Examples of Hydroelectric Power

The hydroelectric power is that generated by the action of the movement of water, usually in falls (geodesic jumps) and slopes or specialized dams, where power plants are installed to take advantage of the mechanical energy of the moving liquid and activate the turbines of the generator that produces the electricity. For example: Niagara Falls, Xilodu Dam, Salime Reservoir.

This method of use of water provides a fifth of the electric power worldwide, and it is not exactly new in human history: the ancient Greeks, following the same and exact principle, ground wheat to make flour taking advantage of the force of the water or the wind with a series of mills. However, the first hydroelectric power station as such was built in 1879 in the United States.

This type of power plants are popular in rugged geographies whose waters product of the thaw at the top of the moutains or from the interruption of the course of some mighty river accumulate a considerable amount of force. Other times it is necessary to build a dam to control the release and storage of water and thus artificially propitiate a fall of the desired magnitudes.

The power This type of power plant can vary, from large and powerful power plants that generate dozens of thousands of megawatts, up to the so-called mini-hydro plants that generate just a few megawatts.

Types of hydroelectric plants

According to their architectural conception, a distinction is usually made between open-air hydroelectric plants, such as those installed at the foot of a waterfall or dam, and cavern hydroelectric power plants, those far from the water source but connected to it by pressure pipes and other types of tunnels.

These plants can also be classified according to the flow of the water in each case, namely:

Advantages of hydroelectric power

Hydroelectric energy was very much in vogue during the second half of the 20th century, given its unquestionable virtues, which are:

Disadvantages of hydropower

Examples of hydropower

1. Niagara Falls. The hydroelectric power station Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant Located in the United States, it was the first hydroelectric plant in history to be built, taking advantage of the power of the enormous Niagara Falls in Appleton, Wisconsin.
2. Krasnoyarsk hydroelectric dam. A 124 m high concrete dam located on the Yenisei River in Divnogorsk, Russia, built between 1956 and 1972 and providing around 6000 MW of energy to the Russian people. The Krasnoyarkoye reservoir was created for its operation.
3. Salime Reservoir. This Spanish reservoir located in Asturias, on the Navia riverbed, was inaugurated in 1955 and provides the population about 350 GWh per year. To build it, the river bed had to be changed forever and almost two thousand farms in 685 hectares of arable land, along with urban farms, bridges, cemeteries, chapels and churches.
4. Guavio hydroelectric plant. The second largest power plant in operation in Colombian territory, it is located in Cundinamarca, 120km from Bogotá and generates some 1,213 MW of electricity. It came into operation in 1992, despite the fact that three additional units have yet to be installed for financial reasons. If it does, the performance of this reservoir would increase to 1,900 MW, the highest in the entire country.
5. Simón Bolívar hydroelectric plant. Also called Presa del Guri, it is located in Bolívar state, Venezuela, at the mouth of the Caroni River in the famous Orinoco River. It has an artificial reservoir called Embalse del Guri, with which electricity is supplied to a good part of the country and is even sold to the border towns of northern Brazil. It was fully inaugurated in 1986 and is the fourth largest hydroelectric plant in the world, offering 10,235 MW of total installed capacity in 10 different units.
6. Xilodu Dam. Located on the Jinsha River in southern China, it has an installed capacity of 13,860 Mw of electricity, in addition to allowing control of the flow of water to facilitate navigation and avoid floods. It is currently the third largest hydroelectric power station in the world and also the fourth tallest dam on the planet.
7. Three Gorges Dam. Also located in China, on the Yangtze River in the center of its territory, it is the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, with a total power of 24,000 MW. It was completed in 2012, after flooding 19 cities and 22 towns (630 km² surface), with which almost 2 million people had to be evacuated and relocated. With its 2309 meter long and 185 high dam, this power plant alone provides 3% of the colossal energy consumption in this country.
8. Yacyretá-Apipé Dam. This dam located in a joint Argentine-Paraguayan zone on the Paraná River, supplies almost 22% of the demand Argentina of energy with its 3,100 MW of power. It was an extremely controversial construction, as it required the flooding of habitats unique to the region and the extinction of dozens of endemic species of animals Y plants.
9. Palomino Hydroelectric Project. This project under construction in the Dominican Republic will be located on the Yaraque-Sur and Blanco rivers, where will locate a reservoir with a total area of ​​22 hectares and that will increase the energy generation of said country.
10. Itaipu Dam. The second largest hydroelectric plant in the world, it is a binational project between Brazil and Paraguay to take advantage of their border on the Paraná River. The artificial length of the dam covers about 29,000 hm³ of water in an area of ​​approximately 14,000 km². Its generation capacity is 14,000 MW and it began production in 1984.

Other types of energy

Follow with: