Hydroelectric Power Technology - Case Study Example

Alternative Energy Source: Hydropower Technology Introduction In the course of humankind history, water has been used as a source of life as well as a source of energy. The energy which comes from the natural flow of water, referred to as hydropower, can be seen as a renewable, reliable and most significantly, nonpolluting source of energy. Almost one-fifth of the electricity in the world being supplied by hydropower, it exceeds by far other renewable energy sources contributions; hence, making it particularly essential in the reduction of energy-related carbon emissions. According to Gatte and Kadhim, USA is among the top world producers of hydropower, generating 12 percent of their electrical energy (95). Hydroelectric power technology is currently the least expensive source of electrical power. Moreover, it is much cleaner as opposed to the power that is generated using fossil fuels. Water that is flowing, and falling has potential energy whereby hydropower is generated by converting energy into the flowing water using a waterwheel or via a turbine into practicable mechanical energy (International Renewable Energy Agency, 7). Water potential energy could be used directly without converting it because of the different in elevation-diverted water through pipelines to supply the water in the day-to-day usage. The research paper is focused on first examining a brief background overview of hydropower technology in the world and how the technology has evolved over time. Then it will be followed by discussing the history overview of the technology. The description of the technology will briefly be discussed while examining the current state of the technology. Background of Hydropower Technology Hydropower technology is the most flexible and coherent renewable energy resource, which is capable of meeting primary load electricity necessities. In addition, with pumped storage technology, it is capable of meeting peak and unexpected demand because of the shortage or the use of sporadic power sources. According to Gatte and Kadhim, researchers have conservatively estimated that only one-third of the total world’s capacity of the hydroelectricity power has been developed, with most of this growth and development been seen occurring in Europe (96). Hydropower is produced from water that is moving in the hydrological cycle that is driven by solar radiation. The potential energy embedded in this cycle is thus enormous; however, only a very limited amount can be technically developed. It is the water flow in rivers, which can be used in generating hydropower, or more specific, the energy of water, which is moving from higher to lower elevations on its way back to the ocean, and driven by the force of gravity. Nevertheless, hydropower can be argued to be the most mature technologies in the renewable energy supply realm (David, Aygün and Nicole, 5). Therefore, for this reason, hydropower is one of the most competitive, cost-effective and reliable renewable energy sources available. Because of its economic, environmental and technological benefits, it is considered to be a substantial contributor to the future energy supply of the world. In their design, hydropower schemes mostly have remarkable flexibility, which are designed to meet the base-load requirements with proportional high capacity factors. History of Hydropower Technology Humans have used hydropower technology since ancient times. The energy generated by falling water was used by the Greeks and Egyptians in turning water-wheels, which transferred their mechanical energy to a grinding stone in order to turn wheat into flour over 2000 years ago (International Renewable Energy Agency, 5). These waterwheels were later used by connecting them to rudimentary equipment’s that included lathes, looms and saw blades produce goods such as furniture and fabric. According to IREA, during 1700s, the extensive use of mechanical hydropower was seen in factories where these products were being produced in large scale as well as milling grain and pumping water (5). The development of modern era hydropower technology began in the 1870s, after the installation of the first hydroelectric power plant in Cragside, England. During the 19th century, improved engineering skills, combined with the need for developing smaller and higher speed devices for generating electricity, saw the development of modern-day turbines. However, in the 1820s, the first hydro-turbine was designed by Benoit Fourneyron whereby he named the invention a hydraulic motor. By the end of 19th century, various mills were replacing the waterwheels and were using with turbines while the governments were starting focusing on how they would exploit hydropower for the supply of electricity in large-scale. The breakthrough of hydroelectric power came when the electric generator was coupled to the turbine. And, therefore, the commissioning of the first world hydroelectric station producing capacity of 12.5kW in 1882 on Fox River, USA, which light two paper mills and a resident (Gatte and Kadhim, 96). During the mid-20th century, North America and Europe, built dams and hydropower stations at a high speed rate, thus exploiting up to 50 percent of the technically available potential (David, Aygün and Nicole 7). This is because early hydropower stations were much more efficient and reliable than the fossil fuel-fired stations. Today, hydropower plants span a very large range of scales, ranging from few watts to several GW, with the largest projects being Itaipu in Brazil and the Three Gorges in China. Hydropower projects have been identified as being site-specific and; therefore, are designed in accordance with the river system they inhabit. Today, the vast variety of the hydropower stations’ size gave the technology the ability to meet the needs of both large centralized urban energy and decentralized rural (REN21 80). Although today the primary role of hydropower technology in the global energy supply is in generating electricity as part of centralized energy networks; also, hydropower operates independently and provide independent systems, frequently in rural and remote areas. In addition, more recently hydroelectricity has been studied for use in the electrolysis process in the production of hydrogen fuel, provided there is copiousness of hydropower in an area and a local goal of using hydrogen as fuel for transport. Throughout the 21st century, hydropower technology will continue to play significant role in the world of electricity supply. At the beginning of the 21st century, hydropower technology provided almost 20 percent (2600 TWh/year) of the world’s electricity consumption (12900 TWh/year) (REN21 80). Current State of Technology Hydropower technology is a demonstrated and well-advanced technology, which is based on the experience of more than a century, with many hydropower plants having been built in the 19th century and is still in operation today. Today, the hydropower is an incredibly flexible power technology having the best conversion efficiencies of all renewable energy sources. This is because of the technology’s ability to transform hydraulic energy directly to electricity. There has been a considerable improvement in tunneling technology because of the introduction of increasingly efficient equipment. Today, the most significant technologies for hydropower technology tunneling are the blast and drill method as well as the use of tunnel-boring machines (Zare and Bruland 805). Because of the tunneling technology developments, the costs of excavation have been reduced by 25 percent or approximately 0.8 percent per year. Consequently, today’s technology has allowed for accurate analysis of the hydrology and geology, as well as accurate assessments of potential gains. Hydropower technology has fast response capabilities because of its large reservoir and pumped storage plants, which provide vital energy services to networks; hence, helping to match fluctuations in the demand for electricity and supply from less flexible electricity sources. There have been significant improvements in hydropower turbines. According to Zare and Bruland, computation fluids dynamics has facilitated elaborate examination of the fluid flow characteristics as well as optimization of runner design (807). Conclusion In conclusion, it is clear that hydropower technology is the most mature, efficient and reliable source of electricity in the world. Even though it is a proven and well-advanced technology, hydropower technology still has room for further improvement. For an instant, it needs improvement through the optimization of operation, mitigation, and reduction of environmental impacts whereby it needs to adapt to new social and environmental necessities, as well as more cost-effective and robust technological solutions. Today’s hydropower technology has significantly advanced with large hydropower turbines currently close to the theoretical limit for efficiency, with close to 96 percent efficiency when they are operated at the best efficiency point (IREA, 12). The study has found out that the older turbines had lower efficiency by design as well as reduced efficiency because of corrosion and cavitation’s damage. Works Cited Egre, D. and Milewski J, The diversity of hydropower projects, Energy Policy, Vol. 30 (14), (2002), pp. 1225-1230 Print Gatte M. and Kadhim R, Hydro Power: Chapter 4, Gatte and Kadhim, Licensee InTech, 2012, pp. 95-96. Print Gonzalez David, Kilinc Aygün and Weidmann Nicole, Renewable Energy Development Hydropower in Norway: Seminar Papers in International Finance and Economics, Paper 1, (2011). Print International Renewable Energy Agency, Technology Roadmaps, Hydropower; OECD/IEA, 2012, Print International Renewable Energy Agency, Renewable Energy Technologies: Cost Analysis Series of Hydropower. Volume 1: Issue 3, 2012. REN21. Renewable 2010: Global Status Report. Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century Secretariat, Paris, France, (2010), pp. 80-81.Print Zare, S. and A. Bruland, Progress of drill and blast tunneling efficiency with relation to excavation time and cost, In: 33rd ITA World Tunnel Congress, Prague, Czech Republic, 5-10 May 2007, pp. 805-809. Print Read More