Hydroelectric Power Plant

Table of Contents

Title Page 1
Abstract...4

o Introduction....5
o Background6
o Sources7
o Benefits of Hydropower.8
o Electrical System Benefits..9
o How Hydro Power Works 10
o The different parts of a hydroelectric power plant...11
o Turbines.13
o Low-head Hydropower.14
o A simple formula..15
o Load factor, Load control governors16
o Environmental impacts.17
o Karnafuli Hydro Power Station18
o Conclusion.20
o References.21

Figure : Hydro-electric Power Station.7

Figure : Hydro-electric Dam...11
Figure : Turbine...13
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ABSTRACT
Hydroelectric power plants are the most efficient means of producing
electric energy. Since water is the most abundant resource in the world, the
most efficient way to harness the power of water is to collect the potential
energy. This is done by damming up a body of flowing water. A dam is an
object that restricts the flow of water. In todays hydroelectric dams, the
restricted water is diverted to a turbine using a penstock and exits the turbine
through the tailrace. The turbine is made up of a shaft with blades attached.
As a fluid flows through the blades a rotational force is created. This force
causes a torque on the shaft. The turbine shaft is coupled to a generator,
where electricity is produced. The backbone of most power generation
system is the generator. An electric generator is any machine that converts
mechanical energy into electricity for transmission and distribution. The
generator works by spinning a rotor that is turned by a turbine. The rotor is a
shaft that has field windings. These windings are supplied with an excitation
current or voltage. As the rotor turns, the excitation current creates a
magnetically induced current onto a stator. The stator is a cylindrical ring
made of iron that is incased by another set of field windings and is separated
from the rotor by a small air gap. Hydroelectric generations can vary from 1
watt to 100s mega-watts. With todays technology it is possible to generate
power with small scale parameters with low flow.
 4

Introduction
Hydropower, hydraulic power or water power is power that is derived from
the force or energy of moving water, which may be harnessed for useful
purposes. Prior to the development of electric power, hydropower was used
for irrigation, and operation of various machines, such as watermills, textile
machines, sawmills, dock cranes, and domestic lifts.Another method used a
trompe to produce compressed air from falling water, which could then be
used to power other machinery at a distance from the water.

In hydrology, hydropower is manifested in the force of the water on the

riverbed and banks of a river. It is particularly powerful when the river is in
flood. The force of the water results in the removal of sediment and other
materials from the riverbed and banks of the river, causing erosion and other
alterations.
 5

Water power can be harnessed in many ways; tidal flows can be utilised to
produce power by building a barrage across an estuary and releasing water
in a controlled manner through a turbine; large dams hold water which can
be used to provide large quantities of electricity; wave power is also
harnessed in various ways. It is a technology that has been utilised
throughout the world, by a diverse range of societies and cultures, for many
centuries. Water can be harnessed on a large or a small scale - Table 1,
below outlines the categories used to define the power output form
hydropower. Micro-hydro power is the small-scale harnessing of energy
from falling water; for example, harnessing enough water from a local river
to power a small factory or village. This fact sheet will concentrate mainly at
micro-hydro power.

Large- hydro More than 100 MW and usually feeding into a

large electricity grid

Medium-hydro 15 - 100 MW - usually feeding a grid

Small-hydro 1 - 15 MW - usually feeding into a grid

Mini-hydro Above 100 kW, but below 1 MW; either stand alone
schemes or more often feeding into the grid

Micro-hydro From 5kW up to 100 kW; usually provided power for a

small community or rural industry in remote areas away
from the grid.
 6

Pico-hydro From a few hundred watts up to 5kW

(kW (kilowatt) - 1000 Watts; MW (megawatt) - 1 000 000 Watts or 1000

kW)

Background

Since the time of ancient Egypt, people have used the energy in flowing
water to operate machinery and grind grain and corn. However, hydropower
had a greater influence on people's lives during the 20th century than at any
other time in history. Hydropower played a major role in making the
wonders of electricity a part of everyday life and helped spur industrial
development. Hydropower continues to produce 24 percent of the world's
electricity and supply more than 1 billion people with power.

Evolution of Hydropower

The first hydroelectric power plant was built in 1882 in Appleton, Wisconsin
to provide 12.5 kilowatts of electricity to light two paper mills and a home.
Today's hydropower plants generally produce several hundred kilowatts to
several hundred megawatts of electricity, but a few mammoth plants have
capacities up to 10,000 megawatts. These hydroelectric power plants can
supply electricity to millions of people.
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Worldwide, hydropower plants have a combined capacity of 675,000

megawatts and annually produce over 2.3 trillion kilowatt-hours of
electricity, the energy equivalent of 3.6 billion barrels of oil.

How Hydropower Works

Hydropower converts the energy in flowing water into electricity. The

quantity of electricity generated is determined by the volume of water flow
and the amount of "head" (the height from turbines in the power plant to the
water surface) created by the dam. The greater the flow and head, the more
electricity produced.

A typical hydropower plant includes a dam, reservoir, penstocks (pipes), a

powerhouse and an electrical power substation. The dam stores water and
creates the head; penstocks carry water from the reservoir to turbines inside
the powerhouse; the water rotates the turbines, which drive generators that
produce electricity. The electricity is then transmitted to a substation where
transformers increase voltage to allow transmission to homes, businesses
and factories.

Types of Hydropower Plants

Conventional
 8

Most hydropower plants are conventional in design, meaning they use one-
way water flow to generate electricity. There are two categories of
conventional plants, run-of-river and storage plants.

Run-of-river plantsThese plants use little, if any, stored water to provide

water flow through the turbines. Although some plants store a day or week's
worth of water, weather changesespecially seasonal changescause run-
of-river plants to experience significant fluctuations in power output.

Storage plantsThese plants have enough storage capacity to off-set

seasonal fluctuations in water flow and provide a constant supply of
electricity throughout the year. Large dams can store several years worth of
water.

Pumped Storage

In contrast to conventional hydropower plants, pumped storage plants reuse

water. After water initially produces electricity, it flows from the turbines
into a lower reservoir located below the dam. During off-peak hours (periods
of low energy demand), some of the water is pumped into an upper reservoir
and reused during periods of peak-demand.

Building Hydropower Plants

Most hydropower plants are built through federal or local agencies as part of
a multipurpose project. In addition to generating electricity, dams and
reservoirs provide flood control, water supply, irrigation, transportation,
recreation and refuges for fish and birds. Private utilities also build
hydropower plants, although not as many as government agencies.
 9

Benefits

Hydropower is a clean, domestic and renewable source of energy.

Hydropower plants provide inexpensive electricity and produce no pollution.
And, unlike other energy sources such as fossil fuels, water is not destroyed
during the production of electricityit can be reused for other purposes.

Obstacles

Hydropower plants can significantly impact the surrounding area

reservoirs can cover towns, scenic locations and farmland, as well as affect
fish and wildlife habitat. To mitigate impact on migration patterns and
wildlife habitats, dams maintain a steady stream flow and can be designed or
retrofitted with fish ladders and fishways to help fish migrate upstream to
spawn. However, there are still other risks with the introduction of dams
into the river systems. By introducing new water conditions such as a
reservoir or a dam, a well-oxygenated river can turn into an anoxic lake
(being devoid of oxygen).

Also, the water stored behind dams tends to accumulate sediment and silt.
This accumulation can hinder the water flow and cause harm to the turbines
and pumps. As an example, after only four years of operation, the Sanmen
George Dam on the Yellow River, China lost 41% of its water storage
capacity and 75% of its maximum power capacity due to sedimentation.

In the UK, water mills are known to have been in use 900 years ago. Their
numbers grew steadily and by the 19th century, there were over 20,000 in
 10

operation in England alone. In Europe, Asia and parts of Africa, water

wheels were used to drive a variety of industrial machinery, such as mills
and pumps. The first effective water turbines appeared in the mid 19th
century and it was not long before they were replacing water wheels in many
applications. In contrast to water wheels and the early turbines, modern
turbines are compact, highly efficient and capable of turning at very high
speed. Hydropower is a well-proven technology, relying on a non-polluting,
renewable and indigenous resource, which can integrate easily with
irrigation and water supply projects. China alone has more than 85,000
small-scale, electricity producing, hydropower plants.

Over the last few decades, there has been a growing realisation in
developing countries that micro-hydro schemes have an important role to
play in the economic development of remote rural areas, especially
mountainous ones. Micro-hydro schemes can provide power for industrial,
agricultural and domestic uses through direct mechanical power or by the
coupling of the turbine to a generator to produce electricity.
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Sources
In 2005, more than 3/4 of total world energy consumption was through the
use of fossil fuels. With the current state of the environment, it is essential
to explore all the possibilities for renewable energy. The main forms of
renewable energy are wind, solar, biomass, and hydroelectric .
Hydroelectric power plants are the most efficient means of producing
electric energy. Since water is the most abundant resource in the world, it is
important to utilize the
power of flowing water. The most efficient way to harness the power of
water is to collect the potential energy. This is done by damming up a body
of flowing water. A dam is an object that restricts the flow of water. In
todays hydroelectric dams, the restricted water is diverted to a turbine using
a penstock and exits the turbine through the tailrace.
The turbine is made up of a shaft with blades attached. As a fluid flows
through the blades a rotational force is created. This force causes a torque on
 12

the shaft. The turbine shaft is coupled to a generator, where electricity is

produced.

The backbone of most power generation system is the generator. An electric

generator is any machine that converts mechanical energy into electricity
for transmission and distribution. The generator works by spinning a rotor
that is turned by a turbine. The rotor is a shaft that has field windings. These
windings are supplied with an excitation current or voltage. As the rotor
turns, the excitation current creates a magnetically induced current onto a
stator. The stator is a cylindrical ring made of iron that is incased
by another set of field windings and is separated from the rotor by a small air
gap. Hydroelectric generations can vary from 1 watt to 100s mega-watts.
With todays technology it is possible to generate power with small scale
parameters. With low flow and low head parameters a micro generator can
be used to produce electric power. From the source of the flowing water, a
weir, small scale dam, can be used to restrict the flow of water. From this the
water can be piped to a turbine. Since the turbine is coupled to the generator,
a micro generator can generate about 1 watt to 100 kilowatts. This
generator can be used to power residential loads

Benefits of Hydropower
Hydropower is one of the three principal sources of energy used to generate
electricity, the other two being fossil fuels and nuclear fuels.
Hydroelectricity has certain advantages over these other sources: it is
continually renewable thanks to the recurring nature of the water cycle, and
causes no pollution. Also, it is one of the cheapest sources of electrical
energy. Hydropower provides unique benefits, rarely found in other sources
 13

of energy. These benefits can be attributed to the electricity itself, or to side-

benefits, often associated with reservoir development. Despite the recent
debates, few would disclaim that the net environmental benefits of
hydropower are far superior to fossil-based generation. In 1997, for example,
it has been calculated that hydropower saved GHG emissions equivalent to
all the cars on the planet (in terms of avoided fossil fuel generation). While
development of all the remaining hydroelectric potential could not hope to
cover total future world demand for electricity, implementation of even half
of this potential could thus have enormous environmental benefits in terms
of avoided generation by fossil fuels.
Carefully planned hydropower development can also make a vast
contribution to improving living stands in the developing world (Asia,
Africa, Latin America), where the greatest potential still exists.
Approximately 2 billion people in rural areas of developing countries are
still without an electricity supply. As the most important of the clean,
renewable energy options, hydropower is often one of a number of benefits
of a multipurpose water resources development project. As hydro schemes
are generally integrated within multipurpose development schemes, they can
often help to subsidize other vital functions of a project. Typically,
construction of a dam and its associated reservoir results in a number of
benefits
associated with human well-being, such as secure water supply, irrigation
for food production and flood control, and societal benefits such as increased
recreational opportunities, improved navigation, the development of
fisheries, cottage industries, etc. This is not the case for any other source of
energy.
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Electrical System Benefits

Hydropower, as an energy supply, also provides unique benefits to an
electrical system. First, when stored in large quantities in the reservoir
behind a dam, it is immediately available for use when required. Second, the
energy source can be rapidly adjusted to meet demand instantaneously.
These benefits are part of a large family of benefits, known as ancillary
services. They include:
Spinning reserve - the ability to run at a zero load while synchronized
to the electric system. When loadsincrease, additional power can be
loaded rapidly into the system to meet demand. Hydropower
canprovide this service while not consuming additional fuel, thereby
assuring minimal emissions.
Non-spinning reserve - the ability to enter load into an electrical
system from a source not on line. While other energy sources can also
provide non-spinning reserve, hydropower's quick start capability is
unparalleled, taking just a few minutes, compared with as much as 30
minutes for other turbines and
hours for steam generation.
Regulation and frequency response - the ability to meet moment-to-
moment fluctuations in system power requirements. When a system is
unable to respond properly to load changes its frequency changes,
resulting not just in a loss of power, but potential damage to electrical
equipment connected to the system, especially computer systems.
Hydropower's fast response characteristic makes it especially valuable
in providing regulation and frequency response.
Voltage support - the ability to control reactive power, thereby
assuring that power will flow from generation to load.
 15

Black start capability - the ability to start generation without an outside

source of power. This service allows system operators to provide
auxiliary power to more complex generation sources that could take
hours or even days to restart. Systems having available hydroelectric
generation are able to restore service more rapidly than those
dependent solely on thermal generation.

HOW HYDROPOWER WORKS

Hydroelectric power plants convert the hydraulic potential energy from

water into electrical energy. Such plants are suitable were water with
suitable head are available. The layout covered in this article is just a simple
one and only cover the important parts of hydroelectric plant.

Most hydroelectric stations use either the natural drop of a river, such as a
waterfall or rapids, or a dam is built across a river to raise the water level,
and provide the drop needed to create a driving force.

Water at the higher level is collected in the forebay. It flows through the
station's intake into a pipe, called a penstock, which carries it down to a
turbine. The turbine is a type of water wheel that is connected to a generator.
As the water flows down the penstock the water pressure increases. It is this
pressure and flow that causes the turbine to revolve which in turn spins a
generator.
 16

Inside the generator are large electromagnets attached to a rotor that is

located within a coil of copper wires called the stator. As the generator rotor
spins the magnets a flow of electrons is created in the coils of the stator.

This produces electricity that can be stepped up in voltage through the

stations transformers and sent across transmissions lines. The falling water,
having served its purpose, exits the generating station through what is called
the tailrace, where it rejoins the main stream of the river.

The different parts of a hydroelectric power plant

(1) Dam
 17

Dams are structures built over rivers to stop the water flow and form a
reservoir. The reservoir stores the water flowing down the river. This water
is diverted to turbines in power stations. The dams collect water during the
rainy season and stores it, thus allowing for a steady flow through the
turbines throughout the year. Dams are also used for controlling floods and
irrigation. The dams should be water-tight and should be able to withstand
the pressure exerted by the water on it. There are different types of dams
such as arch dams, gravity dams and buttress dams. The height of water in
the dam is called head race.

(2) Spillway
A spillway as the name suggests could be called as a way for spilling of
water from dams. It is used to provide for the release of flood water from a
dam. It is used to prevent over toping of the dams which could result in
damage or failure of dams. Spillways could be controlled type or
uncontrolled type. The uncontrolled types start releasing water upon water
rising above a particular level. But in case of the controlled type, regulation
of flow is possible.

(3) Penstock and Tunnel

Penstocks are pipes which carry water from the reservoir to the turbines
inside power station. They are usually made of steel and are equipped with
gate systems.Water under high pressure flows through the penstock. A
tunnel serves the same purpose as a penstock. It is used when an obstruction
is present between the dam and power station such as a mountain.

(4) Surge Tank

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Surge tanks are tanks connected to the water conductor system. It serves the
purpose of reducing water hammering in pipes which can cause damage to
pipes. The sudden surges of water in penstock is taken by the surge tank, and
when the water requirements increase, it supplies the collected water thereby
regulating water flow and pressure inside the penstock.

(5) Power Station

Power station contains a turbine coupled to a generator. The water brought
to the power station rotates the vanes of the turbine producing torque and
rotation of turbine shaft. This rotational torque is transfered to the generator
and is converted into electricity. The used water is released through the tail
race. The difference between head race and tail race is called gross head and
by subtracting the frictional losses we get the net head available to the
turbine for generation of electricity.
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Turbines
A turbine converts the energy in falling water into shaft power. There are
various types of turbine which can be categorised in one of several ways.
 20

The choice of turbine will depend mainly on the pressure head available and
the design flow for the proposed hydropower installation. As shown in table
2 below, turbines are broadly divided into three groups; high, medium and
low head, and into two categories: impulse and reaction.

Head pressure

Turbine Runner High Medium Low

Impulse Pelton Turgo Crossflow Crossflow

Multi-jet Pelton Turgo
Multi-jet Pelton
Reaction Francis Propeller
Pump-as-turbine Kaplan
(PAT)

Table 1: Classification of turbine types.

Source: Micro-hydro Design Manual, IT Publications, 1993

The difference between impulse and reaction can be explained simply by

stating that the impulse turbines convert the kinetic energy of a jet of water
in air into movement by striking turbine buckets or blades - there is no
pressure reduction as the water pressure is atmospheric on both sides of the
impeller. The blades of a reaction turbine, on the other hand, are totally
 21

immersed in the flow of water, and the angular as well as linear momentum
of the water is converted into shaft power - the pressure of water leaving the
runner is reduced to atmospheric or lower.

Low-head Hydropower
A low-head dam is one with a water drop of less than 65 feet and a
generating capacity less than 15,000 kW. Large, high-head dams can
produce more power at lower costs than low-head dams, but construction of
large dams may be limited by lack of suitable sites, by environmental
considerations, or by economic conditions. In contrast, there are many
existing small dams and drops in elevation along canals where small
generating plants could be installed. New low-head dams could be built to
increase output as well. The key to the usefulness of such units is their
ability to generate power near where it is needed, reducing the power
inevitably lost during transmission.

Calculating the amount of available power

A hydropower resource can be measured according to the amount of

available power, or energy per unit time. In large reservoirs, the available
power is generally only a function of the hydraulic head and rate of fluid
flow. In a reservoir, the head is the height of water in the reservoir relative to
its height after discharge. Each unit of water can do an amount of work equal
to its weight times the head.
The amount of energy, E, released when an object of mass m drops a height
h in a gravitational field of strength g is given by The energy available to
hydroelectric dams is the energy that can be liberated by lowering water in a
 22

controlled way. In these situations, the power is related to the mass flow
rate. Substituting P for Et and expressing mt in terms of the volume of
liquid moved per unit time (the rate of fluid flow, ) and the density of
water, we arrive at the usual form of this expression:

A simple formula for approximating electric power production at a

hydroelectric plant is:

P = hrgk

where P is Power in kilowatts,

h is height in meters,
r is flow rate in cubic meters per second,
g is acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2, and
k is a coefficient of efficiency ranging from 0 to 1.
Efficiency is often higher with larger and more modern turbines.
Some hydropower systems such as water wheels can draw power from the
flow of a body of water without necessarily changing its height. In this case,
the available power is the kinetic energy of the flowing water.
where v is the speed of the water, or with
where A is the area through which the water passes, also
Over-shot water wheels can efficiently capture both types of energy.

Load factor
The load factor is the amount of power used divided by the amount of power
that is available if the turbine were to be used continuously. Unlike
technologies relying on costly fuel sources, the 'fuel' for hydropower
 23

generation is free and therefore the plant becomes more cost effective if run
for a high percentage of the time. If the turbine is only used for domestic
lighting in the evenings then the plant factor will be very low. If the turbine
provides power for rural industry during the day, meets domestic demand
during the evening, and maybe pumps water for irrigation in the evening,
then the plant factor will be high.

It is very important to ensure a high plant factor if the scheme is to be cost

effective and this should be taken into account during the planning stage.
Many schemes use a 'dump' load (in conjunction with an electronic load
controller - see below), which is effectively a low priority energy demand
that can accept surplus energy when an excess is produced e.g. water
heating, storage heaters or storage cookers.

Load control governors

Water turbines, like petrol or diesel engines, will vary in speed as load is
applied or relieved. Although not such a great problem with machinery
which uses direct shaft power, this speed variation will seriously affect both
frequency and voltage output from a generator. Traditionally, complex
hydraulic or mechanical speed governors altered flow as the load varied, but
more recently an electronic load controller (ELC) has been developed which
has increased the simplicity and reliability of modern micro-hydro sets. The
ELC prevents speed variations by continuously adding or subtracting an
artificial load, so that in effect, the turbine is working permanently under full
load. A further benefit is that the ELC has no moving parts, is very reliable
and virtually maintenance free. The advent of electronic load control has
 24

allowed the introduction of simple and efficient, multi-jet turbines, no longer

burdened by expensive hydraulic governors.

Environmental impacts
While small, well-sited run-of-the-river projects can be developed with
minimal environmental impacts, many modern run-of-river projects are
larger, with much more significant environmental concerns. For example,
Plutonic Power Corp.s Bute Inlet Hydroelectric Project in BC will see three
clusters of run-of-river projects with 17 river diversions; as proposed, this
run-of-river project will divert over 90 kilometers of streams and rivers into
tunnels and pipelines, requiring 443 km of new transmission line, 267 km of
permanent roads, and 142 bridges, to be built in wilderness areas.
British Columbias mountainous terrain and wealth of big rivers have made
it a global testing ground for run-of-river technology. As of March 2010,
there were 628 applications pending for new water licenses solely for the
purposes of power generation representing more than 750 potential points
of river diversion.

Many of the impacts of this technology are still not understood or well-
considered, including the following:
Diverting large amounts of river water reduces river flows, affecting water
velocity and depth, minimizing habitat quality for fish and aquatic
organisms; reduced flows can lead to excessively warm water for salmon
and other fish in summer. As planned, the Bute Inlet project in BC could
divert 95 percent of the mean annual flow in at least three of the rivers. New
access roads and transmission lines can cause extensive habitat
 25

fragmentation for many species, making inevitable the introduction of

invasive species and increases in undesirable human activities, like illegal
hunting.
Cumulative impacts the sum of impacts caused not only by the project, but
by roads, transmission lines and all other nearby developments are difficult
to measure. Cumulative impacts are an especially important consideration in
areas where projects are clustered in high densities close to sources of
electricity demand: for example, of the 628 pending water license
applications for hydropower development in British Columbia, roughly one
third are located in the southwestern quarter of the province, where human
population density and associated environmental impacts are highest.
Water licenses issued by the BC Ministry of Environment, enabling
developers to legally divert rivers, have not included clauses that specify
changing water entitlements in response to altered conditions; this means
that conflicts will arise over the water needed to sustain aquatic life and
generate power when river flow becomes more variable or decreases in the
future. However, it should also be noted that under section 101 of the BC
Water Act, regulations regarding a water licenses can be changed by the
government at any time, including the amount of water that a power plant is
required to release to protect aquatic life.

Karnafuli Hydro Power Station

230 MW generation capacity
reservoir size is 777 sq. km
Economic development
Social disruption
 26

Tipaimukh dam
located on the Barak River in Manipur State of India
multi-purpose - electricity generation and flood control
electricity generation capacity - 1500 MWs
risk of dam failure
impact on haor eco-system

The government is contemplating to produce 200MW of electricity by using

renewable energy sources in Chittagong as the gas-fired power plants are
forced to close down due to gas crisis. Of the proposed electricity, 100MW
wind-based power plant will be installed at Anwara Parky beach in
Chittagong while another two units will be set up in Karnafuli Hydro Power
Plant in Kaptai.
Besides, the Power Development Board (PDB) has plans to install a dozen
of micro hydro power plants having generation capacity of 225.5kilowatts
(KW) in greater Chittagong.
The Karnafuli Hydro Power Station authority has placed a development
project proposal (DPP) in 2008 to install two units in the existing power
plant site which was pending for planning commission decision.
In 1998, Tokyo Electric Power Services Company limited carried out detail
field study for the feasibility of the 6th and 7th units and submitted a report
in March, 1999. The report recommended that the Kaptai extension of unit
no 6 and 7 would provide a significant and economically attractive
contribution to the power generation of Bangladesh.Later, a social impact
assessment (SIA) was also conducted which favoured the implementation of
 27

the project in consultation with the local people. The committee recently
recommended the Power Division to conduct further feasibility study to
install another two units in Kaptai Power Plant.
The prospective sites to install the micro hydro plants are: Nunchari (3KW)
in Khagrachari, Chang-oo-Para (30KW), Liragaon (25KW), Bangchari (20),
Kamal Chari (20KW), Monjai Para (7.5KW), Monjaipara (10KW) in
Banderban, Thang Khrue Chara Mukh (30KW), Manikchari (2KW),
Mitingachara (10KW) in Rangamati and Bamerchara (3KW) and Mohamaya
Char (65KW) in Chittagong.

Conclusions
As robust global economic expansion continues, the question of where a
growing world population will continue to get the electricity to drive the
economic engine remains. While most of the new generation supply will
come from thermal resources, conventional thinking on the development of
new resources and supplies should provide greater emphasis on using
sustainable, renewable resources. Hydroelectric power has an important role
to play in the future, and provides considerable benefits to an integrated
electric system. This paper has demonstrated an awareness within the
industry of the social and environmental impacts of hydropower which need
to be addressed for any project; the expertise which exists to avoid or
mitigate negative impacts; and the ongoing research. The world's remaining
hydroelectric potential needs to be considered in the new energy mix, with
 28

planned projects taking into consideration social and environmental impacts,

so that necessary mitigation and compensation measures can be taken.
Clearly, the population affected by a project should enjoy a better quality of
life as a result of the project. Hydro development should go hand in hand
with further research and development in the field of other renewable
options such as solar and wind power. Energy conservation measures should
also be optimized and encouraged. Any development involves change and
some degree of compromise, and it is a question of assessing benefits and
impacts at an early enough stage, and in adequate detail, with the full
involvement of those people affected, so that the right balance can be
achieved.
Two billion people in developing countries have no reliable electricity
supply, and especially in these countries for the foreseeable future,
hydropower offers a renewable energy source on a realistic scale. Impacts of
hydro projects are well understood today. Appropriate mitigation and
compensation measures must be identified and taken to ensure that any
project represents a net gain for affected populations. Systems exist to
provide improved planning processes and better quality decisions, and in
turn these ensure that social and environmental concerns are integrated with
issues of economic and technical feasibility. The hydropower industry must
collaborate with interested stakeholders including regulatory bodies, global
financial leaders, and competent interest groups, to develop future standards
to ensure balanced and reasonable planning, construction and operation of
hydroelectric powerplants.
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 29

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Buildup" TVA
<http://www.tva.gov/environment/air/ontheair/renewable.htm>
10/06/2011
3. U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Reclamation Power Resources
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