a much younger form of coal
than black coal. It has a lower energy density than black coal and requires a much larger
furnace for equivalent heat output. Such coals may contain up to 70% water and ash,
yielding lower furnace temperatures and requiring larger induced-draft fans. The firing
systems also differ from black coal and typically draw hot gas from the furnace-exit level
and mix it with the incoming coal in fan-type mills that inject the pulverized coal and hot
gas mixture into the boiler.
Plants that use gas turbines to heat the water for conversion into steam use boilers known
as heat recovery steam generators (HRSG). The exhaust heat from the gas turbines is used
to make superheated steam that is then used in a conventional water-steam generation
cycle, as described in gas turbine combined-cycle plants section below.
Boiler furnace and steam drum...
The water enters the boiler through a section in the convection pass called the economizer.
From the economizer it passes to the steam drum and from there it goes through
downcomers to inlet headers at the bottom of the water walls. From these headers the
water rises through the water walls of the furnace where some of it is turned into steam
and the mixture of water and steam then re-enters the steam drum. This process may be
driven purely by natural circulation (because the water is the downcomers is denser than
the water/steam mixture in the water walls) or assisted by pumps. In the steam drum, the
water is returned to the downcomers and the steam is passed through a series of steam
separators and dryers that remove water droplets from the steam. The dry steam then
flows into the superheater coils.
The boiler furnace auxiliary equipment includes coal feed nozzles and igniter guns, soot
blowers, water lancing and observation ports (in the furnace walls) for observation of the
furnace interior. Furnace explosions due to any accumulation of combustible gases after a
trip-out are avoided by flushing out such gases from the combustion zone before igniting
the coal.
The steam drum (as well as the super heater coils and headers) have air vents and drains
needed for initial start up.

50 QUESTION : Briefy explain the concepts of Super Heater,Steam

Condensing and steam turbine generator

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Super heater...
Fossil fuel power plants often have a superheater section in the steam generating furnace..
. The steam passes through drying equipment inside the steam drum on to the superheater,

a set of tubes in the furnace. Here the steam picks up more energy from hot flue gases
outside the tubing and its temperature is now superheated above the saturation
temperature. The superheated steam is then piped through the main steam lines to the
valves before the high pressure turbine.
Nuclear-powered steam plants do not have such sections but produce steam at essentially
saturated conditions. Experimental nuclear plants were equipped with fossil-fired super
heaters in an attempt to improve overall plant operating cost.. needed.
The condenser condenses the steam from the exhaust of the turbine into liquid to allow it
to be pumped. If the condenser can be made cooler, the pressure of the exhaust steam is
reduced and efficiency of the cycle increases.
The surface condenser is a shell and tube heat exchanger in which cooling water is
circulated through the tubes..7..11..12..13.The exhaust steam from the low pressure turbine
enters the shell where it is cooled and converted to condensate (water) by flowing over the
tubes as shown in the adjacent diagram. Such condensers use steam ejectors or rotary
motor-driven exhausts for continuous removal of air and gases from the steam side to
maintain vacuum.
For best efficiency, the temperature in the condenser must be kept as low as practical in
order to achieve the lowest possible pressure in the condensing steam. Since the condenser
temperature can almost always be kept significantly below 100 °C where the vapor
pressure of water is much less than atmospheric pressure, the condenser generally works
undervacuum. Thus leaks of non-condensible air into the closed loop must be prevented.
Typically the cooling water causes the steam to condense at a temperature of about 35 °C
(95 °F) and that creates anabsolute pressure in the condenser of about 2–7 kPa (0.59–
2.07 inHg), i.e. a vacuum of about −95 kPa (−28 inHg) relative to atmospheric pressure. The
large decrease in volume that occurs when water vapor condenses to liquid creates the low
vacuum that helps pull steam through and increase the efficiency of the turbines.
The limiting factor is the temperature of the cooling water and that, in turn, is limited by
the prevailing average climatic conditions at the power plant's location (it may be possible
to lower the temperature beyond the turbine limits during winter, causing excessive
condensation in the turbine). Plants operating in hot climates may have to reduce output if
their source of condenser cooling water becomes warmer; unfortunately this usually
coincides with periods of high electrical demand for air conditioning.
The condenser generally uses either circulating cooling water from a cooling tower to
reject waste heat to the atmosphere, or once-through water from a river, lake or ocean.
The heat absorbed by the circulating cooling water in the condenser tubes must also be
removed to maintain the ability of the water to cool as it circulates. This is done by
pumping the warm water from the condenser through either natural draft, forced draft or
induced draftcooling towers (as seen in the image to the right) that reduce the temperature
of the water by evaporation, by about 11 to 17 °C (20 to 30 °F)—expelling waste heat to the

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atmosphere. The circulation flow rate of the cooling water in a 500 MW unit is about 14.2
m³/s (500 ft³/s or 225,000 US gal/min) at full load..14.
The condenser tubes are made of brass or stainless steel to resist corrosion from either
side. Nevertheless, they may become internally fouled during operation by bacteria or
algae in the cooling water or by mineral scaling, all of which inhibit heat transfer and
reduce thermodynamic efficiency. Many plants include an automatic cleaning system that
circulates sponge rubber balls through the tubes to scrub them clean without the need to
take the system off-line.. needed.
The cooling water used to condense the steam in the condenser returns to its source
without having been changed other than having been warmed. If the water returns to a
local water body (rather than a circulating cooling tower), it is tempered with cool 'raw'
water to prevent thermal shock when discharged into that body of water.
Another form of condensing system is the air-cooled condenser. The process is similar to
that of a radiator and fan. Exhaust heat from the low pressure section of a steam turbine
runs through the condensing tubes, the tubes are usually finned and ambient air is pushed
through the fins with the help of a large fan. The steam condenses to water to be reused in
the water-steam cycle. Air-cooled condensers typically operate at a higher temperature
than water-cooled versions. While saving water, the efficiency of the cycle is reduced
(resulting in more carbon dioxide per megawatt of electricity).
From the bottom of the condenser, powerful condensate pumps recycle the condensed
steam (water) back to the water/steam cycle.
Reheater...
Power plant furnaces may have a reheater section containing tubes heated by hot flue
gases outside the tubes. Exhaust steam from the high pressure turbine is passed through
these heated tubes to collect more energy before driving the intermediate and then low
pressure turbines.
Air path...
External fans are provided to give sufficient air for combustion. The Primary air fan takes
air from the atmosphere and, first warming it in the air preheater for better combustion,
injects it via the air nozzles on the furnace wall.
The induced draft fan assists the FD fan by drawing out combustible gases from the
furnace, maintaining a slightly negative pressure in the furnace to avoid backfiring through
any closing.

Steam turbine generator...

The turbine generator consists of a series of steam turbines interconnected to each other
and a generator on a common shaft. There is a high pressure turbine at one end, followed
by an intermediate pressure turbine, two low pressure turbines, and the generator. As
steam moves through the system and loses pressure and thermal energy it expands in

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volume, requiring increasing diameter and longer blades at each succeeding stage to
extract the remaining energy. The entire rotating mass may be over 200 metric tons and
100 feet (30 m) long. It is so heavy that it must be kept turning slowly even when shut
down (at 3 rpm) so that the shaft will not bow even slightly and become unbalanced. This is
so important that it is one of only five functions of blackout emergency power batteries on
site. Other functions are emergency lighting,communication, station alarms and
turbogenerator lube oil.
Superheated steam from the boiler is delivered through 14–16-inch (360–410 mm)
diameter piping to the high pressure turbine where it falls in pressure to 600 psi (4.1 MPa)
and to 600 °F (320 °C) in temperature through the stage. It exits via 24–26-inch (610–
660 mm) diameter cold reheat lines and passes back into the boiler where the steam is
reheated in special reheat pendant tubes back to 1,000 °F (540 °C). The hot reheat steam is
conducted to the intermediate pressure turbine where it falls in
both temperature and pressure and exits directly to the long-bladed low pressure turbines
and finally exits to the condenser.
The generator, 30 feet (9 m) long and 12 feet (3.7 m) in diameter, contains a
stationary stator and a spinning rotor, each containing miles of heavy copper conductor—
no permanent magnets here. In operation it generates up to 21,000 amperesat
24,000 volts AC (504 MWe) as it spins at either 3,000 or 3,600 rpm, synchronized to
the power grid. The rotor spins in a sealed chamber cooled with hydrogen gas, selected
because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for its
low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling during
startup, with air in the chamber first displaced by carbon dioxide before filling with
hydrogen. This ensures that the highly explosivehydrogen–oxygen environment is not
created.
The power grid frequency is 60 Hz across North America and 50 Hz
in Europe, Oceania, Asia (Korea and parts of Japanare notable exceptions) and parts
of Africa. The desired frequency affects the design of large turbines, since they are highly
optimized for one particular speed.
The electricity flows to a distribution yard where transformers increase the voltage for
transmission to its destination.
The steam turbine-driven generators have auxiliary systems enabling them to work
satisfactorily and safely. The steam turbine generator being rotating equipment generally
has a heavy, large diameter shaft. The shaft therefore requires not only supports but also
has to be kept in position while running. To minimize the frictional resistance to the
rotation, the shaft has a number of bearings. The bearing shells, in which the shaft rotates,
are lined with a low friction material like Babbitt metal. Oil lubrication is provided to
further reduce the friction between shaft and bearing surface and to limit the heat
generated.

Stack gas path and cleanup...

: Flue-gas emissions from fossil-fuel combustion and Flue-gas desulfurization

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As the combustion flue gas exits the boiler it is routed through a rotating flat basket of
metal mesh which picks up heat and returns it to incoming fresh air as the basket rotates.
This is called the air preheater. The gas exiting the boiler is laden withfly ash, which are
tiny spherical ash particles. The flue gas contains nitrogen along with combustion
products carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. The fly ash is removed
by fabric bag filters or electrostatic precipitators. Once removed, the fly ash byproduct can
sometimes be used in the manufacturing of concrete. This cleaning up of flue gases,
however, only occurs in plants that are fitted with the appropriate technology. Still, the
majority of coal-fired power plants in the world do not have these facilities..
needed. Legislation in Europe has been efficient to reduce flue gas pollution. Japan has been

using flue gas cleaning technology for over 30 years and the US has been doing the same for
over 25 years. China is now beginning to grapple with the pollution caused by coal-fired
power plants.
Where required by law, the sulfur and nitrogen oxide pollutants are removed by stack gas
scrubbers which use a pulverizedlimestone or other alkaline wet slurry to remove those
pollutants from the exit stack gas. Other devices use catalysts to remove Nitrous Oxide
compounds from the flue gas stream. The gas travelling up the flue gas stack may by this
time have dropped to about 50 °C (120 °F). A typical flue gas stack may be 150–180 metres
(490–590 ft) tall to disperse the remaining flue gas components in the atmosphere. The
tallest flue gas stack in the world is 419.7 metres (1,377 ft) tall at the GRES-2 power plant
in Ekibastuz, Kazakhstan.
In the United States and a number of other countries, atmospheric dispersion
modeling.15. studies are required to determine the flue gas stack height needed to comply
with the local air pollution regulations. The United States also requires the height of a flue
gas stack to comply with what is known as the "Good Engineering Practice (GEP)" stack
height..16..17. In the case of existing flue gas stacks that exceed the GEP stack height, any air
pollution dispersion modeling studies for such stacks must use the GEP stack height rather
than the actual stack height.
Fly ash collection...
Fly ash is captured and removed from the flue gas by electrostatic precipitators or fabric
bag filters (or sometimes both) located at the outlet of the furnace and before the induced
draft fan. The fly ash is periodically removed from the collection hoppers below the
precipitators or bag filters. Generally, the fly ash is pneumatically transported to storage
silos for subsequent transport by trucks or railroad cars.
Bottom ash collection and disposal...
At the bottom of the furnace, there is a hopper for collection of bottom ash. This hopper is
always filled with water to quench the ash and clinkers falling down from the furnace.
Some arrangement is included to crush the clinkers and for conveying the crushed clinkers
and bottom ash to a storage site. Ash extractor is used to discharge ash from Municipal
solid waste–fired boilers.

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Auxiliary systems...
Boiler make-up water treatment plant and storage...
Since there is continuous withdrawal of steam and continuous return of condensate to the
boiler, losses due to blowdownand leakages have to be made up to maintain a desired
water level in the boiler steam drum. For this, continuous make-up water is added to the
boiler water system. Impurities in the raw water input to the plant generally consist
of calcium andmagnesium salts which impart hardness to the water. Hardness in the make-
up water to the boiler will form deposits on the tube water surfaces which will lead to
overheating and failure of the tubes. Thus, the salts have to be removed from the water,
and that is done by a water demineralising treatment plant (DM). A DM plant generally
consists of cation, anion, and mixed bed exchangers. Any ions in the final water from this
process consist essentially of hydrogen ions and hydroxide ions, which recombine to form
pure water. Very pure DM water becomes highly corrosive once it absorbs oxygen from the
atmosphere because of its very high affinity for oxygen.
The capacity of the DM plant is dictated by the type and quantity of salts in the raw water
input. However, some storage is essential as the DM plant may be down for maintenance.
For this purpose, a storage tank is installed from which DM water is continuously
withdrawn for boiler make-up. The storage tank for DM water is made from materials not
affected by corrosive water, such as PVC. The piping and valves are generally of stainless
steel. Sometimes, a steam blanketing arrangement or stainless steel doughnut float is
provided on top of the water in the tank to avoid contact with air. DM water make-up is
generally added at the steam space of the surface condenser (i.e., the vacuum side). This
arrangement not only sprays the water but also DM water gets deaerated, with the
dissolved gases being removed by a de-aerator through an ejector attached to the
condenser.

Fuel preparation system...

Conveyor system for moving coal (visible at far left) into a power plant

In coal-fired power stations, the raw feed coal from the coal storage area is first crushed
into small pieces and then conveyed to the coal feed hoppers at the boilers. The coal is
next pulverized into a very fine powder. The pulverizers may beball mills, rotating
drum grinders, or other types of grinders.
Some power stations burn fuel oil rather than coal. The oil must kept warm (above its pour
point) in the fuel oil storage tanks to prevent the oil from congealing and becoming
unpumpable. The oil is usually heated to about 100 °C before being pumped through the
furnace fuel oil spray nozzles.

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Boilers in some power stations use processed natural gas as their main fuel. Other power
stations may use processed natural gas as auxiliary fuel in the event that their main fuel
supply (coal or oil) is interrupted. In such cases, separate gas burners are provided on the
boiler furnaces.

Barring gear.
Oil system.
Generator cooling...

Barring gear...
Barring gear (or "turning gear") is the mechanism provided to rotate the turbine generator
shaft at a very low speed after unit stoppages. Once the unit is "tripped" (i.e., the steam
inlet valve is closed), the turbine coasts down towards standstill. When it stops completely,
there is a tendency for the turbine shaft to deflect or bend if allowed to remain in one
position too long. This is because the heat inside the turbine casing tends to concentrate in
the top half of the casing, making the top half portion of the shaft hotter than the bottom
half. The shaft therefore could warp or bend by millionths of inches.
This small shaft deflection, only detectable by eccentricity meters, would be enough to
cause damaging vibrations to the entire steam turbine generator unit when it is restarted.
The shaft is therefore automatically turned at low speed (about one percent rated speed)
by the barring gear until it has cooled sufficiently to permit a complete stop.
Oil system...
An auxiliary oil system pump is used to supply oil at the start-up of the steam turbine
generator. It supplies the hydraulic oil system required for steam turbine's main inlet
steam stop valve, the governing control valves, the bearing and seal oil systems, the
relevant hydraulic relays and other mechanisms.
At a preset speed of the turbine during start-ups, a pump driven by the turbine main shaft
takes over the functions of the auxiliary system.
Generator cooling...
While small generators may be cooled by air drawn through filters at the inlet, larger units
generally require special cooling arrangements. Hydrogen gas cooling, in an oil-sealed
casing, is used because it has the highest known heat transfer coefficient of any gas and for
its low viscosity which reduces windage losses. This system requires special handling
during start-up, with air in the generator enclosure first displaced by carbon dioxide before
filling with hydrogen. This ensures that the highly flammable hydrogen does not mix
with oxygen in the air.
The hydrogen pressure inside the casing is maintained slightly higher than atmospheric
pressure to avoid outside air ingress. The hydrogen must be sealed against outward

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leakage where the shaft emerges from the casing. Mechanical seals around the shaft are
installed with a very small annular gap to avoid rubbing between the shaft and the seals.
Seal oil is used to prevent the hydrogen gas leakage to atmosphere.
The generator also uses water cooling. Since the generator coils are at a potential of about
22 kV, an insulating barrier such as Teflon is used to interconnect the water line and the
generator high-voltage windings. Demineralized water of low conductivity is used.Its the
importance of generator cooling.
Generator high-voltage system...
The generator voltage for modern utility-connected generators ranges from 11 kV in
smaller units to 22 kV in larger units. The generator high-voltage leads are normally large
aluminium channels because of their high current as compared to the cables used in
smaller machines. They are enclosed in well-grounded aluminium bus ducts and are
supported on suitable insulators. The generator high-voltage leads are connected to step-
up transformers for connecting to a high-voltageelectrical substation (usually in the range
of 115 kV to 765 kV) for further transmission by the local power grid.
The necessary protection and metering devices are included for the high-voltage leads.
Thus, the steam turbine generator and the transformer form one unit. Smaller units may
share a common generator step-up transformer with individual circuit breakers to connect
the generators to a common bus.
Monitoring and alarm system...
Most of the power plant operational controls are automatic. However, at times, manual
intervention may be required. Thus, the plant is provided with monitors and alarm systems
that alert the plant operators when certain operating parameters are seriously deviating
from their normal range.
Battery-supplied emergency lighting and communication...
A central battery system consisting of lead acid cell units is provided to supply emergency
electric power, when needed, to essential items such as the power plant's control systems,
communication systems, turbine lube oil pumps, and emergency lighting. This is essential
for a safe, damage-free shutdown of the units in an emergency situation.

 QUESTION Describe a Circulating Water System

Circulating water system...

: Circulating Water Plant
To dissipate the thermal load of main turbine exhaust steam,condensate from gland steam
condenser and condensate from Low Pressure Heater- 1 by providing continuous supply of
cooling water to the main condenser thereby leading condensation.

Transport of coal fuel to site and to storage...

: Fossil-fuel_power_station § Fuel_transport_and_delivery

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Most thermal stations use coal as the main fuel. Raw coal is transported from coal mines to
a power station site by trucks,barges, bulk cargo ships or railway cars. Generally, when
shipped by railways, the coal cars are sent as a full train of cars. The coal received at site
may be of different sizes. The railway cars are unloaded at site by rotary dumpers or side
tilt dumpers to tip over onto conveyor belts below. The coal is generally conveyed to
crushers which crush the coal to about 3⁄4inch (19 mm) size. The crushed coal is then sent
by belt conveyors to a storage pile. Normally, the crushed coal is compacted by bulldozers,
as compacting of highly volatile coal avoids spontaneous ignition.. needed.
The crushed coal is conveyed from the storage pile to silos or hoppers at the boilers by
another belt conveyor system.

...

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