Hydropower - Wikipedia

Power generation via movement of water This article is about the general concept of hydropower. For the use of hydropower for electricity generation, see hydroelectricity.

Hydropower (from Ancient Greek ὑδρο-, "water"), also known as water power or water energy, is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power.[1] Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy production. Hydropower is now used principally for hydroelectric power generation, and is also applied as one half of an energy storage system known as pumped-storage hydroelectricity.

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Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a river or elevated lake.[2] International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a low-carbon means for economic development.[3]

Since ancient times, hydropower from watermills has been used as a renewable energy source for irrigation and the operation of mechanical devices, such as gristmills, sawmills, textile mills, trip hammers, dock cranes, domestic lifts, and ore mills. A trompe, which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance.[4][1]

Calculating the amount of available power

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A hydropower resource can be evaluated by its available power. Power is a function of the hydraulic head and volumetric flow rate. The head is the energy per unit weight (or unit mass) of water.[5] The static head is proportional to the difference in height through which the water falls. Dynamic head is related to the velocity of moving water. Each unit of water can do an amount of work equal to its weight times the head.

The power available from falling water can be calculated from the flow rate and density of water, the height of fall, and the local acceleration due to gravity:

W ˙ out = − η m ˙ g Δ h = − η ρ V ˙ g Δ h {\displaystyle {\dot {W}}_{\text{out}}=-\eta \ {\dot {m}}g\ \Delta h=-\eta \ \rho {\dot {V}}\ g\ \Delta h}

where

• W ˙ out {\displaystyle {\dot {W}}_{\text{out}}} (work flow rate out) is the useful power output (SI unit: watts)
• η {\displaystyle \eta } ("eta") is the efficiency of the turbine (dimensionless)
• m ˙ {\displaystyle {\dot {m}}} is the mass flow rate (SI unit: kilograms per second)
• ρ {\displaystyle \rho } ("rho") is the density of water (SI unit: kilograms per cubic metre)
• V ˙ {\displaystyle {\dot {V}}} is the volumetric flow rate (SI unit: cubic metres per second)
• g {\displaystyle g} is the acceleration due to gravity (SI unit: metres per second per second)
• Δ h {\displaystyle \Delta h} ("Delta h") is the difference in height between the outlet and inlet (SI unit: metres)

To illustrate, the power output of a turbine that is 85% efficient, with a flow rate of 80 cubic metres per second ( cubic feet per second) and a head of 145 metres (476 feet), is 97 megawatts:[note 1]

W ˙ out = 0.85 × ( kg / m 3 ) × 80 ( m 3 / s ) × 9.81 ( m / s 2 ) × 145 m = 97 × 10 6 ( kg m 2 / s 3 ) = 97 MW {\displaystyle {\dot {W}}_{\text{out}}=0.85\times \ ({\text{kg}}/{\text{m}}^{3})\times 80\ ({\text{m}}^{3}/{\text{s}})\times 9.81\ ({\text{m}}/{\text{s}}^{2})\times 145\ {\text{m}}=97\times 10^{6}\ ({\text{kg}}\ {\text{m}}^{2}/{\text{s}}^{3})=97\ {\text{MW}}}

Operators of hydroelectric stations compare the total electrical energy produced with the theoretical potential energy of the water passing through the turbine to calculate efficiency. Procedures and definitions for calculation of efficiency are given in test codes such as ASME PTC 18 and IEC . Field testing of turbines is used to validate the manufacturer's efficiency guarantee. Detailed calculation of the efficiency of a hydropower turbine accounts for the head lost due to flow friction in the power canal or penstock, rise in tailwater level due to flow, the location of the station and effect of varying gravity, the air temperature and barometric pressure, the density of the water at ambient temperature, and the relative altitudes of the forebay and tailbay. For precise calculations, errors due to rounding and the number of significant digits of constants must be considered.[6]

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. Over-shot water wheels can efficiently capture both types of energy.[7] The flow in a stream can vary widely from season to season. The development of a hydropower site requires analysis of flow records, sometimes spanning decades, to assess the reliable annual energy supply. Dams and reservoirs provide a more dependable source of power by smoothing seasonal changes in water flow. However, reservoirs have a significant environmental impact, as does alteration of naturally occurring streamflow. Dam design must account for the worst-case, "probable maximum flood" that can be expected at the site; a spillway is often included to route flood flows around the dam. A computer model of the hydraulic basin and rainfall and snowfall records are used to predict the maximum flood.[citation needed]

Disadvantages and limitations

[edit] Main articles: Hydroelectricity § Disadvantages, and Renewable energy debate § Hydroelectricity

Some disadvantages of hydropower have been identified. Dam failures can have catastrophic effects, including loss of life, property and pollution of land.

Dams and reservoirs can have major negative impacts on river ecosystems such as preventing some animals traveling upstream, cooling and de-oxygenating of water released downstream, and loss of nutrients due to settling of particulates.[8] River sediment builds river deltas and dams prevent them from restoring what is lost from erosion.[9][10] Furthermore, studies found that the construction of dams and reservoirs can result in habitat loss for some aquatic species.

Large and deep dam and reservoir plants cover large areas of land which causes greenhouse gas emissions from underwater rotting vegetation. Furthermore, although at lower levels than other renewable energy sources,[citation needed] it was found that hydropower produces methane (CH4) equivalent to almost a billion tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas a year.[12] This occurs when organic matters accumulate at the bottom of the reservoir because of the deoxygenation of water which triggers anaerobic digestion.

People who live near a hydro plant site are displaced during construction or when reservoir banks become unstable. Another potential disadvantage is cultural or religious sites may block construction.[note 2]

Applications

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Mechanical power

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Watermills

[edit] This section is an excerpt from Watermill.

A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of many material goods, including flour, lumber, paper, textiles, and many metal products. These watermills may comprise gristmills, sawmills, paper mills, textile mills, hammermills, trip hammering mills, rolling mills, and wire drawing mills.

One major way to classify watermills is by wheel orientation (vertical or horizontal), one powered by a vertical waterwheel through a gear mechanism, and the other equipped with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mechanism. The former type can be further subdivided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot and pitchback (backshot or reverse shot) waterwheel mills. Another way to classify water mills is by an essential trait about their location: tide mills use the movement of the tide; ship mills are water mills onboard (and constituting) a ship.

Watermills impact the river dynamics of the watercourses where they are installed. During the time watermills operate channels tend to sedimentate, particularly backwater.[14] Also in the backwater area, inundation events and sedimentation of adjacent floodplains increase. Over time however these effects are cancelled by river banks becoming higher.[14] Where mills have been removed, river incision increases and channels deepen.[14]

Compressed air

[edit] See also: Trompe

A plentiful head of water can be made to generate compressed air directly without moving parts. In these designs, a falling column of water is deliberately mixed with air bubbles generated through turbulence or a venturi pressure reducer at the high-level intake. This allows it to fall down a shaft into a subterranean, high-roofed chamber where the now-compressed air separates from the water and becomes trapped. The height of the falling water column maintains compression of the air in the top of the chamber, while an outlet, submerged below the water level in the chamber allows water to flow back to the surface at a lower level than the intake. A separate outlet in the roof of the chamber supplies the compressed air. A facility on this principle was built on the Montreal River at Ragged Shutes near Cobalt, Ontario, in and supplied 5,000 horsepower to nearby mines.[15]

Electricity

[edit] Main article: Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is the biggest hydropower application. Hydroelectricity generates about 15% of global electricity and provides at least 50% of the total electricity supply for more than 35 countries.[16] In , global installed hydropower electrical capacity reached almost GW, the highest among all renewable energy technologies.[17]

Hydroelectricity generation starts with converting either the potential energy of water that is present due to the site's elevation or the kinetic energy of moving water into electrical energy.

Hydroelectric power plants vary in terms of the way they harvest energy. One type involves a dam and a reservoir. The water in the reservoir is available on demand to be used to generate electricity by passing through channels that connect the dam to the reservoir. The water spins a turbine, which is connected to the generator that produces electricity.

The other type is called a run-of-river plant. In this case, a barrage is built to control the flow of water, absent a reservoir. The run-of river power plant needs continuous water flow and therefore has less ability to provide power on demand. The kinetic energy of flowing water is the main source of energy.

Both designs have limitations. For example, dam construction can result in discomfort to nearby residents. The dam and reservoirs occupy a relatively large amount of space that may be opposed by nearby communities.[19] Moreover, reservoirs can potentially have major environmental consequences such as harming downstream habitats. On the other hand, the limitation of the run-of-river project is the decreased efficiency of electricity generation because the process depends on the speed of the seasonal river flow. This means that the rainy season increases electricity generation compared to the dry season.[20]

The size of hydroelectric plants can vary from small plants called micro hydro, to large plants that supply power to a whole country. As of , the five largest power stations in the world are conventional hydroelectric power stations with dams.[21]

Hydroelectricity can also be used to store energy in the form of potential energy between two reservoirs at different heights with pumped-storage. Water is pumped uphill into reservoirs during periods of low demand to be released for generation when demand is high or system generation is low.[22]

Other forms of electricity generation with hydropower include tidal stream generators using energy from tidal power generated from oceans, rivers, and human-made canal systems to generating electricity.

• A conventional dammed-hydro facility (hydroelectric dam) is the most common type of hydroelectric power generation.
• Chief Joseph Dam near Bridgeport, Washington, is a major run-of-the-river station without a sizeable reservoir.
• Micro hydro in Northwest Vietnam
• The upper reservoir and dam of the Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme in Wales. The lower power station can generate 360 MW of electricity.

Rain power

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Billions of litres of rainwater can fall, which can generate huge amounts of electrical energy if used in the right way.[23] Research is being done into the different methods of generating power from rain, such as by using the energy in the impact of raindrops. This is in its very early stages, with new and emerging technologies being tested, prototyped and created. Such power has been called rain power.[24][25] One way in which this has been tried is by using hybrid solar panels called "all-weather solar panels" that can generate electricity from both the sun and the rain.[26]

According to zoologist and science and technology educator, Luis Villazon, a French study estimated that you could use piezoelectric devices, which generate power when they move, to extract 12 milliwatts from a raindrop.[clarification needed][An individual raindrop is not a continuous process, so its electrical output must be measured in joules, not watts.] Over a year, this would amount to less than 1 Wh per square metre – enough to power a remote sensor. Villazon suggested a better application would be to collect the water from fallen rain and use it to drive a turbine, with an estimated energy generation of 3 kWh of energy per year for a 185 m2 roof.[27] A microturbine-based system created by three students from the Technological University of Mexico has been used to generate electricity. The Pluvia system "uses the stream of rainwater runoff from houses' rooftop rain gutters to spin a microturbine in a cylindrical housing. Electricity generated by that turbine is used to charge 12-volt batteries."[28]

The term rain power has also been applied to hydropower systems which include the process of capturing the rain.[23][27]

History

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Ancient history

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Evidence suggests that the fundamentals of hydropower date to ancient Greek civilization.[29] Other evidence indicates that the waterwheel independently emerged in China around the same period.[29] Evidence of water wheels and watermills date to the ancient Near East in the 4th century BC. Moreover, evidence indicates the use of hydropower using irrigation machines to ancient civilizations such as Sumer and Babylonia. Studies suggest that the water wheel was the initial form of water power.

In the Roman Empire, water-powered mills were described by Vitruvius by the first century BC.[31] The Barbegal mill, located in modern-day France, had 16 water wheels processing up to 28 tons of grain per day.[4] Roman waterwheels were also used for sawing marble such as the Hierapolis sawmill of the late 3rd century AD.[32] Such sawmills had a waterwheel that drove two crank-and-connecting rods to power two saws. It also appears in two 6th century Eastern Roman sawmills excavated at Ephesus and Gerasa respectively. The crank and connecting rod mechanism of these Roman watermills converted the rotary motion of the waterwheel into the linear movement of the saw blades.[33]

Water-powered trip hammers and bellows in China, during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), were initially thought to be powered by water scoops. However, some historians suggested that they were powered by waterwheels. This is since it was theorized that water scoops would not have had the motive force to operate their blast furnace bellows.[35] Many texts describe the Hun waterwheel; some of the earliest ones are the Jijiupian dictionary of 40 BC, Yang Xiong's text known as the Fangyan of 15 BC, as well as Xin Lun, written by Huan Tan about 20 AD.[36] It was also during this time that the engineer Du Shi (c. AD 31) applied the power of waterwheels to piston-bellows in forging cast iron.[36]

Ancient Indian texts dating back to the 4th century BC refer to the term cakkavattaka (turning wheel), which commentaries explain as arahatta-ghati-yanta (machine with wheel-pots attached), however whether this is water or hand powered is disputed by scholars On this basis, Joseph Needham suggested that the machine was a noria. Terry S. Reynolds, however, argues that the "term used in Indian texts is ambiguous and does not clearly indicate a water-powered device."[This quote needs a citation] Thorkild Schiøler argued that it is "more likely that these passages refer to some type of tread- or hand-operated water-lifting device, instead of a water-powered water-lifting wheel."[This quote needs a citation]

India received Roman water mills and baths in the early 4th century AD according to Greek sources.[37] Dams, spillways, reservoirs, channels, and water balance would develop in India during the Mauryan, Gupta and Chola empires.[38][39][40]

Another example of the early use of hydropower is seen in hushing, a historic method of mining that uses flood or torrent of water to reveal mineral veins. The method was first used at the Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Wales from 75 AD onwards. This method was further developed in Spain in mines such as Las Médulas. Hushing was also widely used in Britain in the Medieval and later periods to extract lead and tin ores. It later evolved into hydraulic mining when used during the California Gold Rush in the 19th century.[41]

The Islamic Empire spanned a large region, mainly in Asia and Africa, along with other surrounding areas.[42] During the Islamic Golden Age and the Arab Agricultural Revolution (8th–13th centuries), hydropower was widely used and developed. Early uses of tidal power emerged along with large hydraulic factory complexes.[43] A wide range of water-powered industrial mills were used in the region including fulling mills, gristmills, paper mills, hullers, sawmills, ship mills, stamp mills, steel mills, sugar mills, and tide mills. By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic Empire had these industrial mills in operation, from Al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia.[44]: 10  Muslim engineers also used water turbines while employing gears in watermills and water-raising machines. They also pioneered the use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines.[45] Islamic irrigation techniques including Persian Wheels would be introduced to India, and would be combined with local methods, during the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire.[46]

Furthermore, in his book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, the Muslim mechanical engineer, Al-Jazari (–) described designs for 50 devices. Many of these devices were water-powered, including clocks, a device to serve wine, and five devices to lift water from rivers or pools, where three of them are animal-powered and one can be powered by animal or water. Moreover, they included an endless belt with jugs attached, a cow-powered shadoof (a crane-like irrigation tool), and a reciprocating device with hinged valves.[47]

19th century

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In the 19th century, French engineer Benoît Fourneyron developed the first hydropower turbine. This device was implemented in the commercial plant of Niagara Falls in and it is still operating. In the early 20th century, English engineer William Armstrong built and operated the first private electrical power station which was located in his house in Cragside in Northumberland, England. In , the French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published his book, Architecture Hydraulique, which described vertical-axis and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines.[48]

The growing demand for the Industrial Revolution would drive development as well.[49] At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, water was the main power source for new inventions such as Richard Arkwright's water frame.[50] Although water power gave way to steam power in many of the larger mills and factories, it was still used during the 18th and 19th centuries for many smaller operations, such as driving the bellows in small blast furnaces (e.g. the Dyfi Furnace) and gristmills, such as those built at Saint Anthony Falls, which uses the 50-foot (15 m) drop in the Mississippi River.[51][50]

Technological advances moved the open water wheel into an enclosed turbine or water motor. In , the British-American engineer James B. Francis, head engineer of Lowell's Locks and Canals company, improved on these designs to create a turbine with 90% efficiency.[52] He applied scientific principles and testing methods to the problem of turbine design. His mathematical and graphical calculation methods allowed the confident design of high-efficiency turbines to exactly match a site's specific flow conditions. The Francis reaction turbine is still in use. In the s, deriving from uses in the California mining industry, Lester Allan Pelton developed the high-efficiency Pelton wheel impulse turbine, which used hydropower from the high head streams characteristic of the Sierra Nevada.[citation needed]

20th century

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The modern history of hydropower begins in the s, with large dams built not simply to power neighboring mills or factories[53] but provide extensive electricity for increasingly distant groups of people. Competition drove much of the global hydroelectric craze: Europe competed amongst itself to electrify first, and the United States' hydroelectric plants in Niagara Falls and the Sierra Nevada inspired bigger and bolder creations across the globe. American and USSR financers and hydropower experts also spread the gospel of dams and hydroelectricity across the globe during the Cold War, contributing to projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and the Aswan High Dam.[55] Feeding desire for large scale electrification with water inherently required large dams across powerful rivers, which impacted public and private interests downstream and in flood zones. Inevitably smaller communities and marginalized groups suffered. They were unable to successfully resist companies flooding them out of their homes or blocking traditional salmon passages.[58] The stagnant water created by hydroelectric dams provides breeding ground for pests and pathogens, leading to local epidemics. However, in some cases, a mutual need for hydropower could lead to cooperation between otherwise adversarial nations.[60]

Hydropower technology and attitude began to shift in the second half of the 20th century. While countries had largely abandoned their small hydropower systems by the s, the smaller hydropower plants began to make a comeback in the s, boosted by government subsidies and a push for more independent energy producers. Some politicians who once advocated for large hydropower projects in the first half of the 20th century began to speak out against them, and citizen groups organizing against dam projects increased.[61]

In the s and 90s the international anti-dam movement had made finding government or private investors for new large hydropower projects incredibly difficult, and given rise to NGOs devoted to fighting dams.[62] Additionally, while the cost of other energy sources fell, the cost of building new hydroelectric dams increased 4% annually between and , due both to the increasing costs of construction and to the decrease in high quality building sites. In the s, only 18% of the world's electricity came from hydropower. Tidal power production also emerged in the s as a burgeoning alternative hydropower system, though still has not taken hold as a strong energy contender.[65]

United States

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Especially at the start of the American hydropower experiment, engineers and politicians began major hydroelectricity projects to solve a problem of 'wasted potential' rather than to power a population that needed the electricity. When the Niagara Falls Power Company began looking into damming Niagara, the first major hydroelectric project in the United States, in the s they struggled to transport electricity from the falls far enough away to actually reach enough people and justify installation. The project succeeded in large part due to Nikola Tesla's invention of the alternating current motor. On the other side of the country, San Francisco engineers, the Sierra Club, and the federal government fought over acceptable use of the Hetch Hetchy Valley. Despite ostensible protection within a national park, city engineers successfully won the rights to both water and power in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in . After their victory they delivered Hetch Hetchy hydropower and water to San Francisco a decade later and at twice the promised cost, selling power to PG&E which resold to San Francisco residents at a profit.[68][69]

The American West, with its mountain rivers and lack of coal, turned to hydropower early and often, especially along the Columbia River and its tributaries. The Bureau of Reclamation built the Hoover Dam in , symbolically linking the job creation and economic growth priorities of the New Deal.[71] The federal government quickly followed Hoover with the Shasta Dam and Grand Coulee Dam. Power demand in Oregon did not justify damming the Columbia until WWI revealed the weaknesses of a coal-based energy economy. The federal government then began prioritizing interconnected power—and lots of it. Electricity from all three dams poured into war production during WWII.

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After the war, the Grand Coulee Dam and accompanying hydroelectric projects electrified almost all of the rural Columbia Basin, but failed to improve the lives of those living and farming there the way its boosters had promised and also damaged the river ecosystem and migrating salmon populations. In the s as well, the federal government took advantage of the sheer amount of unused power and flowing water from the Grand Coulee to build a nuclear site placed on the banks of the Columbia. The nuclear site leaked radioactive matter into the river, contaminating the entire area.

Post-WWII Americans, especially engineers from the Tennessee Valley Authority, refocused from simply building domestic dams to promoting hydropower abroad.[75][76] While domestic dam building continued well into the s, with the Reclamation Bureau and Army Corps of Engineers building more than 150 new dams across the American West,[75] organized opposition to hydroelectric dams sparked up in the s and 60s based on environmental concerns. Environmental movements successfully shut down proposed hydropower dams in Dinosaur National Monument and the Grand Canyon, and gained more hydropower-fighting tools with s environmental legislation. As nuclear and fossil fuels grew in the 70s and 80s and environmental activists push for river restoration, hydropower gradually faded in American importance.[77]

Africa

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Foreign powers and IGOs have frequently used hydropower projects in Africa as a tool to interfere in the economic development of African countries, such as the World Bank with the Kariba and Akosombo Dams, and the Soviet Union with the Aswan Dam.[78] The Nile River especially has borne the consequences of countries both along the Nile and distant foreign actors using the river to expand their economic power or national force. After the British occupation of Egypt in , the British worked with Egypt to construct the first Aswan Dam,[79] which they heightened in and to try to hold back the Nile floods. Egyptian engineer Adriano Daninos developed a plan for the Aswan High Dam, inspired by the Tennessee Valley Authority's multipurpose dam.

When Gamal Abdel Nasser took power in the s, his government decided to undertake the High Dam project, publicizing it as an economic development project.[76] After American refusal to help fund the dam, and anti-British sentiment in Egypt and British interests in neighboring Sudan combined to make the United Kingdom pull out as well, the Soviet Union funded the Aswan High Dam.[80] Between and the dam's turbines generated one third of Egypt's electricity. The building of the Aswan Dam triggered a dispute between Sudan and Egypt over the sharing of the Nile, especially since the dam flooded part of Sudan and decreased the volume of water available to them. Ethiopia, also located on the Nile, took advantage of the Cold War tensions to request assistance from the United States for their own irrigation and hydropower investments in the s.[82] While progress stalled due to the coup d'état of and following 17-year-long Ethiopian Civil War Ethiopia began construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in .[83]

Beyond the Nile, hydroelectric projects cover the rivers and lakes of Africa. The Inga powerplant on the Congo River had been discussed since Belgian colonization in the late 19th century, and was successfully built after independence. Mobutu's government failed to regularly maintain the plants and their capacity declined until the formation of the Southern African Power Pool created a multi-national power grid and plant maintenance program.[84] States with an abundance of hydropower, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana, frequently sell excess power to neighboring countries.[85] Foreign actors such as Chinese hydropower companies have proposed a significant amount of new hydropower projects in Africa,[86] and already funded and consulted on many others in countries like Mozambique and Ghana.[85]

Small hydropower also played an important role in early 20th century electrification across Africa. In South Africa, small turbines powered gold mines and the first electric railway in the s, and Zimbabwean farmers installed small hydropower stations in the s. While interest faded as national grids improved in the second half of the century, 21st century national governments in countries including South Africa and Mozambique, as well as NGOs serving countries like Zimbabwe, have begun re-exploring small-scale hydropower to diversify power sources and improve rural electrification.[87]

Europe

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In the early 20th century, two major factors motivated the expansion of hydropower in Europe: in the northern countries of Norway and Sweden, high rainfall and mountains proved exceptional resources for abundant hydropower, and in the south, coal shortages pushed governments and utility companies to seek alternative power sources.[88]

Early on, Switzerland dammed the Alpine rivers and the Swiss Rhine, creating, along with Italy and Scandinavia, a Southern Europe hydropower race. In Italy's Po Valley, the main 20th-century transition was not the creation of hydropower but the transition from mechanical to electrical hydropower. 12,000 watermills churned in the Po watershed in the s, but the first commercial hydroelectric plant, completed in , signaled the end of the mechanical reign.[90] These new large plants moved power away from rural mountainous areas to urban centers in the lower plain. Italy prioritized early near-nationwide electrification, almost entirely from hydropower, which powered its rise as a dominant European and imperial force. However, they failed to reach any conclusive standard for determining water rights before WWI.[90]

Modern German hydropower dam construction was built on a history of small dams powering mines and mills in the 15th century. Some parts of the German industry relied more on waterwheels than steam until the s. The German government did not set out building large dams such as the prewar Urft, Mohne, and Eder dams to expand hydropower: they mostly wanted to reduce flooding and improve irrigation. However, hydropower quickly emerged as a bonus for all these dams, especially in the coal-poor south. Bavaria even achieved a statewide power grid by damming the Walchensee in , inspired in part by loss of coal reserves after WWI.[94]

Hydropower became a symbol of regional pride and distaste for northern 'coal barons', although the north also held strong enthusiasm for hydropower. Dam building rapidly increased after WWII, aiming to increase hydropower. However, conflict accompanied the dam building and spread of hydropower: agrarian interests suffered from decreased irrigation, small mills lost water flow, and different interest groups fought over where dams should be located, controlling who benefited and whose homes they drowned.

See also

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• Energy portal
• Renewable energy portal
• Water portal

Notes

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References

[edit]

Sources

[edit]

• Berton, Pierre (). Niagara: A History of the Falls. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-1---4.
• Blackbourn, D (). The conquest of nature: water, landscape, and the making of modern Germany. Norton. ISBN 978-0-393--0.
• Breeze, Paul (). Hydropower. doi:10./C-0--7. ISBN 978-0-12--7.
• Breeze, Paul (). Power Generation Technologies. doi:10./C-0--6. ISBN 978-0-08--1.
• McNeill, J. R. (). Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History Of The Twentieth Century World. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393--8.
• Reynolds, Terry S. (). Stronger than a Hundred Men: A History of the Vertical Water Wheel. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0---0.
• Wikander, Örjan (), "The Water-Mill", in Wikander, Örjan (ed.), Handbook of Ancient Water Technology, Technology and Change in History, vol. 2, Leiden: Brill, pp. 371–400, ISBN 90-04--9
• White, Richard (). The Organic Machine. Hill and Wang. ISBN 978-0---5.

On this page:

• Dams Are a Vital Part of the National Infrastructure
• Dam Basics
• Retaining Water and Seepage
• The Importance of Safety Regulation

Dams Are a Vital Part of the National Infrastructure

Water is one of our most precious resources; our lives depend on it. Throughout the history of humankind, people have built dams to maximize use of this vital resource.  

Dams provide a life-sustaining resource to people in all regions of the United States. They are an extremely important part of this nation’s infrastructure—equal in importance to bridges, roads, airports, and other major elements of the infrastructure. They can serve several functions at once, including water supply for domestic, agricultural, industrial, and community use; flood control; recreation; and clean, renewable energy through hydropower.

As populations have grown and moved to arid or flood-prone locations, the need for dams has increased.

Potential Benefits of Dams

Renewable, clean energy: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, in , hydropower accounted for more than 7% of U.S. electricity generation and nearly 37% of U.S. renewable electricity generation.

Flood control: Dams built with the assistance of the Natural Resources Conservation Service provide an estimated $1.7 billion in annual benefits in reduced flooding and erosion damage, recreation, water supplies, and wildlife habitat. Dams owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority produce electricity and prevent an average of about $280 million in flood damage each year.

Water storage: Dams create reservoirs that supply water for a multitude of uses, including fire control, irrigation, recreation, domestic and industrial water supply, and more.

Irrigation: Ten percent of American cropland is irrigated using water stored behind dams.

Navigation: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation projects in the U.S. serve 41 states, maintain 12,000 miles of channels, carry 15% of U.S. freight carried by inland waterways, operate 275 locks, and maintain 926 harbors.

Recreation: Dams provide prime recreational facilities throughout the U.S. Ten percent of the U.S. population visits at least one U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facility each year.

Dam Basics

The purpose of a dam is to impound (store) water, wastewater or liquid borne materials for any of several reasons, such as flood control, human water supply, irrigation, livestock water supply, energy generation, containment of mine tailings, recreation, or pollution control. Many dams fulfill a combination of the above functions.

Manmade dams may be classified according to the type of construction material used, the methods used in construction, the slope or cross-section of the dam, the way the dam resists the forces of the water pressure behind it, the means used for controlling seepage and, occasionally, according to the purpose of the dam.

The materials used for construction of dams include earth, rock, tailings from mining or milling, concrete, masonry, steel, timber, miscellaneous materials (such as plastic or rubber) and any combination of these materials.

Embankment Dams: Embankment dams are the most common type of dam in use today. Materials used for embankment dams include natural soil or rock, or waste materials obtained from mining or milling operations. An embankment dam is termed an “earthfill” or “rockfill” dam depending on whether it is comprised of compacted earth or mostly compacted or dumped rock. The ability of an embankment dam to resist the reservoir water pressure is primarily a result of the mass weight, type and strength of the materials from which the dam is made.                   

Concrete Dams: Concrete dams may be categorized according to the designs used to resist the stress due to reservoir water pressure. Three common types of concrete dams are: gravity, buttress and arch.

Gravity: Concrete gravity dams are the most common form of concrete dam. The mass weight of concrete and friction resist the reservoir water pressure. Gravity dams are constructed of vertical blocks of concrete with flexible seals in the joints between the blocks.

Buttress: A buttress dam is a specific type of gravity dam in which the large mass of concrete is reduced, and the forces are diverted to the dam foundation through vertical or sloping buttresses.

Arch: Concrete arch dams are typically rather thin in cross-section. The reservoir water forces acting on an arch dam are carried laterally into the abutments.The shape of the arch may resemble a segment of a circle or an ellipse, and the arch may be curved in the vertical plane as well. Such dams are usually constructed of a series of thin vertical blocks that are keyed together; barriers to stop water from flowing are provided between blocks. Variations of arch dams include multi-arch dams in which more than one curved section is used, and arch-gravity dams which combine some features of the two types of dams.

Retaining Water and Seepage

Because the purpose of a dam is to retain water effectively and safely, the water retention ability of a dam is of prime importance. Water may pass from the reservoir to the downstream side of a dam by any of the following:

• Passing through the main spillway or outlet works
• Passing over an auxiliary spillway
• Overtopping the dam
• Seepage through the abutments
• Seepage under the dam

Overtopping of an embankment dam is very undesirable because the embankment materials may be eroded away (See Video Example). Additionally, only a small number of concrete dams have been designed to be overtopped. Water normally passes through the main spillway or outlet works; it should pass over an auxiliary spillway only during periods of high reservoir levels and high water inflow. All embankment and most concrete dams have some seepage. However, it is important to control the seepage to prevent internal erosion and instability. Proper dam construction, and maintenance and monitoring of seepage provide this control.

Release of Water

Intentional release of water is confined to water releases through outlet works and spillways. A dam typically has a principal or mechanical spillway and a drawdown facility. Additionally, some dams are equipped with auxiliary spillways to manage extreme floods.

Outlet Works: In addition to spillways that ensure that the reservoir does not overtop the dam, outlet works may be provided so that water can be drawn continuously, or as needed, from the reservoir. They also provide a way to draw down the reservoir for repair or safety concerns. Water withdrawn may be discharged into the river below the dam, run through generators to provide hydroelectric power, or used for irrigation. Dam outlets usually consist of pipes, box culverts or tunnels with intake inverts near minimum reservoir level. Such outlets are provided with gates or valves to regulate the flow rate.

Spillways: The most common type of spillway is an ungated concrete chute. This chute may be located over the dam or through the abutment. To permit maximum use of storage volume, movable gates are sometimes installed above the crest to control discharge. Many smaller dams have a pipe and riser spillway, used to carry most flows, and a vegetated earth or rockcut spillway through an abutment to carry infrequent high flood flows. In dams such as those on the Mississippi River, flood discharges are of such magnitude that the spillway occupies the entire width of the dam and the overall structure appears as a succession of vertical piers supporting movable gates. High arch-type dams in rock canyons usually have downstream faces too steep for an overflow spillway. In Hoover Dam on the Colorado River, for example, a shaft spillway is used. In shaft spillways, a vertical shaft upstream from the dam drains water from the reservoir when the water level becomes high enough to enter the shaft or riser; the vertical shaft connects to a horizontal conduit through the dam or abutment into the river below.

The Importance of Safety Regulation

The National Inventory of Dams (NID) has catalogued the more than 90,000 dams on America's waterways according to their hazard classification. Hazard classification is determined by the extent of damage a failure would cause downstream, with high-hazard potential dams resulting in loss of life and significant-hazard potential indicating a failure would not necessarily cause a loss of life, but could result in significant economic losses. As you can see on this map from the NID, there are numerous dams across America and ensuring their safety is a critical goal.

Safety is key to the effectiveness of a dam. Dam failures can be devastating for the dam owners, to the dam’s intended purpose and, especially, for downstream populations and property. Property damage can range in the thousands to billions of dollars. No price can be put on the lives that have been lost and could be lost in the future due to dam failure. Failures know no state boundaries—inundation from a dam failure could affect several states and large populations.

Early in this century, as many dams failed due to lack of proper engineering and maintenance, it was recognized that some form of regulation was needed. One of the earliest state programs was enacted in California in the s. Federal agencies, such as the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior, Bureau of Reclamation built many dams during the early part of the twentieth century and established safety standards during this time. Slowly, other states began regulatory programs. But it was not until the string of significant dam failures in the s that awareness was raised to a new level among the states and the federal government.

State Regulation Today

Today, every state except Alabama has a dam safety regulatory program. State governments have regulatory responsibility for 70% of the approximately 90,000 dams within the National Inventory of Dams. These programs vary in authority but, typically, the program activities include:

• Safety evaluations of existing dams
• Review of plans and specifications for dam construction and major repair work
• Periodic inspections of construction work on new and existing dams
• Review and approval of emergency action plans

Federal Regulation Today

There are several federal government agencies involved with dam safety. Together, these federal agencies are responsible for five percent of the dams in the U.S. They construct, own and operate, regulate or provide technical assistance and research for dams. Included in this list are the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Energy, Interior, Labor and State (International Boundary and Water Commission), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Federal Emergency Management Agency administers the National Dam Safety Program, a program established by law in to coordinate the federal effort through the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety, to assist state dam safety programs through financial grants, and to provide research funding and coordination of technology transfer.

Federal Agencies

Federal agency representatives make up about 16% of the ASDSO membership. About 14% of dams in the USA are owned or regulated by federal agencies.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), part of the Department of Homeland Security, does not own or regulate dams itself but administers the National Dam Safety Program, which coordinates all federal dam safety programs and assists states in improving their dam safety regulatory programs. The Office of Infrastructure Protection, also within the Department of Homeland Security, leads a coordinated national program to reduce risks to the nation's critical infrastructure, including dams, posed by acts of terrorism.

Federal agencies involved with dam safety, either as owners and/or regulators, include the following:

U.S. Department of Agriculture

• Natural Resources Conservation Service
• Agriculture Research Service

Department of Defense

• Army Corps of Engineers
• Engineer Research and Development Center
• Hydrologic Engineering Center (HEC)

Department of the Interior

• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Bureau of Land Management
• Bureau of Reclamation
• Fish & Wildlife Service
• National Park Service
• Office of Surface Mining

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Mine Safety and Health Administration

International Boundary and Water Commission (U.S. Section)

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Tennessee Valley Authority

Together the agencies listed above make up the Interagency Committee on Dam Safety (ICODS), overseen by FEMA as head of the National Dam Safety Program.

Other federal agencies that stay involved with ASDSO and the dam safety community are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), National Weather Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

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