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100-629: It continues south past the towns of Madison , Skowhegan , the city of Waterville , and the state capital Augusta . At Richmond , it flows into Merrymeeting Bay , a 16-mile-long (26 km) freshwater tidal bay into which also flow the Androscoggin River and five smaller rivers. The Kennebec runs past the shipbuilding center of Bath , and has its mouth at the Gulf of Maine in the Atlantic Ocean . The Southern Kennebec flows below

200-493: A Southern Europe hydropower race. In Italy's Po Valley , the main 20th century transition was not the creation of hydropower but the transition from mechanical to electrical hydropower. 12,000 watermills churned in the Po watershed in the 1890s, but the first commercial hydroelectric plant, completed in 1898, signaled the end of the mechanical reign. These new large plants moved power away from rural mountainous areas to urban centers in

300-443: A billion tonnes of CO2 greenhouse gas a year. This occurs when organic matters accumulate at the bottom of the reservoir because of the deoxygenation of water which triggers anaerobic digestion . People who live near a hydro plant site are displaced during construction or when reservoir banks become unstable. Another potential disadvantage is cultural or religious sites may block construction. A watermill or water mill

400-433: A device to serve wine, and five devices to lift water from rivers or pools, where three of them are animal-powered and one can be powered by animal or water. Moreover, they included an endless belt with jugs attached, a cow-powered shadoof (a crane-like irrigation tool), and a reciprocating device with hinged valves. In the 19th century, French engineer Benoît Fourneyron developed the first hydropower turbine. This device

500-464: A microturbine in a cylindrical housing. Electricity generated by that turbine is used to charge 12-volt batteries." The term rain power has also been applied to hydropower systems which include the process of capturing the rain. Evidence suggests that the fundamentals of hydropower date to ancient Greek civilization . Other evidence indicates that the waterwheel independently emerged in China around

600-490: A mutual need for hydropower could lead to cooperation between otherwise adversarial nations. Hydropower technology and attitude began to shift in the second half of the 20th century. While countries had largely abandoned their small hydropower systems by the 1930s, the smaller hydropower plants began to make a comeback in the 1970s, boosted by government subsidies and a push for more independent energy producers. Some politicians who once advocated for large hydropower projects in

700-536: A rate of 9,111 cubic feet per second (258.0 m/s). The United States government maintains three river flow gauges on the Kennebec river. The first is at Indian Pond ( 45°30′40″N 69°48′39″W  /  45.51114°N 69.81080°W  / 45.51114; -69.81080  ( Indian Pond, Maine ) ) where the rivershed is 1,590 square miles (4,100 km). Flow here has ranged from 161 to 32,900 cubic feet per second (4.6 to 931.6  m/s ). The second

800-501: A relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires a sufficiently energetic source of water, such as a river or elevated lake . International institutions such as the World Bank view hydropower as a low-carbon means for economic development . Since ancient times, hydropower from watermills has been used as a renewable energy source for irrigation and

900-535: A remote sensor." Villazon suggested a better application would be to collect the water from fallen rain and use it to drive a turbine, with an estimated energy generation of 3 kWh of energy per year for a 185 m roof. A microturbine-based system created by three students from the Technological University of Mexico has been used to generate electricity. The Pluvia system "uses the stream of rainwater runoff from houses' rooftop rain gutters to spin

1000-446: A stream can vary widely from season to season. The development of a hydropower site requires analysis of flow records , sometimes spanning decades, to assess the reliable annual energy supply. Dams and reservoirs provide a more dependable source of power by smoothing seasonal changes in water flow. However, reservoirs have a significant environmental impact , as does alteration of naturally occurring streamflow. Dam design must account for

1100-684: A tool to interfere in the economic development of African countries, such as the World Bank with the Kariba and Akosombo Dams , and the Soviet Union with the Aswan Dam . The Nile River especially has borne the consequences of countries both along the Nile and distant foreign actors using the river to expand their economic power or national force. After the British occupation of Egypt in 1882,

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1200-485: A turbine with 90% efficiency. He applied scientific principles and testing methods to the problem of turbine design. His mathematical and graphical calculation methods allowed the confident design of high-efficiency turbines to exactly match a site's specific flow conditions. The Francis reaction turbine is still in use. In the 1870s, deriving from uses in the California mining industry, Lester Allan Pelton developed

1300-529: Is slate , and a quarry was established to extract it. Because of the region's abundant forests, lumbering developed as an industry, with four sawmills operated by water power on the Kennebec. Here the Norridgewock Falls drop 90 feet (27 m) over a mile, which attracted other manufacturers as well. In the 19th century, the small mill town had factories which produced carriages , window sash , window blinds , doors and coffins . When

1400-535: Is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding) , rolling , or hammering . Such processes are needed in the production of many material goods, including flour , lumber , paper , textiles , and many metal products. These watermills may comprise gristmills , sawmills , paper mills , textile mills , hammermills , trip hammering mills, rolling mills , and wire drawing mills. One major way to classify watermills

1500-509: Is achieved by converting the gravitational potential or kinetic energy of a water source to produce power. Hydropower is a method of sustainable energy production. Hydropower is now used principally for hydroelectric power generation , and is also applied as one half of an energy storage system known as pumped-storage hydroelectricity . Hydropower is an attractive alternative to fossil fuels as it does not directly produce carbon dioxide or other atmospheric pollutants and it provides

1600-486: Is at Bingham ( 45°3′6″N 69°53′12″W  /  45.05167°N 69.88667°W  / 45.05167; -69.88667  ( Bingham, Maine ) ) where the rivershed is 2,715 square miles (7,030 km). Flow here has ranged from 110 to 65,200 cu ft/s (3.1 to 1,846.3 m/s). The third is at North Sidney ( 44°28′21″N 69°41′09″W  /  44.47250°N 69.68583°W  / 44.47250; -69.68583  ( Bingham, Maine ) ) where

1700-501: Is available on demand to be used to generate electricity by passing through channels that connect the dam to the reservoir. The water spins a turbine, which is connected to the generator that produces electricity. The other type is called a run-of-river plant. In this case, a barrage is built to control the flow of water, absent a reservoir . The run-of river power plant needs continuous water flow and therefore has less ability to provide power on demand. The kinetic energy of flowing water

1800-400: Is by an essential trait about their location: tide mills use the movement of the tide; ship mills are water mills onboard (and constituting) a ship. A plentiful head of water can be made to generate compressed air directly without moving parts. In these designs, a falling column of water is deliberately mixed with air bubbles generated through turbulence or a venturi pressure reducer at

1900-445: Is by using hybrid solar panels called "all-weather solar panels" that can generate electricity from both the sun and the rain. According to zoologist and science and technology educator, Luis Villazon, "A 2008 French study estimated that you could use piezoelectric devices, which generate power when they move, to extract 12 milliwatts from a raindrop. Over a year, this would amount to less than 0.001kWh per square metre – enough to power

2000-420: Is by wheel orientation (vertical or horizontal), one powered by a vertical waterwheel through a gear mechanism, and the other equipped with a horizontal waterwheel without such a mechanism. The former type can be further subdivided, depending on where the water hits the wheel paddles, into undershot, overshot, breastshot and pitchback (backshot or reverse shot) waterwheel mills. Another way to classify water mills

2100-439: Is lost from erosion. Furthermore, studies found that the construction of dams and reservoirs can result in habitat loss for some aquatic species. Large and deep dam and reservoir plants cover large areas of land which causes greenhouse gas emissions from underwater rotting vegetation. Furthermore, although at lower levels than other renewable energy sources, it was found that hydropower produces methane equivalent to almost

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2200-403: Is the decreased efficiency of electricity generation because the process depends on the speed of the seasonal river flow. This means that the rainy season increases electricity generation compared to the dry season. The size of hydroelectric plants can vary from small plants called micro hydro , to large plants that supply power to a whole country. As of 2019, the five largest power stations in

2300-407: Is the energy per unit weight (or unit mass) of water. The static head is proportional to the difference in height through which the water falls. Dynamic head is related to the velocity of moving water. Each unit of water can do an amount of work equal to its weight times the head. The power available from falling water can be calculated from the flow rate and density of water, the height of fall, and

2400-736: Is the largest structure by volume in Maine, the Backyard Farms greenhouse that covers 24 acres (9.7 ha). According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 54.82 square miles (141.98 km ), of which 51.88 square miles (134.37 km ) is land and 2.94 square miles (7.61 km ) is water. Madison is drained by the Kennebec River . As of the census of 2010, there were 4,855 people, 1,976 households, and 1,271 families living in

2500-423: Is the main source of energy. Both designs have limitations. For example, dam construction can result in discomfort to nearby residents. The dam and reservoirs occupy a relatively large amount of space that may be opposed by nearby communities. Moreover, reservoirs can potentially have major environmental consequences such as harming downstream habitats. On the other hand, the limitation of the run-of-river project

2600-423: Is used to validate the manufacturer's efficiency guarantee. Detailed calculation of the efficiency of a hydropower turbine accounts for the head lost due to flow friction in the power canal or penstock, rise in tailwater level due to flow, the location of the station and effect of varying gravity, the air temperature and barometric pressure, the density of the water at ambient temperature, and the relative altitudes of

2700-924: The Columbia River and its tributaries. The Bureau of Reclamation built the Hoover Dam in 1931, symbolically linking the job creation and economic growth priorities of the New Deal . The federal government quickly followed Hoover with the Shasta Dam and Grand Coulee Dam . Power demand in Oregon did not justify damming the Columbia until WWI revealed the weaknesses of a coal-based energy economy. The federal government then began prioritizing interconnected power—and lots of it. Electricity from all three dams poured into war production during WWII . After

2800-656: The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ghana , frequently sell excess power to neighboring countries. Foreign actors such as Chinese hydropower companies have proposed a significant amount of new hydropower projects in Africa, and already funded and consulted on many others in countries like Mozambique and Ghana. Small hydropower also played an important role in early 20th century electrification across Africa. In South Africa, small turbines powered gold mines and

2900-602: The Industrial Revolution would drive development as well. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in Britain, water was the main power source for new inventions such as Richard Arkwright 's water frame . Although water power gave way to steam power in many of the larger mills and factories, it was still used during the 18th and 19th centuries for many smaller operations, such as driving

3000-410: The Kennebec River . French Jesuits established an early mission at the village, which was located at Old Point. But Father Sebastien Rale (or Rasle), appointed missionary in 1694, was suspected of abetting the tribe's raids on English settlements. Governor Joseph Dudley put a price on his head. British troops attacked the village in 1705 and again in 1722, but both times Father Rale escaped into

3100-697: The Mauryan , Gupta and Chola empires. Another example of the early use of hydropower is seen in hushing , a historic method of mining that uses flood or torrent of water to reveal mineral veins. The method was first used at the Dolaucothi Gold Mines in Wales from 75 AD onwards. This method was further developed in Spain in mines such as Las Médulas . Hushing was also widely used in Britain in

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3200-891: The Medieval and later periods to extract lead and tin ores. It later evolved into hydraulic mining when used during the California Gold Rush in the 19th century. The Islamic Empire spanned a large region, mainly in Asia and Africa, along with other surrounding areas. During the Islamic Golden Age and the Arab Agricultural Revolution (8th–13th centuries), hydropower was widely used and developed. Early uses of tidal power emerged along with large hydraulic factory complexes. A wide range of water-powered industrial mills were used in

3300-465: The West Indies and the southern United States for ice. In 1826, Rufus Page built the first large ice house near Gardiner, in order to supply Tudor. The ice was harvested during the winter from the river by farmers and others who were otherwise relatively inactive. They cut it by hand, floated the huge chunks to an ice house on the bank, and stored it until spring. Then, packed in sawdust, the ice

3400-546: The fall line and does not have rapids. As a consequence, ocean tides and saltwater fish species, such as the endangered Atlantic Sturgeon , can go upriver affecting the ecology as far north as Waterville, a small city located more than 35 miles inland. Tributaries of the Kennebec include the Carrabassett River , Sandy River , and Sebasticook River . Segments of the East Coast Greenway run along

3500-586: The "City of Ships". The Wyoming , one of the largest wooden schooners ever built, was constructed here. For parts of the 17th century, the Kennebec was the western boundary of Cornwall County, Province of New York . Following the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, the US enjoyed a lengthy period of expansion of international trade, which increased the demand for shipbuilding and stimulated

3600-752: The 1600s the Abenaki village of Norridgewock was located along the Kennebec. The English founded the Popham Colony along the Kennebec in 1607. The settlers built the Virginia of Sagadahoc , the first oceangoing vessel built in the New World by English-speaking shipwrights. An English trading post, Cushnoc , was established on the Kennebec in 1628. Bath and other cities along the Kennebec were developed, and artisans founded shipyards that produced hundreds of wooden and steel vessels. Bath became known as

3700-485: The 4th century BC refer to the term cakkavattaka (turning wheel), which commentaries explain as arahatta-ghati-yanta (machine with wheel-pots attached), however whether this is water or hand powered is disputed by scholars India received Roman water mills and baths in the early 4th century AD when a certain according to Greek sources. Dams, spillways, reservoirs, channels, and water balance would develop in India during

3800-647: The Abenaki Indian mission village at Norridgewock in August 1724 crippled the Abenaki resistance, as they killed as many as 40 inhabitants, including women and children. They also killed and scalped Fr. Sebastien Rasle, the 67-year old Jesuit priest, and scalped 26 of the dead Abenaki. Having plundered and torched the tribal village, the Yankee raiders destroyed the surrounding corn fields; they were paid bounties for

3900-836: The American West, organized opposition to hydroelectric dams sparked up in the 1950s and 60s based on environmental concerns. Environmental movements successfully shut down proposed hydropower dams in Dinosaur National Monument and the Grand Canyon , and gained more hydropower-fighting tools with 1970s environmental legislation. As nuclear and fossil fuels grew in the 70s and 80s and environmental activists push for river restoration, hydropower gradually faded in American importance. Foreign powers and IGOs have frequently used hydropower projects in Africa as

4000-679: The British worked with Egypt to construct the first Aswan Dam, which they heightened in 1912 and 1934 to try to hold back the Nile floods. Egyptian engineer Adriano Daninos developed a plan for the Aswan High Dam, inspired by the Tennessee Valley Authority's multipurpose dam. When Gamal Abdel Nasser took power in the 1950s, his government decided to undertake the High Dam project, publicizing it as an economic development project. After American refusal to help fund

4100-621: The Edwards Dam was built across the Kennebec River, just shy of the limit of tidal influence. Made of timber and concrete, it extended 917 feet (280 m) across the river and 25 feet (7.6 m) high. Its reservoir stretched 17 miles (27 km) upstream, and covered 1,143 acres (4.63 km). In 1999, the dam was removed, after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) determined that

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4200-697: The Grand Coulee to build a nuclear site placed on the banks of the Columbia. The nuclear site leaked radioactive matter into the river, contaminating the entire area. Post-WWII Americans, especially engineers from the Tennessee Valley Authority , refocused from simply building domestic dams to promoting hydropower abroad. While domestic dam building continued well into the 1970s, with the Reclamation Bureau and Army Corps of Engineers building more than 150 new dams across

4300-612: The Hun waterwheel; some of the earliest ones are the Jijiupian dictionary of 40 BC, Yang Xiong 's text known as the Fangyan of 15 BC, as well as Xin Lun, written by Huan Tan about 20 AD. It was also during this time that the engineer Du Shi (c. AD 31) applied the power of waterwheels to piston - bellows in forging cast iron. Ancient Indian texts dating back to

4400-479: The Kennebec gorge just below Harris Station Dam . Acknowledging the desire of young people for a space solely dedicated to kids, absent of adult gatherings and limiting constraints, in 1998 Northern Outdoors opened Adventure Bound - Maine's only youth focused whitewater rafting company for kids and families. In the early 21st century, Northern Outdoors and 22 other rafting companies in The Forks conduct rafting on

4500-529: The Kennebec. The name "Kennebec" comes from the Eastern Abenaki /kínipekʷ/ , meaning "large body of still water, large bay". In 1605, French explorer Samuel de Champlain navigated the coast of what is now Maine , charting the land and rivers of what was then called New France , L'Acadie , including the Kennebec as far upriver as present-day Bath , as well as the St. Croix , and Penobscot rivers. In

4600-639: The Nile, hydroelectric projects cover the rivers and lakes of Africa. The Inga powerplant on the Congo River had been discussed since Belgian colonization in the late 19th century, and was successfully built after independence. Mobutu's government failed to regularly maintain the plants and their capacity declined until the 1995 formation of the Southern African Power Pool created a multi-national power grid and plant maintenance program. States with an abundance of hydropower, such as

4700-1213: The United States' hydroelectric plants in Niagara Falls and the Sierra Nevada inspired bigger and bolder creations across the globe. American and USSR financers and hydropower experts also spread the gospel of dams and hydroelectricity across the globe during the Cold War , contributing to projects such as the Three Gorges Dam and the Aswan High Dam . Feeding desire for large scale electrification with water inherently required large dams across powerful rivers, which impacted public and private interests downstream and in flood zones. Inevitably smaller communities and marginalized groups suffered. They were unable to successfully resist companies flooding them out of their homes or blocking traditional salmon passages. The stagnant water created by hydroelectric dams provides breeding ground for pests and pathogens , leading to local epidemics . However, in some cases,

4800-425: The age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 9.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.7% were non-families. 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age in

4900-405: The average family size was 2.79. In the town, the population was spread out, with 22.2% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males. The median income for a household in the town

5000-635: The bellows in small blast furnaces (e.g. the Dyfi Furnace ) and gristmills , such as those built at Saint Anthony Falls , which uses the 50-foot (15 m) drop in the Mississippi River . Technological advances moved the open water wheel into an enclosed turbine or water motor . In 1848, the British-American engineer James B. Francis , head engineer of Lowell's Locks and Canals company, improved on these designs to create

5100-440: The cost of building new hydroelectric dams increased 4% annually between 1965 and 1990, due both to the increasing costs of construction and to the decrease in high quality building sites. In the 1990s, only 18% of the world's electricity came from hydropower. Tidal power production also emerged in the 1960s as a burgeoning alternative hydropower system, though still has not taken hold as a strong energy contender. Especially at

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5200-673: The dam, and anti-British sentiment in Egypt and British interests in neighboring Sudan combined to make the United Kingdom pull out as well, the Soviet Union funded the Aswan High Dam. Between 1977 and 1990 the dam's turbines generated one third of Egypt's electricity. The building of the Aswan Dam triggered a dispute between Sudan and Egypt over the sharing of the Nile, especially since the dam flooded part of Sudan and decreased

5300-484: The district include Madison Elementary School, Madison Jr. High School and Madison High School. The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, just outside of Skowhegan . Water power Hydropower (from Ancient Greek ὑδρο -, "water"), also known as water power , is the use of falling or fast-running water to produce electricity or to power machines. This

5400-619: The early 20th century, two major factors motivated the expansion of hydropower in Europe: in the northern countries of Norway and Sweden high rainfall and mountains proved exceptional resources for abundant hydropower, and in the south coal shortages pushed governments and utility companies to seek alternative power sources. Early on, Switzerland dammed the Alpine rivers and the Swiss Rhine , creating, along with Italy and Scandinavia ,

5500-426: The ecological benefits of removing it outweighed the value of the electricity it produced, and refused the renewal of the dam license. Despite several negative visual and environmental factors at first, the ecosystem is healing itself. Initially after the removal of the dam, barren riverbanks and muddy water were evident along the lower 17 miles (27 km) of the Kennebec. Introduced smallmouth bass will suffer from

5600-570: The falls far enough away to actually reach enough people and justify installation. The project succeeded in large part due to Nikola Tesla's invention of the alternating current motor . On the other side of the country, San Francisco engineers, the Sierra Club , and the federal government fought over acceptable use of the Hetch Hetchy Valley . Despite ostensible protection within a national park, city engineers successfully won

5700-627: The few yards still building warships for the United States Navy . The USCGC Kennebec was named after this river. With waterways the most accessible travel routes, the Kennebec River served as an early trade corridor to interior Maine from the Atlantic coast. Ocean ships could navigate upstream as far as Augusta. The cities of Bath, Gardiner , Hallowell and Augusta, and the towns of Woolwich , Richmond and Randolph , all developed along this transportation corridor. Upstream of Augusta,

5800-590: The first century BC. The Barbegal mill , located in modern-day France, had 16 water wheels processing up to 28 tons of grain per day. Roman waterwheels were also used for sawing marble such as the Hierapolis sawmill of the late 3rd century AD. Such sawmills had a waterwheel that drove two crank-and-connecting rods to power two saws. It also appears in two 6th century Eastern Roman sawmills excavated at Ephesus and Gerasa respectively. The crank and connecting rod mechanism of these Roman watermills converted

5900-446: The first electric railway in the 1890s, and Zimbabwean farmers installed small hydropower stations in the 1930s. While interest faded as national grids improved in the second half of the century, 21st century national governments in countries including South Africa and Mozambique, as well as NGOs serving countries like Zimbabwe, have begun re-exploring small-scale hydropower to diversify power sources and improve rural electrification. In

6000-403: The first half of the 20th century began to speak out against them, and citizen groups organizing against dam projects increased. In the 1980s and 90s the international anti-dam movement had made finding government or private investors for new large hydropower projects incredibly difficult, and given rise to NGOs devoted to fighting dams. Additionally, while the cost of other energy sources fell,

6100-420: The flatlands along the river through these towns and cities. England's 1710 conquest of Acadia brought mainland Nova Scotia under English control, but New France still claimed present-day New Brunswick and present-day Maine east of the Kennebec River. (The Kennebec River was also a border for the indigenous Native Americans and First Nations.) To secure its claim, New France established Catholic missions in

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6200-472: The flood's peak, the flow topped out at an estimated 232,000 cubic feet per second (6,600 m/s). It caused damage of about $ 100,000,000 (equivalent to about $ 268,000,000 in 2023), flooding 2,100 homes, destroying 215, and damaging 240 others. Signs of the flood can still be found in the towns and cities that line the river. In 1976 Suzanne and Wayne Hockmeyer, of Kennebec Whitewater Expeditions (now Northern Outdoors), pioneered whitewater rafting through

6300-446: The forebay and tailbay. For precise calculations, errors due to rounding and the number of significant digits of constants must be considered. Some hydropower systems such as water wheels can draw power from the flow of a body of water without necessarily changing its height. In this case, the available power is the kinetic energy of the flowing water. Over-shot water wheels can efficiently capture both types of energy. The flow in

6400-516: The growth of maritime fleets. Many of those ships were built in Bath. In 1854, at the peak of this boom period, at least nineteen major firms were building ships in Bath. Changes in the industry since the mid-20th century have resulted in the decline in US shipbuilding, as jobs moved offshore. The sole remaining shipyard in Bath is the Bath Iron Works , owned by General Dynamics ; this is one of

6500-460: The high-efficiency Pelton wheel impulse turbine , which used hydropower from the high head streams characteristic of the Sierra Nevada . The modern history of hydropower begins in the 1900s, with large dams built not simply to power neighboring mills or factories but provide extensive electricity for increasingly distant groups of people. Competition drove much of the global hydroelectric craze: Europe competed amongst itself to electrify first, and

6600-400: The high-level intake. This allows it to fall down a shaft into a subterranean, high-roofed chamber where the now-compressed air separates from the water and becomes trapped. The height of the falling water column maintains compression of the air in the top of the chamber, while an outlet, submerged below the water level in the chamber allows water to flow back to the surface at a lower level than

6700-401: The highest among all renewable energy technologies. Hydroelectricity generation starts with converting either the potential energy of water that is present due to the site's elevation or the kinetic energy of moving water into electrical energy. Hydroelectric power plants vary in terms of the way they harvest energy. One type involves a dam and a reservoir . The water in the reservoir

6800-416: The ill-fated Battle of Quebec . The town had originally been settled under the name "Norridgewock Falls." This was later changed to "Bernardstown," after the major land owning family, the Bernards. It was then officially incorporated on March 7, 1804, the town was named after United States president James Madison . Farming was an early industry, with hay and cattle the principal products. The native rock

6900-535: The intake. A separate outlet in the roof of the chamber supplies the compressed air. A facility on this principle was built on the Montreal River at Ragged Shutes near Cobalt, Ontario , in 1910 and supplied 5,000 horsepower to nearby mines. Hydroelectricity is the biggest hydropower application. Hydroelectricity generates about 15% of global electricity and provides at least 50% of the total electricity supply for more than 35 countries.  In 2021, global installed hydropower electrical capacity reached almost 1400 GW,

7000-497: The last unexploited energy sources in nature. When it rains, billions of litres of water can fall, which have an enormous electric potential if used in the right way." Research is being done into the different methods of generating power from rain, such as by using the energy in the impact of raindrops. This is in its very early stages with new and emerging technologies being tested, prototyped and created. Such power has been called rain power. One method in which this has been attempted

7100-572: The local acceleration due to gravity: To illustrate, the power output of a turbine that is 85% efficient, with a flow rate of 80 cubic metres per second (2800 cubic feet per second) and a head of 145 metres (476 feet), is 97 megawatts: Operators of hydroelectric stations compare the total electrical energy produced with the theoretical potential energy of the water passing through the turbine to calculate efficiency. Procedures and definitions for calculation of efficiency are given in test codes such as ASME PTC 18 and IEC 60041. Field testing of turbines

7200-423: The operation of mechanical devices, such as gristmills , sawmills , textile mills, trip hammers , dock cranes , domestic lifts , and ore mills . A trompe , which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power other machinery at a distance. A hydropower resource can be evaluated by its available power . Power is a function of the hydraulic head and volumetric flow rate . The head

7300-408: The population. There were 1,890 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and

7400-649: The railroad was extended through Madison in 1875, larger mills were built. The first Madison Woolen Mill was constructed in 1881 near the bridge between Madison and Anson , with the firm's second mill built nearby in 1887. In 1890, the Manufacturing Investment Company built a sulfite mill, but it failed. It was taken over in 1899 by the Great Northern Paper Company , which rebuilt the plant to produce wood pulp and paper . Like many New England textile manufacturers,

7500-594: The re-introduced striped bass, which tend to feed on young smallmouth bass. An increase in raptor populations, such as ospreys , bald eagles , herons , cormorants , and kingfishers , is evident. Human activities also benefited from the dam removal. The exposure of rapids and the return of native fish species allows many recreational activities, including canoeing , kayaking , whitewater rafting , and fishing . The river drains 5,869 square miles (15,200 km), and on average discharges 5.893 billion US gallons (22,310,000 m) per day into Merrymeeting Bay at

7600-606: The region including fulling mills, gristmills , paper mills , hullers , sawmills , ship mills , stamp mills , steel mills , sugar mills , and tide mills . By the 11th century, every province throughout the Islamic Empire had these industrial mills in operation, from Al-Andalus and North Africa to the Middle East and Central Asia . Muslim engineers also used water turbines while employing gears in watermills and water-raising machines. They also pioneered

7700-499: The region reduced the runs of such fish. The removal of dams on the river has been a controversial local issue in recent years. The removal of the Edwards Dam in 1999 has led to increased anadromous activity on the river. The following is a list of hydroelectric power stations on the Kennebec River. The Kennebec River before the construction of Edwards Dam was extremely important as a spawning ground for Atlantic fish. In 1837,

7800-477: The rights to both water and power in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in 1913. After their victory they delivered Hetch Hetchy hydropower and water to San Francisco a decade later and at twice the promised cost, selling power to PG&E which resold to San Francisco residents at a profit. The American West, with its mountain rivers and lack of coal, turned to hydropower early and often, especially along

7900-518: The river daily from May through October. Four times per rafting season, Brookfield Power tests their generating turbines by releasing the maximum amount of water possible from Harris Station Dam. At 8000 cubic feet per second, these Kennebec River Turbine Tests are the biggest whitewater releases in Maine. Prior to the industrial era, the river contained many anadromous fish , in particular the Atlantic salmon . The exploiting of hydroelectric power in

8000-545: The river was dammed, it was navigable as far as Augusta. Madison, Maine Madison (formerly Norridgewock ) is a town in Somerset County , Maine , United States. The population was 4,726 at the 2020 census . The area was once territory of the Norridgewock Indians , a band of the Abenaki nation. Early visitors describe extensive fields cleared for cultivation. The tribe also fished

8100-633: The rivershed is 5,403 square miles (13,990 km). Flow here has ranged from 1,160 to 232,000 cu ft/s (33 to 6,570 m/s). Two additional river stage gauges (no flow data) are in Augusta ( 44°19′06″N 69°46′17″W  /  44.31833°N 69.77139°W  / 44.31833; -69.77139  ( Augusta, Maine ) ) and Gardiner ( 44°13′50″N 69°46′16″W  /  44.23056°N 69.77111°W  / 44.23056; -69.77111  ( Gardiner, Maine ) ); both of these gauge heights are affected by ocean tides. Before

8200-514: The rotary motion of the waterwheel into the linear movement of the saw blades. Water-powered trip hammers and bellows in China, during the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD), were initially thought to be powered by water scoops . However, some historians suggested that they were powered by waterwheels. This is since it was theorized that water scoops would not have had the motive force to operate their blast furnace bellows. Many texts describe

8300-513: The same period. Evidence of water wheels and watermills date to the ancient Near East in the 4th century BC. Moreover, evidence indicates the use of hydropower using irrigation machines to ancient civilizations such as Sumer and Babylonia . Studies suggest that the water wheel was the initial form of water power and it was driven by either humans or animals. In the Roman Empire , water-powered mills were described by Vitruvius by

8400-656: The scalps. Some Abenaki survivors returned to the Upper Kennebec, but others took refuge with Penobscot allies or in Abenaki mission villages in French Canada. Some 1,110 American Revolutionary War soldiers followed the route of the Kennebec during Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec in 1775. During the War of 1812 , United States and British Canadian forces fought at the Battle of Hampden in Maine. In 1814, Frederic Tudor began to establish markets in

8500-489: The start of the American hydropower experiment, engineers and politicians began major hydroelectricity projects to solve a problem of 'wasted potential' rather than to power a population that needed the electricity. When the Niagara Falls Power Company began looking into damming Niagara, the first major hydroelectric project in the United States, in the 1890s they struggled to transport electricity from

8600-529: The three largest native villages in the region: one on the Kennebec River ( Norridgewock ); one further north on the Penobscot River ( Penobscot ), and one on the Saint John River ( Medoctec ). Abenaki warriors along the Kennebec resisted English encroachment by armed confrontations, in what American historians sometimes refer to as Father Rale's War (1722–1725). A Yankee militia raid on

8700-435: The timber industry used the river for log driving , to transport wooden logs and pulpwood from interior forests to sawmills and paper mills built along the river to use its water power . The city of Waterville and the towns of Winslow , Skowhegan, Norridgewock , Madison, Anson , and Bingham were all related to the lumber trade. The Maine Central Railroad and U.S. Route 201 were later constructed to make use of

8800-399: The town was 44 years. 20.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.2% were from 25 to 44; 30.6% were from 45 to 64; and 18.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 50.6% male and 49.4% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 4,523 people, 1,890 households, and 1,270 families living in the town. The population density

8900-744: The town's woolen mills eventually went out of business, but the pulp and paper mill remained in operation as Madison Paper Industries until closing in May 2016 due to low demand for supercalender paper and Canadian competition. In 1901, Lakewood Summer Theatre opened in East Madison on the western side of Lake Wesserunsett. Since 1967 it has been the official summer theatre of Maine, and the oldest continually operating summer theatre in America. Actors who have performed at Lakewood include John Travolta , Carol Channing , and Phyllis Diller Completed in 2007

9000-444: The town. The population density was 93.6 inhabitants per square mile (36.1/km ). There were 2,478 housing units at an average density of 47.8 per square mile (18.5/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 97.5% White , 0.4% African American , 0.6% Native American , 0.4% Asian , and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.9% of the population. There were 1,976 households, of which 27.7% had children under

9100-721: The use of dams as a source of water power, used to provide additional power to watermills and water-raising machines. Islamic irriguation techniques including Persian Wheels would be introduced to India, and would be combined with local methods, during the Delhi Sultanate and the Mughal Empire . Furthermore, in his book, The Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices , the Muslim mechanical engineer, Al-Jazari (1136–1206) described designs for 50 devices. Many of these devices were water-powered, including clocks,

9200-563: The volume of water available to them. Ethiopia , also located on the Nile, took advantage of the Cold War tensions to request assistance from the United States for their own irrigation and hydropower investments in the 1960s. While progress stalled due to the coup d'état of 1974 and following 17-year-long Ethiopian Civil War Ethiopia began construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in 2011. Beyond

9300-481: The war, the Grand Coulee Dam and accompanying hydroelectric projects electrified almost all of the rural Columbia Basin , but failed to improve the lives of those living and farming there the way its boosters had promised and also damaged the river ecosystem and migrating salmon populations. In the 1940s as well, the federal government took advantage of the sheer amount of unused power and flowing water from

9400-413: The woods. But on August 23, 1724, during Father Rale's War , soldiers attacked the village unexpectedly, killing 26 warriors and wounding 14, with 150 survivors fleeing to Canada. Among the dead was Father Rale. Settled by English colonists about 1773, the land would be surveyed in 1791. In 1775, Benedict Arnold and his troops would march through Norridgewock Plantation, as it was known, on their way to

9500-618: The world are conventional hydroelectric power stations with dams. Hydroelectricity can also be used to store energy in the form of potential energy between two reservoirs at different heights with pumped-storage . Water is pumped uphill into reservoirs during periods of low demand to be released for generation when demand is high or system generation is low. Other forms of electricity generation with hydropower include tidal stream generators using energy from tidal power generated from oceans, rivers, and human-made canal systems to generating electricity. Rain has been referred to as "one of

9600-739: The worst-case, "probable maximum flood" that can be expected at the site; a spillway is often included to route flood flows around the dam. A computer model of the hydraulic basin and rainfall and snowfall records are used to predict the maximum flood. Some disadvantages of hydropower have been identified. Dam failures can have catastrophic effects, including loss of life, property and pollution of land. Dams and reservoirs can have major negative impacts on river ecosystems such as preventing some animals traveling upstream, cooling and de-oxygenating of water released downstream, and loss of nutrients due to settling of particulates. River sediment builds river deltas and dams prevent them from restoring what

9700-402: Was $ 30,528, and the median income for a family was $ 36,750. Males had a median income of $ 30,179 versus $ 20,827 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 16,698. About 9.3% of families and 13.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.9% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over. Madison is part of Maine School Administrative District 59 . Schools in

9800-401: Was 87.4 inhabitants per square mile (33.7/km ). There were 2,308 housing units at an average density of 44.6 per square mile (17.2/km ). The racial makeup of the town was 98.12% White , 0.07% Black or African American , 0.29% Native American , 0.15% Asian , 0.02% Pacific Islander , 0.07% from other races , and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.22% of

9900-668: Was implemented in the commercial plant of Niagara Falls in 1895 and it is still operating. In the early 20th century, English engineer William Armstrong built and operated the first private electrical power station which was located in his house in Cragside in Northumberland , England. In 1753, the French engineer Bernard Forest de Bélidor published his book, Architecture Hydraulique , which described vertical-axis and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines. The growing demand for

10000-528: Was loaded aboard ships and sent to the South. On April 1, 1987, a combination of more than 6 feet (1.8 m) of melting snow and 4 to 6 inches (100 to 150 mm) of rain in the mountains forced the river to flood its banks. By April 2, 1987, the river had crested at the North Sidney, Maine USGS gage at 39.31 ft (11.98 m), 13.3 ft (4.1 m) higher than the previous record flood stage. At

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