Chapter Four

Characteristics of Electric Power Plants

Asmamaw S.

Electrical and computer engineering

Kombolcha Institute of Technology

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 Overview

 Hydroelectric Power Plants

 Run-of-River Plants
 Storage Plants
 Pumped-Storage Plants

 Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

 Availability of Hydroelectric Power and Energy

 Flow Duration Method
 Sequential Streamflow Routing Method

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 Electricity is commonly generated in
 Hydropower Plants,
 Thermal Plants, and
 Nuclear Plants.
 Hydropower plants generate electricity by water turbines which
operates by means of falling water.
 Thermal plants generate electricity by steam turbines, which
require fossil fuel (coal, oil, or natural gas).
 Nuclear power plants use an atomic fuel like uranium, thorium, and
plutonium.
 Alternative sources:
 Wind energy,
 Solar energy, and
 Wave energy.

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 Characteristics of Electric Power Plants

Hydropower Plants

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Hydropower Plants

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Hydropower Plants

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 Thermal Power Plants
 The process of use of fuel converts 30 to 40% of energy content of
the fuel to electrical energy.
 Operational scheme of thermal power plant:

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 Thermal Power Plants

Source: http://www.emt-india.net/process/power_plants/ThermalPowerPlants.htm
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 Thermal Power Plants

Source: http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Power_Generation-Steam_Power

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 Characteristics of Electric Power Plants

 Initial cost of a hydroelectric plant is normally higher than that of a

thermal plant producing almost the same amount of power.

 The maintenance and repair costs of a thermal plant are much

higher than for a hydroelectric plant.

 Thermal plant needs one month of maintenance each year.

 Operation costs of thermal plant is also high because of high cost

of fuel.

 The cost of hydro energy is approximately

 one-fifth of the cost of energy generated by fossil, and
 one-tenth of the cost of energy generated by nuclear plants.

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 Characteristics of Electric Power Plants

 Hydroelectric plants
 put in operation in only a few minutes.
 relatively high efficiency (80 to 90%).
 lifetime is about 75 years.
 non-pollutant.

 Thermal plants
 needs a few hours for their startup.
 lifetime is about 25 years.
 may lead to environmental pollution if any air-pollution-control systems
and cooling towers are not implemented.

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 Characteristics of Electric Power Plants

 Nuclear power plants

 low efficiency (i.e. about 25%)
 annual maintenance and refueling period: two months
 excessive safety precautions should be taken against nuclear pollution

 Optimum use of combined system:

 The generation of base load by thermal or nuclear plants
 The generation of peak loads by hydroelectric plants.

 Worldwide:
 Thermal plants: ~75%
 Hydroelectric plants: ~23%
 Others: ~2%

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 Terminologies
 The gross head, Hg: The vertical
difference between the water surface
elevations at the upstream and
downstream.
 The net effective head, Hn: The head
available for energy production.
Hn= Hg - (head loss)
 Hydraulic efficiency, eh: The ratio of
net head to gross head.
 Overall efficiency, e: eh x et x eg
et: efficiency of turbines
eg: efficiency of generators
e is around 60-70%

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 The capacity (installed capacity): The maximum power which can be
developed by the generators.

 Firm (primary) power (base load): The power, which can be produced by a
plant with no risk.
 For a single hydroelectric plant, it corresponds to the min. availability of storage.
 Firm energy is marketed with high price.

 Surplus (secondary) power: All the power available in excess of firm power.
 Secondary power cannot be relied upon.
 Its rate is usually less than that of firm power.
 It can be generated ~9 to 14 hours/day.

 Peaking load: The power required to meet peak demands.

 It can be generated for less than ~8 hours/day.
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 Dump energy: The energy generated that
cannot be stored and is beyond
instantaneous needs.
 Usually sold at low price.

 The load curve: The variation of power

requirement against time.
 Evening hours  High demands
 Midnight  Low demands
 Weekend  Low demands
 Winter  High demands

 The load duration curve: It gives the

relation between the power generated and
the corresponding time interval that can
guarantee the generation of that power.

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 Generally hydro and thermal plants operate together
in an interconnected power distribution system.
 Hydroelectric power plants and thermal plants are
utilized in a rotational manner by considering
 The quantity of water stored behind the reservoir,
 The future hydro meteorological conditions
expected, and
 The availability of the fuel.
 In periods with plenty of water:
 Hydroelectric power plants are mainly used to generate
base load in order to save fuel.
 In periods with low flow season:
 Thermal plants are used to produce the firm or base
load.
 Combined system allows max. efficiency for optimum
economic utilization.
Load distribution

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 Hydroelectric Power Plants
 Hydroelectric power plants are
generally classified according to their
operative mode, such as
 Run-of-river plant,
 Storage plant, and
 Pumped-storage plant.

1. Run-of-River Plants
 Uses river flow with no storage
 Productivity depends on the river regime.
 Considered as base load plants

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 Run-of-River Plants (con’t)
 The flow is diverted from the river to the
lined canal (min. slope for max. head).
 Settling basin is used to minimize the
sediment entrainment into the canal.
 Some of the plants have regulating head
water pond called forebay.
 Forebay facilitates daily or weekly storage
to meet intermediate or peaking loads.
 Forebay also facilitates
 gentle approach flow conditions to intake,
 surge reduction, and
 sediment removal.
 A penstock transmits the flow to the power
house.
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 Run-of-River Plants (con’t)

Source: http://jagadees.wordpress.com/2008/11/12/1000-mw-run-of-river-hydroelectric-power-plant-at-toba/

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 Run-of-River Plants (con’t)

Source:http://www.pacifichydro.com.au/en-us/classroom/hydro-power.aspx

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 Run-of-River Plants (con’t)

Source:http://www.power-technology.com/contractors/powerplantequip/converteam/converteam1.html

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 2. Storage Plants
 It has a reservoir of sufficient size to
develop a firm flow substantially.
 Depending on the size of the storage, it
can meet intermediate and peaking
loads.
 Water is withdrawn from the reservoir
by means of penstocks to the turbines
for electricity generation.
 To obtain high head sometimes a power
house is to be constructed at a
sufficiently lower elevation on the other
side of a hill.
 In this case water is diverted to the
penstocks by pressure tunnels.

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 Storage Plants

http://www.canstockphoto.com/hydropower-plant-4327963.html
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 Storage Plants

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Storage Plants

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Storage Plants

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 Construction of Dams
Hoover Dam Overflow Tunnels (spillways), USA

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Storage Plants

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 3. Pumped-Storage Plants
 A pumped-storage plant incorporates a
headwater and a tailwater pond jointly by a
penstock and a reversible pump-turbine.
 During low demand hours:
 The hydraulic machine pumps water from the
tailwater pond to the headwater pond using surplus
power generated by a fuel-fired plant in the power
system with relatively low cost.
 During peak hours:
 Water falls from the headwater pond by means of a
penstock and passes through the turbine to
generate electricity.
 Overall efficiency is ~70%.
 A reversible pump-turbine may operate up to
~300 m of heads with high efficiency.
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Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants
 Dam: to create head.
 Water intake: to take water and convert it to the penstock.
 Penstock: to take water with a high velocity to rotate turbines.
 Water-hummer problem in the penstock.
 Surge tank: to absorb water-hummer pressure.
 Powerhouse
 Substructure: electrical and mechanical instruments.
 Superstructure: the structural elements to protect and house the
operating equipment.
 Tailrace: the channel at the downstream of the powerhouse, which
receives water from the turbines.
 Transformers and transmission lines: to transmit electricity to
consumers.

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Availability of Hydroelectric Power and Energy

 Streamflow data are required to estimate the availability of water for

power generation.
 Flow-Duration curves may be generated to study the variation of
flow in the river but they cannot provide info about chronological
sequence of flow.
 Sequential streamflow routing method is used.
 To estimate the power potential of the river or reservoir, Sequential
streamflow routing method considers:
 tailwater rating curve,
 reservoir operation studies, and
 downstream flow information

 Hydroelectric Power: P = γ Q Hg e

 Generated Energy: E = γ Q Hg e ∆t
 where P: power (kW)
γ : specific weight of water (kN/m3)
Q : discharge (m3/s)
Hg: gross head (m)
e : overall efficiency, e = eh eg et (%)
E : hydroelectric energy (kWh)
∆t: time interval for power generation (hours).

 Electric energy is generally expressed in terms of its annual value

(∆t=8760 hr).

 For small hydropower porjects (run-of-river projects), flow-duration curves can

be converted to power-duration curves (Ex. 12.5).
 This curve then be used to estimate the energy potential of the river (Ex. 12.4)
 The installed capacity, Pins: The maximum power that a generator can
develop.

 The load factor = (Average Power) / (Max. Power)

 Average annual plant factor (L) = E /(8760 Pins)

Flow Duration Method
 Used particularly for run-of-river projects.

 Not applicable for more than one project.

 Procedure for determining the power-duration curve and average

annual energy production: Example 12.5

Sequential Streamflow Routing Method

 Computes the energy output for each time interval in the period of
analysis

 The method considers the effect of reservoir operation based on the

continuity equation.

 This method is repeated for various installed capacities to determine

an optimum size (installed capacity) that maximizes the annual
 energy production.

 Procedure best suits to computer application.

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Storage Plants

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Surge Tank

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 Surge Tank

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alain_quevillon/3588665603/
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 Hoover Dam Outlets
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 Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

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 Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

Hoover Dam Outlets

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 10. HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

Hoover Dam Power House

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 Hoover Dam Power House
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 10. HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

Hoover Dam Power House

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 Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

http://www.aecom.com/What+We+Do/Energy/Hydropower+and+Dams
Power House
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 10. HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants

Hoover Dam Power House

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 Examples

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