• Advantages

• The plant is simple in construction, does not pollute the atmosphere.

• The plant is highly reliable and it is cheapest in operation and
maintenance.
• The load can be varied quickly & the rapidly changing load demands
can be met easily.
• These plants are robust and have got longer life compared thermal
and nuclear plants.
• Starting time is also low comparative to other plants.
• These plants can be used as base load or peak load plants.
• Disadvantages
• It requires large area.
• Its construction cost is enormously high and takes longer time.
• Long transmission lines are required as the plants are located in hilly
areas which are quite away from the load centers.
• The power generation depends on the availability of water, which
depends on weather conditions.
• The firm capacity of hydro electric plants is low compared to thermal,
nuclear plants.
SCHEMATIC ARRANGEMENT OF A HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER PLANT
• Hydro electric power is the power obtained from the energy of falling
water where as hydro electric power plant is the power plant utilizing
the potential energy of water at a high level for the generation
electrical energy. Hydro electric power generation is the generation of
electric power by generator which is driven by turbine being rotated
by water.
SELECTION OF SITE FOR A HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER PLANT
• Quantity of water available:-
• This is estimated on the basis of measurements of stream flow over as long a period as possible. Previous
records of rainfall are studied; minimum and maximum quantity of water available during the year is
estimated. After allowing for losses due to evaporation and percolation the net volume of water available for
power generation can be determined.
• Storage of water:-
• Since storage of water in a suitable reservoir at a height or building of dam across the river is essential in
order to have continuous supply during the dry season, therefore, convenient accommodation for the
erection of a dam or reservoir must be available. The storage capacity can be determined from the
hydrograph or from mass curve or by using analytical methods. For selection site for the dam a careful study
of geology and topography of the catchment area is required to see whether the natural foundation can be
used to the best advantage.
• Water head:-
• In order to utilize the potential energy of water effectively, we have to provide a sufficient head to the water
level. The availability of water head depends upon the topography of the area. Availability of head of water
has considerable effect on the cost and economy of power generation. An increase in effective head reduces
the quantity of water to be stored and handled by penstocks, and turbines and therefore, capital cost of the
plant is reduced. In order to determine the most effective and economical head it is necessary to consider all
possible factors which affect it.
•
• Distance of power station site from load centers:-
• In case the load center is away from the site, the cost of transmission line and the losses occurring in
the line will increase, that will increases the transmission cost considerably.
• Accessibility of the site:-
• The site should be easily accessible by rail as well as by road. i.e., adequate transportation facilities
must be available or there should be possibility of providing the same so that the necessary
equipment and machinery could be easily transported.
• Water pollution:-
• Polluted water may cause excessive corrosion and damage to the metallic structures. Hence
availability of good quality of water is essential.
• Large catchment area:-
• The reservoir must have a large catchment area, so that level of water in the reservoir may not fall
below the minimum required in dry season.
Note: - The catchment area is the area bounded by water sheds which drains into a stream or river
across which the dam has been built at a suitable place. (Simply natural resources like rivers, seas,
etc.)
• Availability of land: -
• The land available should be cheap in cost and rocky in order to withstand the weight of the large
building and heavy machinery.
Components of Hydro power plant
• A typical hydro electric power plant consisting of the following
elements.
• 1. Reservoir 7. Penstock
• 2. Dam 8. Prime Mover
• 3. Pressure Tunnel 9. Power House
• 4. Surge Tank 10. Draft Tube
• 5. Valve House 11. Tail Race
• 6. Forebay 12. Spill Way
• 1. Reservoir:- It is the basic requirement of a hydro electric
plant. Its purpose is to store water which may be utilized to
run the prime mover to produce electrical power. A reservoir
stores water during the rainy season and supplies the same
during the dry season and thus it helps in supplying water to
the turbine according to the load on the power plant
throughout the year.
• 2. Dam:- The function of a dam is to provide a head of water
to be utilized in the water turbine. A dam also increases the
reservoir capacity. Simply it supports the reservoir, and a
Pressure tunnel is taken off from the reservoir to valve
house.
Contd..
• 3. Valve House:-The valve house contains various valves like, Main sluice valves for
controlling water flow to the power station,Automatic isolating valves for cutting off
water supply in case the penstock bursts.
• 4. Surge Tank:- A surge tank is provided just before the valve house for better
regulation water pressure in the system. The sudden changes in load causes the
changes in the governor positions leads to some pressure variations in the penstock.
This may results in “water hammer” phenomenon. This may be accomplished by
providing a small storage tank called surge tank to overcome hammer effect.
• 5. Forebay:- Forebay may be considered as an enlarged body of water just above the
intake to store water temporarily to meet the hourly load fluctuations.When the
Hydro electric plants are located just at the base of the dam, no Forebay is required
because the reservoir itself serves the purpose of forebay. However, where the plants
are situated away from the storage reservoir, a forebay is needed.
6. Penstock:- From the valve house water is carried to
turbine through pipes of large diameter made of steel or
reinforced concrete, called the penstock.
7. Prime Mover:-
The purpose of prime mover is to Convert hydraulic energy
(Potential, Kinetic) of water into mechanical energy, which
is further utilized to drive the alternators generating
electricity. Commonly used prime movers are Pelton wheel,
Francis, Kaplan, and Propeller turbines.
8.PowerHouse:- The power house consists of the turbine and
all other electrical equipments like generators and etc.., to
produce electrical power.
Contd..
9. Draft Tube:- An air tight pipe of suitable diameter used to
discharge water down by turbine into tail race.
10. Tail Race:- The water after having done its useful work in the
turbine is discharged to the tail race which may be lead to the same
stream or to another one.
11. Spill Way:-This may be considered as a safety valve for reservoir.
A spill way serves to discharge excess water in the reservoir beyond
the full permissible level. It discharges the overflow water to
downstream side when the reservoir is full, a condition mainly
arising during flood periods, Heavy rainy seasons etc.., These are
generally constructed of concrete and provided with water discharge
opening shut off by metal control gates at Dam.
CLASSIFICATION OF HYDRO POWER
PLANTS
•
• There are three different methods of classifying hydro-electric plants. The
classification may be based upon
• Quantity of water available.
• Available head.
• Nature of load.
• I) Classification of Hydro-electric plant according to Quantity of water available
• According to this classification the plants may be divided into
• Run-Off river plants without pondage.
• Run-Off river plants with pondage.
• Reservoir plants.
• PONDAGE:-
• A small storage is sometimes used to meet the fluctuating demand for
a small period. When the power house is far away from the main
storage, a small pondage should be provided near the power house to
meet the fluctuating demand.
• A Kaplan turbine is basically a propeller with adjustable blades inside
a tube. It is an axial-flow turbine, which means that the flow direction
does not change as it crosses the rotor. Figure 1 shows a simplified
Kaplan turbine.
• Pelton Turbine is a Tangential flow impulse turbine in which the
pressure energy of water is converted into kinetic energy to form high
speed water jet and this jet strikes the wheel tangentially to make it
rotate. It is also called as Pelton Wheel.
• Francis turbine is a mixed flow turbine. In a Francis turbine, the
water enters radially to the impeller blades while exits axially. It is
a combination of a reaction turbine and an impulse turbine. The
significant advantage of the Francis turbines is that these turbines
work the same whether they arrange vertically or horizontally. These
are the most commonly used turbines in hydroelectric plants.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0BLOKEZ3KU
Classification of Hydro-electric plant according to Nature of
load

• Hydro-electric plants may be classified into:

• a) Base load Plant.
• b) Peak load Plant.
• c) Pumped storage plant for peak load.
• a) Base load plant:-
• The average load that exists always on the power plant in a particular
time period is called the base load. The Power plants used to supply
power for this loads are called Base load plants. (Or) The plants,
which can take up load on the base portion of load curve, are known
as Base load plants.
• Ex:-Run-Off river plants and reservoir type plants are used as base
load plants. (The load factor of the base load plants is high)
• b) Peak load plants:-
• The maximum load that exists on the power plant at a particular time
is called the peak load at that time. The Power plants used to supply
power for this loads are called Peak load plants. These plants supply
power corresponding to the load at the top portion of the load curve.
• Ex:- Run-Off river plant with pondage, reservoir plants are used as
peak load plants.
• c) Pumped storage plant: -
• This is a unique design of peak load plant in which the plant pumps back all or
a portion of water supply during low load period. During the peak load period
water is drawn from the head water pond through the penstock to operate the
turbine. The pumping back from the tail race pond to the head water pond is
done during off-peak period.
• These plants can be operated only in interconnected systems, where other
generating plants (steam, nuclear, etc..,) are also available. This plant acts as a
generator during peak load period and acts as a motor during off-peak load
period.
• For this type of power plant reversible-turbine-pump units are used.
Such a unit can be used as a turbine while generating power in peak load
periods and acts as a pump while pumping water back to storage in off-peak
load periods.
•
• Advantage:-
• The major advantage of a pumped storage plant is that it
decreases the operating cost of a steam plant or nuclear plant, etc..,
which when working in combination with it.