Hydro Electric Power Plant

How Hydropower Works!

Hydrologic cycle

How Hydropower Works! (ctd)

Water from the

reservoir flows due to

gravity to drive the
turbine.
Turbine is connected
to a generator.
Power generated is
transmitted over
power lines.

INTRODUCTION

The cheapest source which is to generating

power is water.
Hydro-electric power plant main aim was to
generate power in flowing water.
The energy which is from hydel plant is
utilized to drive turbine.
In India during 1987, the first hydro-electric
power station was started near Darjeeling.

Selection of site for a hydro-electric power

plant
Availability of water
All designs are based on it
Run-off data must be available before hand
Data concerning the rainfall over a large area is always
available
Estimation of average quantity of water available
through out the year(maximum and minimum)
These details are needed to
Decide the capacity of the plant
Setting up the peak load plant such as steam, diesel,
gas turbine plant
To provide adequate spillways or gate relief during

water storage
Since there is a wide variation in rain fall
It is necessary to store water for continuous
power generation
The storage capacity can be calculated by mass
curve.
Maximum storage should justify the expenditure
on the project
Two types of storages in use are
Water available for one year only (end at the
year)
Available at all the conditions

Water heat
In order to generate a requisite quantity of power it is
necessary that a large quantity of water at a sufficient head
should be available.
An increase in effective head, for a given output, reduces
the quantity of water required to be supplied to the
turbines.

Accessibility of the site

The site where hydro-electric plant is to constructed
should be easily available
The power generated is to be utilized at or near the plant
site.
It should have transport facilities

LAYOUT

Essential features of hydro electric power plant

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,

Reservoir
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
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
Water behind the dam at the plant is called pondage .

COMPONENTS
Water reservoir.
Dam.
Penstock.
Fore bay.
Surge tank.
Water turbine..

WATER RESERVOIR
In hydel electric power plant, there must

be continuous supply of water.

Water reservoirs main functions are to

store a net amount of water in it during

rainy season and supply it throughout the
year.

DAM

The dam is used in hydro power

plants to increase the capacity of

reservoir.

It also helps to increase the working

head of the power plant.

PENSTOCK
A pipeline fixed between the surge tank

and prime mover is known as penstock.

It is commonly made of reinforced

concrete or steel.

FOREBAY
The main function is to regulating the

reservoir.

In the plant when the load is decreased

initially then water provided for

increasing load.

SURGE TANK
Surge tank is introduced in between

the power house and dam to avoid

sudden rise in the penstock.
As the load is reduced then there will

be a backflow of water inside the

penstock.
The back flow of water is known as

WATER TURBINE
Water turbine converts kinetic energy

into mechanical energy to produce

electrical energy.
Pelton turbine, Francis and Kaplan

turbine are the prime mover.

The energy in the turbine shaft is

mechanical energy and this is used to

run electric generator.

WORKING PRINCIPLE
There is supply of energy cycle in

hydroelectric power plant.

The mechanical energy converted

into kinetic energy.

In other words, at first the potential energy

is derived from water it is converted into

kinetic energy to derive the turbine in
which the electric generated coupled from
the turbine shaft, the mechanical energy is
derived.

The mechanical energy is converted into

electrical energy and used to run electric

generated and thus the mutual energy
transformation is performed.

Dam Types
Arch
Gravity
Buttress
Embankment or Earth

Arch Dams
Arch shape gives

strength
Less material

(cheaper)
Narrow sites
Need strong

abutments

Concrete Gravity Dams

Weight holds

dam in place
Lots of concrete

(expensive)

Buttress Dams

Face is held

up by a
series of
supports
Flat or

curved face

Embankment Dams
Earth or rock

Weight resists

flow of water

Dams Construction

ADVANTAGES
Water is cheapest source of energy. The fuels

needed for the thermal, diesel and nuclear

plants are exhaustive and expansive.
Water is renewable source of energy.
The fuel cost is totally absent.
There is no problem of handling the fuel ash

and fuel.

The installation of hydel power plant is easy.

Maintenance cost is low.

DISADVANTAGE
Hydel power projects are capital intensive

with a low rate of return.

Initial cost of the plant is high.
Power generation is dependent on the

quantity of water available, which may vary

from season-to-season and year-to-year.

TECHNOLOGY

Technology
Hydropower
Technology

Impoundment

Diversion

Pumped
Storage

Impoundment facility

Diversion Facility
Doesnt require dam
Facility channels portion

of river through canal or

penstock

Pumped Storage
During Storage, water

pumped from lower

reservoir to higher one.
Water released back to
lower reservoir to generate
electricity.

Pumped Storage
Operation : Two pools of Water
Upper pool impoundment
Lower pool natural lake, river

or storage reservoir
Advantages :
Production of peak power
Can be built anywhere with
reliable supply of water

The Raccoon Mountain project

Sizes of Hydropower Plants

Definitions may vary.
Large plants : capacity >30 MW
Small Plants : capacity b/w 100 kW to 30 MW
Micro Plants : capacity up to 100 kW

Large Scale Hydropower plant

Small Scale Hydropower Plant

Micro Hydropower Plant

Micro Hydropower Systems

Many creeks and rivers are permanent, i.e., they never dry up,

and these are the most suitable for micro-hydro power

production
Micro hydro turbine could be a waterwheel
Newer turbines : Pelton wheel (most common)
Others : Turgo, Crossflow and various axial flow turbines

Generating Technologies
Types of Hydro Turbines:
Impulse turbines

Pelton Wheel
Cross Flow Turbines
Reaction turbines
Propeller Turbines : Bulb turbine, Straflo, Tube Turbine,
Kaplan Turbine
Francis Turbines
Kinetic Turbines

Impulse Turbines
Uses the velocity of the water to move the runner and

discharges to atmospheric pressure.

The water stream hits each bucket on the runner.
No suction downside, water flows out through turbine housing
after hitting.
High head, low flow applications.
Types : Pelton wheel, Cross Flow

Pelton Wheels
Nozzles direct forceful

streams of water against a

series of spoon-shaped
buckets mounted around
the edge of a wheel.
Each bucket reverses the
flow of water and this
impulse spins the turbine.

Pelton Wheels (continued)

Suited for high head, low

flow sites.
The largest units can be up
to 200 MW.
Can operate with heads as
small as 15 meters and as
high as 1,800 meters.

Cross Flow Turbines

drum-shaped
elongated, rectangular-

section nozzle directed

against curved vanes on a
cylindrically shaped
runner
squirrel cage blower
water flows through the
blades twice

Cross Flow Turbines (continued)

First pass : water flows from the outside of the blades to

the inside
Second pass : from the inside back out
Larger water flows and lower heads than the Pelton.

Reaction Turbines
Combined action of pressure and moving water.
Runner placed directly in the water stream flowing over

the blades rather than striking each individually.

lower head and higher flows than compared with the
impulse turbines.

Propeller Hydropower Turbine

Runner with three to six blades.
Water contacts all of the blades

constantly.
Through the pipe, the pressure
is constant
Pitch of the blades - fixed or
adjustable
Scroll case, wicket gates, and a
draft tube
Types: Bulb turbine, Straflo,
Tube turbine, Kaplan

Bulb Turbine
The turbine and

generator are a
sealed unit placed
directly in the water
stream.

Others
Straflo : The generator is attached directly to the perimeter of

the turbine.
Tube Turbine : The penstock bends just before or after the
runner, allowing a straight line connection to the generator
Kaplan : Both the blades and the wicket gates are adjustable,
allowing for a wider range of operation

Kaplan Turbine
The inlet is a scroll-shaped tube

that wraps around the turbine's

wicket gate.
Water is directed tangentially,
through the wicket gate, and
spirals on to a propeller shaped
runner, causing it to spin.
The outlet is a specially shaped
draft tube that helps decelerate
the water and recover kinetic
energy.

Francis Turbines
The inlet is spiral shaped.
Guide vanes direct the water

tangentially to the runner.

This radial flow acts on the
runner vanes, causing the
runner to spin.
The guide vanes (or wicket
gate) may be adjustable to allow
efficient turbine operation for a
range of water flow conditions.

Francis Turbines (continued)

Best suited for sites with

high flows and low to

medium head.
Efficiency of 90%.
expensive to design,
manufacture and install, but
operate for decades.

Kinetic Energy Turbines

Also called free-flow turbines.
Kinetic energy of flowing water used rather than potential from

the head.
Operate in rivers, man-made channels, tidal waters, or ocean
currents.
Do not require the diversion of water.
Kinetic systems do not require large civil works.
Can use existing structures such as bridges, tailraces and
channels.

ECONOMICS OF
HYDRO POWER

Global HP Economics
Cost of HP is affected by oil prices; when oil prices are low,

the demand for HP is low.

Thesis was tested in the 1970s when the oil embargo was in
place
More plants built, greater demand for HP
Reduces dependency on other countries for conventional fuels

Local HP Economics
Development, operating, and maintenance costs, and electricity generation
First check if site is developed or not.
If a dam does not exist, several things to consider are: land/land rights,

structures and improvements, equipment, reservoirs, dams, waterways,

roads, railroads, and bridges.

Development costs include recreation, preserving historical and

archeological sites, maintaining water quality, protecting fish and wildlife.

Construction Costs
Hydro costs are highly site specific
Dams are very expensive
Civil works form two-thirds of total cost

Varies 25 to 80%
Large Western schemes: $ 1200/kW
Developing nations: $ 800 to $ 2000/kW
Compare with CCGT: $ 600 to $800/kW

Production Costs
Compared with fossil-fuelled plant

No fuel costs
Low O&M cost
Long lifetime

Cost and Revenue of HP

Comparison with CCGT

Parameters
Payback-HP has higher payback time(25

years)
Net present value (NPV)
Unit cost
Discounting

Payback

Effect of discounting payback

Effect of discounting payback: CCGT

Discounting and NPV

Effect of discounting

Hydros high capital cost at near full value

Its additional revenue far in future less
valuable
CCGT has higher NPV

Unit cost
Unit cost

Cost per kWh produced

Discount costs and production
HP has greater cost
2 to 7 p/kWh typical range for HP
1.5 to 2.5 p/kWh for CCGT

Conclusion
Overall CCGT appears to be the better

investment
Environmental or operational benefits not
considered
Overall HP is still a better investment for
future

Small HP costs
Machinery-includes turbine, gearbox or drive

belts, generator, water inlet control valve.

Civil Works-includes intake and screen to
collect the water, the pipeline or channel,
turbine house and machinery foundations,
and the channel to return the water back to
the river-site specific

Small HP costs
Electrical Works-control panel and control

system, wiring.
External Costs-includes the services of
someone to design the installation, costs of
obtaining a water license, planning costs and
cost of connection to the electricity network
-these two depend on maximum power output

Typical costs of 100KW

plant
Low head

High head

1000s

1000s

Machinery

30 - 90

15 - 60

Civil works

10 - 40

20 - 40

Electrical works

10 - 20

10 - 20

External (no grid connection)

8 - 15

8 - 15

________________

________________

58 - 165

53 - 135

Total:

Sardar Sarovar Dam

Project planning started as

early as 1946.
Project still under
construction with a part of
the dam in operation.
A concrete gravity dam, 1210
meters (3970 feet) in length
and with a maximum height
of 163 meters

The gross storage capacity of the reservoir is 0.95 M. ha.m.

(7.7 MAF) while live storage capacity is 0.58 M.ha.m. (4.75

MAF).
The total project cost was estimated at Rs. 49 billion at 1987
price levels.
There are two power houses project- 1200 MW River Bed
Power House and 250 MW Canal Head Power House. Power
benefits are shared among Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and
Gujarat in the ratio of 57:27:16 respectively.

Environmental Protection measures

About 14000 ha of land has been afforested to compensate

for the submergence of 4523 ha of land.

Formation of co-operatives, extensive training to the

fisherman, providing infrastructure such as fish landing

sites, cold storage and transportation etc.

Surveillance & Control of Water related diseases and

communicable diseases.
Extension of Shoolpaneshwar sanctuary to cover an area
of 607 sq.km.

Rehabilitation & Resettlement

Individual benefits like grant of minimum 2 ha. of land for

agricultural purpose of the size equal to the area of land

acquired.

Civil and other amenities such as approach road, internal roads,

primary school building, health, centre, Panchayat ghar, Seeds

store, Children's park, Village pond, Drinking water wells,
platform for community meetings, Street light electrification,
Religious place, Crematorium ground etc. are provided at
resettled site.

The Three Gorges Project

Being built on the Yangtze

river.
Still under construction to
supply energy and provide
inland transportation.
Project expected to
complete in 2009.

Some Facts.
Dam to provide 18.2 GW of power using 26 Francis generators

of 700 MW each.
630 Km long and 1.3 Km wide capable of allowing 10,000-ton
ocean-going freighters to sail directly into the nation's interior
for six months of each year.
More than 2 million people are to be resettled.
The amount of concrete totals 26.43 million cubic meters,
twice that of the Itaipu project in Brazil, currently the world's
largest hydroelectric dam.

Environmental and Other Concerns

There have been little to no attempts made toward removing

accumulations of toxic materials and other potential pollutants

from industrial sites that will be inundated. They number more
than 1600 in all.

The dam will disrupt heavy silt flows in the river. It could

cause rapid silt build-up in the reservoir, creating an imbalance

upstream, and depriving agricultural land and fish downstream
of essential nutrients. However, sufficient studies have not
been conducted.

Potential Hazard also exists. For example, In an annual report

[1] to the United States Congress, the Department of Defense

cited that Taiwanese "proponents of strikes against the
mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible
threats to China's urban population or high-value targets, such
as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military
coercion."

Independent reports suggest residents are convinced their

compensation is miserly even though China claims its plans

will improve the life of those affected.
Archaeologists and historians have estimated nearly 1,300

important sites will disappear under the reservoir's waters

including remnants of the homeland of the Ba civilization.