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Advantages of Hydroelectricity
12:50 AM
Economics Advantages of hydroelectric power plant
The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel. The cost of operating a hydroelectric power plant is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed.
Hydroelectric power plants also tend to have longer economic lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in service which were built 50 to 100 years ago. Operating labor cost is also usually low, as plants are automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.
Where a dam serves multiple purposes, a hydroelectric power plant may be added with relatively low construction cost, providing a useful revenue stream to offset the costs of dam operation. It has been calculated that the sale of electricity from the Three Gorges Dam will cover the construction costs after 5 to 8 years of full generation.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not directly produce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). This is another advantage of hydroelectricity. While some carbon dioxide is produced during manufacture and construction of the project, this is a tiny fraction of the operating emissions of equivalent fossil-fuel electricity generation. One measurement of greenhouse gas related and other externality comparison between energy sources can be found in the ExternE project by the Paul Scherrer Institut and the University of Stuttgart which was funded by the European Commission. According to this project, hydroelectricity produces the least amount of greenhouse gases and externality of any energy source. Coming in second place was wind, third was nuclear energy, and fourth was solar photovoltaic. The extremely positive greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is found especially in temperate climates. The above study was for local energy in Europe; presumably similar conditions prevail in North America and Northern Asia, which all see a regular, natural freeze/thaw cycle (with associated seasonal plant decay and regrowth).
Another Advantages or added value of hydroelectric power plant
Reservoirs created by hydroelectric schemes often provide facilities for water sports, and become tourist attractions in themselves. In some countries, aquaculture in reservoirs is common. Multi-use dams installed for irrigation support agriculture with a relatively constant water supply. Large hydro dams can control floods, which would otherwise affect people living downstream of the project.
Several Advantages of hydroelectric power plant
The major advantage of hydroelectricity is elimination of the cost of fuel. The cost of operating a hydroelectric power plant is nearly immune to increases in the cost of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas or coal, and no imports are needed.
Hydroelectric power plants also tend to have longer economic lives than fuel-fired generation, with some plants now in service which were built 50 to 100 years ago. Operating labor cost is also usually low, as plants are automated and have few personnel on site during normal operation.
Where a dam serves multiple purposes, a hydroelectric power plant may be added with relatively low construction cost, providing a useful revenue stream to offset the costs of dam operation. It has been calculated that the sale of electricity from the Three Gorges Dam will cover the construction costs after 5 to 8 years of full generation.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Since hydroelectric dams do not burn fossil fuels, they do not directly produce carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas). This is another advantage of hydroelectricity. While some carbon dioxide is produced during manufacture and construction of the project, this is a tiny fraction of the operating emissions of equivalent fossil-fuel electricity generation. One measurement of greenhouse gas related and other externality comparison between energy sources can be found in the ExternE project by the Paul Scherrer Institut and the University of Stuttgart which was funded by the European Commission. According to this project, hydroelectricity produces the least amount of greenhouse gases and externality of any energy source. Coming in second place was wind, third was nuclear energy, and fourth was solar photovoltaic. The extremely positive greenhouse gas impact of hydroelectricity is found especially in temperate climates. The above study was for local energy in Europe; presumably similar conditions prevail in North America and Northern Asia, which all see a regular, natural freeze/thaw cycle (with associated seasonal plant decay and regrowth).
Another Advantages or added value of hydroelectric power plant
Reservoirs created by hydroelectric schemes often provide facilities for water sports, and become tourist attractions in themselves. In some countries, aquaculture in reservoirs is common. Multi-use dams installed for irrigation support agriculture with a relatively constant water supply. Large hydro dams can control floods, which would otherwise affect people living downstream of the project.
Several Advantages of hydroelectric power plant
- Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy source that does not produce greenhouse gases.
- Hydroelectricity generating plants have a long life.
- When a hydroelectricity water storage dam is built, the water in the dam can be used as a source of drinking water and for recreational purposes such as boating and fishing.
- To meet any changes in demand for electricity, hydroelectricity generators can be stopped and started in minutes. A fossil fuel power station can take up to eight hours to shut down or restart and a nuclear power station can take up to several days.
- Although dams prevent the natural flushing out of a river during a flood, they also control flooding downstream in times of high rainfall and snow melt.
- The pollution created by hydroelectric energy generation is quite minimal. There is some pollution involved in initially constructing the power stations, but this is true of all power plants. It also does not produce radioactive waste or involve the environmental impact of fuel being transported to it.
- Hydroelectric power stations can be set up in almost any size, depending upon the river or stream used to operate them; big enough to power a single home, factory, small town, or large city.
- Another of its advantages is that hydroelectric is a renewable form of energy, like wind and solar; it does not rely upon finite resources like natural gas or coal to generate power.
