A report on Hydroelectricity

The Three Gorges Dam in Central China is the world's largest power–producing facility of any kind.

Museum Hydroelectric power plant ″Under the Town″ in Serbia, built in 1900.

The Warwick Castle water-powered generator house, used for the generation of electricity for the castle from 1894 until 1940

Pico hydroelectricity in Mondulkiri, Cambodia

Measurement of the tailrace and forebay rates at the Limestone Generating Station in Manitoba, Canada.

The Ffestiniog Power Station can generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the demand arising.

Merowe Dam in Sudan. Hydroelectric power stations that use dams submerge large areas of land due to the requirement of a reservoir. These changes to land color or albedo, alongside certain projects that concurrently submerge rainforests, can in these specific cases result in the global warming impact, or equivalent life-cycle greenhouse gases of hydroelectricity projects, to potentially exceed that of coal power stations.

The Hoover Dam in the United States is a large conventional dammed-hydro facility, with an installed capacity of 2,080 MW.

Trends in the top five hydroelectricity-producing countries

Share of electricity production from hydropower, 2020

Electricity produced from hydropower.

- Hydroelectricity

55 related topics with Alpha

Wind power

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Mostly the use of wind turbines to generate electricity.

Global map of wind speed at 100 m above surface level.

Distribution of wind speed (red) and energy (blue) for all of 2002 at the Lee Ranch facility in Colorado. The histogram shows measured data, while the curve is the Rayleigh model distribution for the same average wind speed.

The world's second full-scale floating wind turbine (and first to be installed without the use of heavy-lift vessels), WindFloat, operating at rated capacity (2 MW) approximately 5 km offshore of Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal

Wind energy generation by region over time

Share of electricity production from wind, 2020

Wind turbines are typically installed in windy locations. In the image, wind power generators in Spain, near an Osborne bull.

Seasonal cycle of capacity factors for wind and photovoltaics in Europe under idealized assumptions. The figure illustrates the balancing effects of wind and solar energy at the seasonal scale (Kaspar et al., 2019).

Onshore wind cost per kilowatt-hour between 1983 and 2017

A turbine blade convoy passing through Edenfield in the U.K. (2008). Even longer 2-piece blades are now manufactured, and then assembled on-site to reduce difficulties in transportation.

A small Quietrevolution QR5 Gorlov type vertical axis wind turbine on the roof of Colston Hall in Bristol, England. Measuring 3 m in diameter and 5 m high, it has a nameplate rating of 6.5 kW.

Part of the Seto Hill Windfarm in Japan.

Wind turbines such as these, in Cumbria, England, have been opposed for a number of reasons, including aesthetics, by some sectors of the population.

A panoramic view of the United Kingdom's Whitelee Wind Farm with Lochgoin Reservoir in the foreground.

Charles F. Brush's windmill of 1888, used for generating electric power.

Wind power is variable renewable energy, so power-management techniques are used to match supply and demand, such as: wind hybrid power systems, hydroelectric power or other dispatchable power sources, excess capacity, geographically distributed turbines, exporting and importing power to neighboring areas, or grid storage.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity

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The upper reservoir (Llyn Stwlan) and dam of the Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme in North Wales. The lower power station has four water turbines which generate 360 MW of electricity within 60 seconds of the need arising.

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity (PSH), or pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHES), is a type of hydroelectric energy storage used by electric power systems for load balancing.

Nuclear power

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Use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity.

The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West, December 20, 1951.

The launching ceremony of the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) January 1954. In 1958 it would become the first vessel to reach the North Pole.

The Calder Hall nuclear power station in the United Kingdom, the world's first commercial nuclear power station.

The town of Pripyat abandoned since 1986, with the Chernobyl plant and the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement arch in the distance.

Olkiluoto 3 under construction in 2009. It was the first EPR, a modernized PWR design, to start construction.

The nuclear fuel cycle begins when uranium is mined, enriched, and manufactured into nuclear fuel (1), which is delivered to a nuclear power plant. After use, the spent fuel is delivered to a reprocessing plant (2) or to a final repository (3). In nuclear reprocessing 95% of spent fuel can potentially be recycled to be returned to use in a power plant (4).

Proportions of the isotopes uranium-238 (blue) and uranium-235 (red) found in natural uranium and in enriched uranium for different applications. Light water reactors use 3-5% enriched uranium, while CANDU reactors work with natural uranium.

Typical composition of uranium dioxide fuel before and after approximately 3 years in the once-through nuclear fuel cycle of a LWR.

Activity of spent UOx fuel in comparison to the activity of natural uranium ore over time.

Dry cask storage vessels storing spent nuclear fuel assemblies

Nuclear waste flasks generated by the United States during the Cold War are stored underground at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico. The facility is seen as a potential demonstration for storing spent fuel from civilian reactors.

Most waste packaging, small-scale experimental fuel recycling chemistry and radiopharmaceutical refinement is conducted within remote-handled hot cells.

Nuclear fuel assemblies being inspected before entering a pressurized water reactor in the United States.

The Multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG), used in several space missions such as the Curiosity Mars rover

Death rates from air pollution and accidents related to energy production, measured in deaths in the past per terawatt hours (TWh)

Following the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since 1986, 50,000 households were displaced after radiation leaked into the air, soil and sea. Radiation checks led to bans of some shipments of vegetables and fish.

$Reactor decay heat as a fraction of full power after the reactor shutdown, using two different correlations. To remove the decay heat, reactors need cooling after the shutdown of the fission reactions. A loss of the ability to remove decay heat caused the Fukushima accident.$

United States and USSR/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles, 1945–2006. The Megatons to Megawatts Program was the main driving force behind the sharp reduction in the quantity of nuclear weapons worldwide since the cold war ended.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) receives fuel at sea (FAS) from the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73).

The Ikata Nuclear Power Plant, a pressurized water reactor that cools by utilizing a secondary coolant heat exchanger with a large body of water, an alternative cooling approach to large cooling towers.

Life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of electricity supply technologies, median values calculated by IPCC

A comparison of prices over time for energy from nuclear fission and from other sources. Over the presented time, thousands of wind turbines and similar were built on assembly lines in mass production resulting in an economy of scale.
Our World in Data notes that these costs are an effort to represent the global average. Which is driven by chinese forced labor practices in solar and wind,

that manufactured, installed and exported the most globally,
bankrupting US and German solar industries, multiple times, over the time indicated. In which, the manufacturing of panels were suggested to be 30% of solar costs in the largest production facility in the west, before labor costs were included, which they argue China do not pay, upon declaring its bankruptcy. While the 2 projects that drove average nuclear pricing upwards were 2 first of their kind AP1000s in the US/west. The organization recognises that the median cost of nuclear, the most exported and produced nuclear energy facility in the 2010s the 7 South Korean APR1400, remained "constant", including in export. No data on the 18 Chinese domestic nuclear, CPR1000 were included. LCOE is a measure of the average net present cost of electricity generation for a generating plant over its lifetime. As a metric, it remains controversial as the lifespan of units are not independent but manufacturer projections, not a demonstrated longevity.

Anti-nuclear protest near nuclear waste disposal centre at Gorleben in northern Germany

Schematic of the ITER tokamak under construction in France.

Net electrical generation by source and growth from 1980. In terms of energy generated between 1980 and 2010, the contribution from fission grew the fastest.

Electricity production in France, showing the shift to nuclear power. {{legend|#D55E00|thermofossil}}{{legend|#0072B2|hydroelectric}}{{legend|#F0E442|nuclear}}{{legend|#009E73|Other renewables}}

The rate of new reactor constructions essentially halted in the late 1980s. Increased capacity factor in existing reactors was primarily responsible for the continuing increase in electrical energy produced during this period.

Electricity generation trends in the top five fission-energy producing countries (US EIA data)

These plants supplied 2,586 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity in 2019, equivalent to about 10% of global electricity generation, and were the second-largest low-carbon power source after hydroelectricity.

Simplified electrical grid with energy storage

Grid energy storage

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Collection of methods used for energy storage on a large scale within an electrical power grid.

Simplified grid energy flow with and without idealized energy storage for the course of one day

A sense of units and scale for electrical energy production and consumption

A 900 watt direct current light plant using 16 separate lead acid battery cells (32 volts).

Learning curve of lithium-ion batteries: the price of batteries declined by 97% in three decades.

Nissan Leaf, the world's top-selling highway-capable electric car as of 2015

Mingtan Pumped Storage Hydro Power Plant dam in Nantou, Taiwan

Fetsui hydroelectric dam in New Taipei, Taiwan

, the largest form of grid energy storage is dammed hydroelectricity, with both conventional hydroelectric generation as well as pumped storage hydroelectricity.

The 150 MW Andasol solar power station is a commercial parabolic trough solar thermal power plant, in Spain. The Andasol plant uses tanks of molten salt to store solar energy so that it can continue generating electricity even when the sun isn't shining.

Variable renewable energy

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Grids with high penetration of renewable energy sources generally need more flexible generation rather than baseload generation

Day ahead prediction and actual wind power

Erie Shores Wind Farm monthly output over a two-year period

A wind farm in Muppandal, Tamil Nadu, India

Daily solar output at AT&T Park in San Francisco

Seasonal variation of the output of the solar panels at AT&T park in San Francisco

Construction of the Salt Tanks which provide efficient thermal energy storage so that output can be provided after the sun goes down, and output can be scheduled to meet demand requirements. The 280 MW Solana Generating Station is designed to provide six hours of energy storage. This allows the plant to generate about 38 percent of its rated capacity over the course of a year.

Variable renewable energy (VRE) or intermittent renewable energy sources (IRES) are renewable energy sources that are not dispatchable due to their fluctuating nature, such as wind power and solar power, as opposed to controllable renewable energy sources, such as dammed hydroelectricity or biomass, or relatively constant sources, such as geothermal power.

Hoover Dam

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Concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona.

River view of the future dam site, c. 1904

Sketch of the proposed dam site and reservoir, c. 1921

Workers on a "Jumbo Rig"; used for drilling the Hoover Dam's tunnels

"Apache Indians employed as high-scalers on the construction of Hoover Dam." – NARA

General Superintendent Frank Crowe (right) with Bureau of Reclamation engineer Walker Young in 1935

Overview of dam mechanisms; diversion tunnels shown

Looking down at "high scalers" above the Colorado River

Columns of Hoover Dam being filled with concrete, February 1934 (looking upstream from the Nevada rim)

The upstream face of Hoover Dam slowly disappears as Lake Mead fills, May 1935 (looking downstream from the Arizona rim)

Oskar J. W. Hansen's memorial at the dam which reads in part "They died to make the desert bloom."

Tile floor designed by Allen Tupper True

Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator

Hoover Dam memorial star map floor, center area

Water is released from the jet-flow gates for testing in 1998.

Turbine/generator deck in power plant beneath Hoover Dam.

Decline in electricity generation since year 2000.

Water enters the Arizona spillway (left) during the 1983 floods. Lake Mead water level was 1,225.6 ft

View of Hoover Dam from Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge

Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge as visible from Hoover Dam

View upstream from Hoover Dam, October 2021, during the Southwestern North American megadrought

1933 Los Angeles Times political cartoon commenting on the attempts of Ickes to keep "Hoover" off the dam.

Tourists gather around one of the generators in the Nevada wing of the powerhouse to hear its operation explained, September 1940.

A worker stands by the {{convert|abbr=on|30|ft}} diameter Nevada penstock before its junction with another penstock that delivers water to a turbine.

Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power.

Electricity generation

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Process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy.

Dynamos and engine installed at Edison General Electric Company, New York 1895

Wind turbines usually provide electrical generation in conjunction with other methods of producing power.

Large dams, such as Hoover Dam in the United States, can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power. It has an installed capacity of 2.07 GW.

A large generator with the rotor removed

Large dams such as Three Gorges Dam in China can provide large amounts of hydroelectric power; it has a 22.5 GW capability.

Today a variety of energy sources are used, such as coal, nuclear, natural gas, hydroelectric, wind, and oil, as well as solar energy, tidal power, and geothermal sources.

The Three Gorges Dam in China; the hydroelectric dam is the world's largest power station by installed capacity.

Hydropower

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Use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines.

A water piston from the Nongshu by Wang Zhen (fl. 1290–1333)

Saint Anthony Falls, United States; hydropower was used here to mill flour.

Directly water-powered ore mill, late nineteenth century

Benoît Fourneyron, the French engineer who developed the first hydropower turbine

A shishi-odoshi powered by falling water breaks the quietness of a Japanese garden with the sound of a bamboo rocker arm hitting a rock.

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.

The upper reservoir and dam of the Ffestiniog Pumped Storage Scheme in Wales. The lower power station can generate 360 MW of electricity.

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.

Dispatchable generation

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Dispatchable generation refers to sources of electricity that can be programmed on demand at the request of power grid operators, according to market needs.

Other types of renewable energy that are dispatchable without separate energy storage are hydroelectric, biomass, geothermal and ocean thermal energy conversion.

Itaipu Dam

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The Itaipu Dam (Barragem de Itaipu, Represa de Itaipú ) is a hydroelectric dam on the Paraná River located on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.