HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANTS

Source of Energy and Progress

By: Sofía Fernández

How can a mega-structure like a hydroelectric plant help the environment? A hydroelectric
power plant produces energy because it diverts the riverbed and takes advantage of the
waterfall. It presents different technical details in the dam, the reservoir and the machine
house. In our country, the most ambitious project to have been proposed is Hidroituango,
however, it has presented several problems threatening the nearby municipalities in the
department of Antioquia. Although, a project with such magnitude generates damage to
the environment, biology, and communities, the expected industrial development improves
the situation of the country in regards to its energetic matrix. Despite the challenges
hydroelectric power plants face in their construction, the country should continue to
develop hydroelectric projects. I hold the view that the projects must continue due to their
environmental contribution, cost-efficiency ratio, the growth of local expertise, and the
strengthening of local economics.

Currently the energy is necessary for almost any activity. We can obtain energy from
different sources, but hydroelectric energy does not emit as many greenhouse gases and
contamination as other energetic resources. First, this type of energy improves water
properties, because the water has to go through a turbine and a waterfall, which can help
in cleaning residual substances in the water. Particularly, in the hydrographic basin of the
Bogota River, there are some hydroelectric plants, which after the properties test,
evidenced that water upstream is not nearly as clean as downstream. Second, this type of
process can transform up to of 95% of the energy. This reduces the necessity for more
hydroelectric plants. This is a major benefit since other renewable sources only transform
between 10% and 15%. Finally, several hectares are affected, but the owners of the
projects commit to recover a part of the environment. The best example is Betania dam;
the construction company reforested 60 hectares with 80000 trees.

Projects like Hidroituango, Betania, or El Quimbo presented a lot of difficulties, which

required the partnership and knowledge development of experts coming from different
kinds of professions. These types of challenges can improve the local expertise. For one
thing, Colombia has weird geological qualities, because it has three mountain ranges, and
the Pacific Ring of Fire is located in the Colombia of pacific border, for those reasons we
have a high seismic threat. The structures have to resist all the requirements of the
previous difficulties. For example, in the structural design you should consider the geologic
faults in the terrain to avoid damage in the foundations. Also the biology is important to
preserve the species in the river environment. The more challenges a project poses, the
more chances to generate a local know-how that can be even exported as a knowledge
commodity. Recovering the animal's habitat is impossible, but maintaining some
characteristics in the upstream and downstream. Finally, the most difficult aspect can be
the climatic change, because the dam use to have a specified water level and nobody can
control natural phenomena like precipitation or drought.

Finally, hydroelectric power plants have taken extraordinary profits, because these projects
use natural capital. First, when the plant has started to operate, the economic recovery
process will be so fast. This is possible because the percentage of energetic transform is
so high, and also the maintain cost is fewer than other mechanism like steam energy
generators. Consequently, the region will have a higher budget to investment in the
industry, education, or infrastructure. Although the project generates economic losses,
because the terrain will not be used for another economic activity and the water
characteristics will change, the possibility to implement news economic activities with the
dam's profits is innovate. In addition, the electric transmission lines operate to distribute
the electric energy, this is the most useful function because there are a lot of zones in
Colombia without electric energy, according to that the companies could improve the life
conditions in a lot of towns.

The main objective of this projects is generate energy from natural resources in this case
water, the most important advantage is the energetic efficiency to distribute this resource
in poor towns and some villages. But also, we need a new mechanism to decrease the
environmental damage and the social impact. For instance, there is a new turbine, it just
needs the water movement in the river, and it is the hydrokinetic turbine. Engineering need
to improve the system of hydroelectric power plants, because the hydraulic energy is the
70% of energy in Colombia, due to our country has a spectacular hydrographic network in
various geomorphologies.