ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLAGE OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER

ENGINEERING LECTURE ON HYDRO POWER ENGINEERING
(ECEg4243)
2-3-0

Addis Ababa/Ethiopia
2021
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HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER
PLANT

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 CHAPTER – 1
Hydropower Engineering concepts
WHAT IS HYDRO POWER?
• Hydropower is the electricity or power generated from the
energy of moving water. Hydro means “Water”
• Thus, Hydro power plant is a power plant which utilizes the
potential energy of water at high level for the generation of
electrical energy.
• The objective of hydropower scheme is to convert the potential
energy of water, flowing in a stream with a certain fall to the
turbine (termed the "head"), into electric energy at the lower end
of the scheme, where the powerhouse is located.
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 Cont.…
• The power output from the scheme is proportional to the flow of
water and to the head (the height from turbines in the power plant to
the water surface) created by the dam. .
• As the water rushes through the turbine, it spins the turbine shaft,
which is coupled to the generator.
• The generator has a rotating electromagnet (rotor) and a stationary
part (stator).
• The rotor creates a magnetic field that induces an emf in the stator.
• In conclusion, in Hydro Power Plant the water is utilized to move the
turbines which in turn run the generator to induce an EMF.
• Hydro Power Plant fulfills the 30% of the total energy needs of the
world.
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 How Hydropower Works!
• Water from the reservoir
flows due to gravity to drive
the turbine and produces
Mechanical Energy. .
• When the generator is
turned by the turbine the
mechanical energy is
converted into electrical
energy at the generator.
• The generated Power is
transmitted over power lines

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 Principle of Hydro-power Plant
•Initially the water is accumulated at the dam. Thus the potential
energy of the water increases due to the height of the dam .
•When the gates of the dam are opened the water moves with
high Kinetic Energy into the penstock.
• Then the water goes through the penstock and hits the turbine.
• Now the turbine spins which in turn the generator runs to
generate an electrical power.

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 Layout of Hydro Power Plant
The Lay out of a hydro power plant depends on the following
factors
i. the services to be performed by a power plant
ii. The surrounding topography
iii. Controlling economics
These factors in turn govern the type and arrangement of
dams, spillway and conduit systems
The power plant building encloses generators, power
house, crane, control room, offices, auxiliary rooms etc.

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Layout of Hydro Power Plant

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 Advantage of HPP
• No fuel coasts and No fuel transportation is required.
• Less supervising staff is required.
• Maintenance & operation Costs are very low.
• Running cost of the plant is low.
• The plant efficiency does not changes with age.
• It takes few minutes to run & synchronize the plant. That means, (the
hydraulic turbine can be switched on and off in a very short time )
• No ash & flue gas problem & does not pollute the atmosphere.
• These plants are used for flood control & irrigation purpose.
• Long life in comparison with the Thermal & Nuclear Power Plant.
• Being simple in design and operation, the HPP do not require highly
skilled workers. Manpower requirement is also low
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 Disadvantages of HPP
• The initial cost of the power plant is very high.
• Takes long time for construction of the dam.
• Such plants are far away from the load center and require long
Transmission lines to deliver power. Thus the cost of
transmission lines and losses in them are more.
• Power generation by HPP is dependent on the quantity of water
available, which may vary from season to season and year to
year. Therefore, at the time of drought or summer session the
Hydro Power Plant will not work.
• Water in the reservoir is lost by evaporation
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 Classification of hydro power plants
• Hydropower plants can be classified according to operation
and type of flow
(i) Run-off river plants
(ii) Storage plants
(iii) Pumped storage plants
(iv) Tidal plants

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 1. Run-off River Plants
• These are hydro power plants that utilize minimum flow in a river as
it comes , without any storage being provided
• Power station constructed on irrigation channels at the site of
falls is also under the category of run-off river plants.
• A weir or barrage is built across a river and the low head
created is used to generate power, the power station often being
an integral part of the weir structure.
• It has very limited storage capacity and can only use water when
available.
• Its firm capacity is low, because the water supply is not uniform
throughout the year, but it can serve as a baseload plant.
• Small storage is provided to take into account the hourly
fluctuations of demand.
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Fig. Run-off river plants
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 2. Storage Plants
• This type of power plants has facilities for storing water.
• During rainy seasons the excess water is stored in the reservoir
and it is released to supplement low rates of flow during run off
(dry) periods.
• The advantage of this plant that the power generated by the plant
during dry season will not be affected.
• The reservoir storage upstream of the dam increases the firm
capacity of the plant substantially, and depending on the annual
run-off and power requirements, the plant may be used as a
baseload and/or peak-load installation.
• Example: Tana belse, Gilgel Gibe power plants 15
Fig. Storage type plant layout
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 3. Pumped Storage Schemes
• This kind of plant generates energy during peak load, but during the off-
peak periods, water is pumped back from the tail water pool to the head
water pool for future use.

• That means, water leaving the turbines of hydroelectric power plant is

stored in tail-race pond. This water is umped back to the head race
reservoir by means of reversible pump turbine sets and is used for power
generation at the peak load time.

• Pumped storage plants are generally inter connected with other plants
such as steam power plants.
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 Cont.…
• During off-peak periods excess power available from steam
power plants is used in pumping the water from the lower
reservoir.
Advantages of pumped storage plants are as follows:
(i) The capital cost of pumped storage plant is low as compared to
other peaking units.
(ii) There is a great deal of flexibility in the operational schedule
of the system.
(iii) A pumped storage plant can pick up load rapidly and is dependable
(iv) They operate at higher load factors and improve the overall
efficiency of the system.
 They are used as peak load plants.
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 Figure: Pumped Storage (a) At time of low demand (At time of high demand
During peak load, the water is used to work on turbines to produce
electricity.
Whenever the load demand is less the surplus energy instead of being
wasted is used to drive a pump to raise water from tail race to the reservoir.
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 4. Tidal Plants
• These are hydropower plants which utilize the rise in water level of
the sea due to a tide. During high tide, the water from the sea side
start rising, and the turbines start generating power as the water
flows into the bay.
• As the water starts falling during low tide, the water from the basin
flows back to the sea which can also be used to generate power
provided another set of turbines in the opposite direction are
installed.
• Turbine which generate electricity for either direction of flow is
used.
• Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effect
of gravitational forces.

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Fig. Tidal plant
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 Tidal power plants

 This Tidial electricity

generation works as
the tide comes in and
again when it goes
out. The turbines are
driven by the power
of the sea in both
directions.

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 Classification on the basis of operating head
Head is the vertical distance from the surface of the water at the dam
down to the water in the stream below where the turbine is located
a. Low-head plants
•These plants have a gross head of < 15m and are usually of the run-
of-river type, with or without pondage.
•Tidal power plants are also low-head plants. The discharges are
usually large in low-head plants.
b. Medium-head plants
•These plants may be either locally or remotely controlled, with a head
of 15 to 60m,
C. High-head plant
•Most of the high head plants (> 60 m) are of the remote-controlled type
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Classification on the basis of Installed Capacity

1. Low Capacity plants: has capacity up to 1,000KW.

2. Medium capacity plants: has the capacity up to 10,000KW

3. High capacity plants

• A plant having a capacity > 10,00 KW is usually classified as a

high capacity plant.

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 According to Load Characteristics
1. Base load plants
• A power station operating continuously at a constant or nearly
constant power and which operates at relating high power
factors. They cater to the base load of the system, they need to
supply constant power when connected to the grid.
2. Peak load plants
A power station that is primary designed for the purpose of
operating to supply the peak load of a power system. This
type of power station is also termed as peaking station.
Classification According to Transmission System
ISOLATED:

Whenever a hydropower plant is set up in a remote area in

order to meet the local demands then such a hydropower plant is
known as Isolated System. te
CONNECTED TO GRID:

 Whenever the hydropower plant is set up to meet the demands

of areas which are at a fair distance from the plant, then the
transmission of power takes through the grid system. Such a
setup is referred to as Connected to grid. 26
Hydro power Development Cycles
The studies to be carried out are :
Resources studies
 Preparation/updating of resources rankings

 Preparation/updating of resources inventories

Site specific studies
 Reconnaissance studies

 Pre-feasibility studies

 Feasibility studies
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 1. Resource studies
 The main purpose of resource inventory investigation is to
identify, register and catalogue the hydropower resource
existing in a river basins
 Flow data and data on topography is sufficient to establish
the production and generating capability of a site.
 The identified project sites are ranked according to size,
cost, electric demand, etc.
 Preparation of resources inventories and their updating is
a continuous process and should not be stopped at any
time.
.
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 2.Site specific studies
Reconnaissance studies
 The details and data requirements of these studies are regional
in nature.
 Accuracy of these data as a requirement is less.
 Carried out for specific purpose such as: to establish the
available potential in a district.
 They are concerned with project selection from inventories of
resources

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 Site specific studies
The main objectives may be such as:
• Assessment of demand or define electric power need
• Selection of candidate projects from the resources inventories
which will meet the electric power demand
• Investigation of candidate projects & project alternatives
to the best technical level
• Technical ranking of candidate projects should be prepared and
well recorded
• Selection of a suitable project from the list of investigated
candidate projects.
• Estimation of preliminary cost and implementation schedule
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 Cont.…
• Main activities to be done are :
• Data collection
• Field work and
• Office studies
• Final reconnaissance report
Data Collection:
Infrastructure information
Power market and demand forecast
Topography
Hydrology: Hydrological studies will provide data on the flow
of water
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 Cont.…
Geology and geo technical engineering
Environmental studies
Socio-economic set up
Office studies:
Power demand forecast
Flow regulation
Head
Report:
 Any reconnaissance report must conclude with a statement on the
viability and sustainability of the project under consideration.
Data requirement for feasibility study should be indicated
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 Field work:
The following issues should be recorded properly
• Terrain features such as location and placement of structures

• Infrastructures such as access to the project, transmission lines,

• Settlement and resettlement issue

• Availability of construction material

• Environmental issues such as diversion of flow from one

catchment to the other, deforestation, etc.

• Multipurpose uses 33
 Cont.…
• Incase of reservoir and tunnel projects special attention shall be
given to the geological and geo technical properties.

• Appraisal of discharge available

• Study of existing and future water uses like drinking, irrigation,

etc.

• Verification of estimated head

• Powerhouse type, location and equipment

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THANK YOU
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