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Chapter 5. Other sources of

renewable energy

5.1. Hydro Energy

Schematic layout
p: pressure,
h: height,
v: velocity

(Martin Kaltschmitt, et.al: Renewable Energy: Technology, and Environment)

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Small hydro energy

• Currently, there is no clear definition for a
small hydropower plant
• International and European organizations
have agreed on a 10 MW limit on output
for small hydropower plant
• However, Vietnam has set it at 30 MW

Small hydro energy

How it works

(European Renewable Energy Council: Renewable Energy in Europe Markets, Trends and Technologies)

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Small hydro energy

• Three fundamental criteria should be
satisfied: high level of performance,
maximum reliability, and simplicity,
allowing easy maintenance by non-
specialists
• These hydropower systems transform
potential and kinetic energy in water into
mechanical energy, then into electrical
energy

Small hydro energy

• A few criteria are considered to
categorized a small hydropower system
• The first one is whether the system stores
water for later use or not
• The second criterion is the heads, with the
following limits are commonly used:
– High-head: higher than 60 m
– Medium-head: between 25 m and 250 m
– Low-head: less than 30 m

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Small hydro energy

• Depending on heads, the turbine may be in
different operation modes:
– Actions: hydraulic energy is only available in
kinetic form (out-of-water runners)
– Reactions: hydraulic energy is available in
pressure and kinetic form (submerged runners)
• Pelton turbine: action turbine for high-head
• Francis turbine: reaction turbine for medium-
head

Small hydro energy

• Diagonal turbine: reaction turbine for 25 m to
100 m heads (relatively new)
• Kaplan turbine: reaction turbine 2 m to
30 m heads
• There are two large categories of Kaplan
turbines: spiral casing or axial turbine
• Banki (crossflow) turbine: action turbine, but
dominates low-head applications
• Waterwheel and Archimedes screw are not
strictly turbines, with efficiency about 70%

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Small hydro energy

• Small turbines may be useful in drinking
water networks in mountainous areas, to
lower pressure before discharging into a
reservoir
• It can also be used in wastewater treatment
plants, both before and after the treatment
process
• Seawater desalination plants applying
inverse osmosis can recover energy with
small turbines

5.2. Ocean Energy

Ocean energy refers to all forms of renewable energy

derived from the sea. There are three main types of
ocean technology: wave, tidal and ocean thermal.
All forms of energy from the ocean are still at an early
stage of commercialisation.
Wave energy remains more costly than the other ocean
technologies. Tidal range has been deployed in locations
globally where there is a strong tidal resource, while tidal
stream has been demonstrated at pilot scale.

(https://arena.gov.au/renewable-energy/ocean/)

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Tidal energy
• In tidal energy systems, we can use both
potential energy with a dam, or kinetic
energy of the flow
• One of the advantages is that tides are
very predictable, with different types
• The most energetic tides have around 2
cycles per day
• There are 2 high tides and 2 low tides
each month

Tidal energy
• There have been very few tidal power plants
with dams, due to modifications to the
shoreline and ecosystem, and high
investment
• Double acting cycle may be possible with
reversible turbines, and large tide ranges
• Optimal operation for double acting cycle is
complicated
• Small and average tide ranges should use
single acting cycle

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Tidal energy

(https://www.green-mechanic.com/2014/06/tidal-barrage-
(https://www.woodharbinger.com/tidal-
power-generation.html)
energy-sustainable-resource/)

Tidal energy
• Real systems

La Rance Tidal Barrage Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon

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Tidal energy
• Real systems

SeaGen twin-rotor 1.5 MW turbine Open Hydro 2 MW turbine

Tidal energy
• Real systems

Atlantis turbine

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Wave energy
• The potential is from 10 to 100 kW per meters of wave front,
but the conversion efficiency is still low (around 10%).

(doi: 10.1016/j.joes.2016.09.002)

Wave energy

Source: CM Heavy Industries

Source: Ocean Power Technologies

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Wave energy

Pelamis Wave Energy Converter

Wave energy

Oyster 2 Wave Power Generator

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5.3. Geothermal Energy

Geothermal energy is the heat from the earth.
Earth’s temperature increases with depth, under a
gradient of 2–3°C/100m.

Temperatures within the earth

(European Renewable Energy Council: Renewable Energy in Europe Markets, Trends and Technologies)

Geothermal energy
• Global installed geothermal capacity

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Geothermal energy
• Heat from the Earth, present everywhere,
is available in different locations
• It can be used to provide direct heat, for
many applications
• Heat exchangers are used to isolate
geothermal water from heat distribution
network

Geothermal energy
• It is possible to extract energy from a low
temperature heat source and to reinsert it
at a higher temperature in a heat sink, with
a heat pump
• The attraction of the heat pump is that the
final usable quantiy of energy is higher
than the energy consumed by the transfer
• The heat can also be used to produce
steam, then drive an electrical generator

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Geothermal energy

The continuum of
geothermal energy
technology
applications and uses

(US Department of Energy: GeoVision: Harnessing

the Heat Beneath Our Feet)

Geothermal energy
• Several technologies available:
– Single flash
– Dry steam
– Double flash
– Binary
– Others: triple flash, back pressure, hybrid, EGS, ...
• Hot steam is used to spin a steam turbine, which
in turn drives a generator, to produce electricity

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Geothermal energy

(US Department of Energy: GeoVision: Harnessing the Heat Beneath Our Feet)

Geothermal energy

(https://archive.epa.gov/climatechang
e/kids/solutions/technologies/geother
mal.html)

(US Department of Energy: GeoVision: Harnessing

the Heat Beneath Our Feet)

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5.4. Benefits and challenges

Social and environmental aspects

• Common advantages: free energy, renewable

• Small hydropower: small environmental impact, but
need specific location, may have negative impact on
aquatic ecosystem
• Ocean wave: specific location for good wave depth,
very low CO2 emission, high cost for installation.

• Tidal energy: specific location for dams or flow, high

land use, high cost for installation
• Geothermal: lower CO2 emission than traditional
power plants, but require special geologic condition
and location, high cost for installation.

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