Creating Hydro Electric Power

To generate electrical power, one source of energy has to be converted into another type of energy.  The result of that energy has to be stored in a form that can be transmitted. Generating hydro electric power is no different than other forms of energy in that it needs to be converted and transmitted.

Traditional coal or natural gas power plants take stored energy and transform it with fire to generate electrical power. The problem with converting energy with fire is that anything transformed by fire is destroyed.

Other types of energy transformation do not result in destruction of the source and they are called "renewable energy sources."

Moving water is one type of renewable energy source. When water is transformed into electricity it's called hydroelectric energy.

Creating Hydro Electric Power From a Dam

Fast moving water can be used to move a turbine, energy is transferred from the moving water to the machine turbine which can then be transferred directly to a generator to be converted to electricity.

The old water wheels or water mills were turned by the water current along a river. The water wheel then moved the machinery inside a mill in order to grain. However, most of today's water power is used for creating hydro electric power.

This Hydroelectric energy is created by using a penstock to transfer water from a high reservoir through a dam to a lower holding area. The penstock is simply a large pipe that forces the water from a high point to a lower one. This downhill direction increases the power of the water's movement, generating hydro electric power.

A turbine (which is basically a large wheel) is turned by the powerful flow of the water, which in effect is acting in the same way as the old water wheels did.

The turbine then transfers the energy created to a generator which makes the electricity. This hydroelectric energy is merely a transfer of energy from water to the generator.

Usually a transfer of energy in this way results in a loss of a percentage of the original energy. Creating energy by using fire will result in a high percentage of energy loss. However, to generate hydro electric power with today's new technologies results in an ever-decreasing waste of energy.

Many modern hydroelectric dams will pump the water from the lower storage area back up to the higher reservoir using power during off-peak periods. This water will then be re-used to generate hydroelectric energy again during peak usage periods. This method is called pumped-storage hydroelectric energy.

The main downside of using hydroelectric energy are the changes required to the environment when building dams. The construction of the dam, together with the reservoir which makes up the lake, can take up to hundreds of square miles. Fish populations can also be affected by the building of dams.

Overall though, generating hydro electric power is very clean and safe. Considering water is one of the most abundant natural resources on earth, it's one of the best renewable energy sources.