Energy Conversion and

Rural Electrification
Chapter Three: Hydropower

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 Hydropower Plants
 Electrical energy is produced in hydro-electric power plants from
the energy stored in water behind a dam.
 As this water falls through the penstock, the water’s energy of
motion spins the turbines.
 It accounts more than 20% of the sources of energy to the world.
 Hydropower, or hydroelectric power, is one of the oldest and largest
sources of renewable energy, which uses the natural flow of moving water
to generate electricity.
 Nowadays, huge power generators are placed inside dams. Water flowing
through the dams spin turbine blades (made from metal instead of leaves)
which are connected to generators.
 Hydropower is the most important and widely-used renewable source of
energy.
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 The term hydro-power is usually restricted to the
generation of shaft power from falling water. The
power is then used for direct mechanical purposes
or, more frequently, for generating electricity.

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 The following are the essential elements of hydro-electric power
plant :
 Catchment area
 Reservoir
 Dam
 Spillways
 Conduits
 Surge tank
 Prime movers
 Draft tubes
 Powerhouse and equipment
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Catchment Area
 The whole area behind the dam draining into a stream or river across which the
dam has been built at a suitable place, is called catchment area.
2. Reservoir
 The water reservoir is the primary requirement of hydro-electric plant. A
reservoir is employed to store water which is further utilised to generate power
by running the hydraulic turbines.
 A reservoir may be of the following two types : Natural and Artificial
 A natural reservoir is a lake in high mountains.
 An artificial reservoir is built by erecting a dam across the river.
 Water held in upstream reservoir is called storage whereas water behind the dam
at the plant is called pondage.
 The level of water surface in the reservoir is called Head water level.
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3. Dam
 A dam is a barrier to confine or raise water for storage or diversion to
create a hydraulic head.
 An hydro-electric dam diverts the flow from the river to the turbines and
usually increases the head. A reservoir dam stores water by raising its
level.
 Dams are built of concrete or stone masonry, earth or rock fill, or timber.
 The purpose of the dam is to store the water and to regulate the out going
flow of water.
 The dam helps to store all the incoming water. It also helps to increase the
head of the water. In order to generate a required quantity of power it is
necessary that a sufficient head is available.
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 4. Spillway
 Excess accumulation of water endangers the stability of dam
construction. Also in order to avoid the over flow of water out of
the dam especially during rainy seasons spillways are provided.
This prevents the rise of water level in the dam.
 Spillways are passages which allow the excess water to flow to a
storage area away from the dam. This is constructed to act as a
safety valve.
 It discharges the overflow water to the downstream side when the
reservoir is full, a condition mainly arising during flood periods.

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 5. Conduit:
 A headrace is a channel which leads water to a turbine and a
tailrace is a channel which conducts water from the wheels.
The conduit may be open or close.

6. Surge tank:
 A Surge tank is a small reservoir or tank in which the water
level rises or falls due to sudden changes in pressure.

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7. Prime movers:
 In hydro-electric power plants water turbines are used as prime
movers and their function is to convert the kinetic energy of water
into mechanical energy which is further utilised to drive the
alternators generating electrical energy.
8. Powerhouse and equipment:
 A power house should have a stable structure and its layout should
be such that adequate space is provided around the equipment
(such as turbines, generators, valves, pumps, governors etc.), so
that the dismantling and repairing may be easily carried out

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9. Draft tube:
 It is connected to the outlet of the turbine.
 It allows the turbine to be placed above the tail water level.
 The draft tube serves the following two purposes :
1. It allows the turbine to be set above tail-water level, without
loss of head, to facilitate inspection and maintenance.
2. It regains, by diffuser action, the major portion of the kinetic
energy delivered to it from the runner.
 An air tight pipe of suitable diameter attached to the runner outlet
and conducting water down from the wheel and discharging it
under the surface of the water in the tail race is known as draft
tube.

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Principles

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 Ex ample 1

Consider a mountain stream with an effective head of 25 meters (m)

and a flow rate of 600 liters (ℓ) per minute. How much power could a
hydro plant generate? Assume plant efficiency () of 83%.
H = 25 m

Q = 600 ℓ/min × 1 m3/1000 ℓ × 1 min/60sec

Q = 0.01 m3/sec
 = 0.83
P  10QH = 10(0.83)(0.01)(25) = 2.075
P  2.1 kW

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 Example 2
Consider a second site with an effective head of 100 m and a flow rate
of 6,000 cubic meters per second (about that of Niagara Falls).
Answer the same questions.

 P  10QH = 10(0.83)(6000)(100)
P  4.98 million kW = 4.98 GW (gigawatts)
 E = P×t = 4.98GW × 24 hrs/day × 365 days/yr
E = 43,625 GWh = 43.6 TWh (terrawatt hours)
 People = E÷3000 = 43.6 TWh / 3,000 kWh
People = 1.45 million people
 (This assumes maximum power production 24x7)
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Run-off

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Site Selection

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 Choice of Site for Hydro-electric Power
Stations
(i) Availability of water. Since the primary requirement of a hydro-
electric power station is the availability of huge quantity of water,
such plants should be built at a place (e.g., river, canal) where
adequate water is available at a good head.
(ii) Storage of water. There are wide variations in water supply from
a river or canal during the year.
 This makes it necessary to store water by constructing a dam in
order to ensure the generation of power throughout the year.
 The storage helps in equalising the flow of water so that any
excess quantity of water at a certain period of the year can be
made available during times of very low flow in the river.

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 Cont…
(iii) Cost and type of land. The land for the construction of the
plant should be available at a reasonable price. Further, the
bearing capacity of the ground should be adequate to withstand
the weight of heavy equipment to be installed.
(iv) Transportation facilities. The site selected for a hydro-
electric plant should be accessible by rail and road so that
necessary equipment and machinery could be easily
transported.

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Classification of Hydro-Plants

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 High Head

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Medium Head

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Low Head

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Prime Movers

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Current Hydropower Stations

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 …Con’t

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 Views
Beles- Tekeze- GebeII-420 MW
460MW 300MW

The Ethiopian
Power System

E January 200935
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 Cont ...
Gilgel Gibe II Gilgel Gibe III

BELES AREA BELES TUNNEL

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World’s Largest Dams

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 Completed ( Currently )

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Under construction

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Three Gorges Dam (China)

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 Top five hydropower producing
countries in the world
 China – 341.1GW. With a total capacity of 341.1GW in
2017, China is the leading producer of hydropower in
the world. ...
 US – 102GW. ...
 Brazil – 100GW. ...
 Canada – 81.4GW. ...
 Russia – 51.1GW.

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 ou
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