What is hydroelectric Energy?
Hydroelectricity is a term that is referred to as generating electricity by Hydropower. Hydropower is a movement of water that flows downstream to create Kinetic Energy, which can be converted into electricity. Hydroelectric plants convert the energy into electricity by forcing water. The hydropower produces electric power through the use of flowing water or the gravitational force. Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy resource; for hydropower to generate electricity it uses the water cycle. For hydropower to generate a lot of electricity it is mostly dependent on elevation and precipitation changes. Large elevation changes and high precipitation levels are essential to generating a significant amount of electricity. Areas such the Pacific Northwest Mountain will be more productive in generating electricity for hydropower than an area such as the Gulf Coast.
The Advantages and the Disadvantages of Hydroelectricity …show more content…
Hydropower is the most efficient power generator currently. Hydropower is capable to turn 90% of available energy into electricity. If Hydropower is compared to the most efficient fossil fuel plants, which it is only capable of converting 60% of its available energy. The hydropower is a very low operating cost than compared to others.
What Energy Transformation is there in a Hydropower Plant?
The water in the reservoir is potential energy, which then changes into kinetic energy when it is forced through the turbine. The blades, which are in the turbine, are kinetic energy. While the blades are spinning it converts the kinetic energy into electrical energy because of the nature of the generator. The generators use electromagnetic initiates turbines, when the turbine is a basic level it rotates a wire in the magnetic field. This is what generates electricity.
Hydropower compared to other energy