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76-504: The Bill is intended to change some of the regulations in the United States surrounding hydropower by making it easier to develop smaller-output hydropower stations. According to the bill's proponents, current regulations are unwieldy and represent a significant hurdle to creating more hydropower plants. The Bill would alter those regulations to make it easier for smaller plants to get approval quickly. The legislation also requires

152-493: 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

228-443: 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

304-433: 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

380-464: 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

456-462: 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 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

532-490: 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

608-654: A qualifying conduit hydroelectricity facility to file with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) a notice of intent to do so. It would require FERC, within 15 days after receiving such a notice of intent, to make an initial determination as to whether the facility meets the qualifying criteria. The Bill would then waive the license requirements for any Conduit hydroelectricity facility that: The bill then redefines "conduit" to specify any tunnel, canal, pipeline, aqueduct, flume, ditch, or similar man-made water conveyance operated for

684-535: 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

760-591: 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 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,

836-684: 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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912-485: 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

988-410: A way to provide context for why they are writing the bill and want to make this new law. In this bill, Congress lists the number of Americans who work in the hydropower industry (approximately 300, 000), the number of dams in the United States that are used to produce power (less than 3% of 80, 000), and that hydropower provides 7% of the energy generated in the United States. Section 3 of

1064-535: 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

1140-534: Is a significant source of renewable energy in the United States. The National Hydropower Association (NHA) conducted a study that concluded that "the United States could add approximately 60,000 MW of new hydropower capacity by 2025, potentially creating as many as 700,000 jobs in the process," according to the Committee Report released by the House Energy and Commerce Committee when it referred

1216-501: 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

1292-400: 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

1368-445: 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

1444-420: 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

1520-439: 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

1596-450: 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 a relatively consistent source of power. Nonetheless, it has economic, sociological, and environmental downsides and requires

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1672-481: 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 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

1748-403: 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

1824-423: 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

1900-924: 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

1976-656: 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

2052-864: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to study how to further improve the regulatory process. The Bill would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) and the Federal Power Act . Currently, hydropower projects that produce 5,000 kilowatts or less of power do not require certain licenses. The Bill would raise that amount to 10,000 kilowatts, facilitating the speed at which smaller hydropower projects could be built. The existing rules mean that it takes about five years for hydropower projects to get approval, according to hydropower industry sources. Hydropower

2128-602: 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

2204-697: 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

2280-891: 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

2356-500: The United States Government . Hydropower 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 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

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2432-485: 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

2508-836: 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

2584-788: The Bill to the floor. A similar bill, H.R. 5892 , was introduced in the 112th United States Congress , where it passed the House by a vote of 372-0, but was never voted on in the Senate. The Bill was introduced into the House on January 15, 2013 by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) . It was sent to the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the United States House Energy Subcommittee on Energy and Power . It passed

2660-585: The Bill would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) to increase from 5,000 to 10,000 kilowatts the size of small hydroelectric power projects which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) may exempt from its license requirements. Section 4 of the Bill would amend the Federal Power Act to revise the limitation on the maximum installation capacity of qualifying conduit hydropower facilities that are eligible for an exemption from licensing requirements. It would also require any person, state, or municipality proposing to construct

2736-679: 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

2812-697: 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

2888-580: The House by a vote of 422-0 on February 13, 2013. After passing in the House, the Bill was referred to the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on February 14, 2013. A ranking member of the Committee, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) , told The Hill that she expected the Bill to pass in the Senate as well. Power Magazine also reported that chances for passage in the Senate looked good. The measure passed

2964-612: 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

3040-639: 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

3116-534: The Senate by unanimous consent on August 1, 2013. This summary is based largely on the summary provided by the Congressional Research Service , a public domain source. Section 1 of the Bill provides the short title of the bill, "Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013", and gives a table of contents for the bill. Section 2 of the Bill provides the "Findings" of Congress. It has a short description of facts that Congress lists as

Hydropower Regulatory Efficiency Act of 2013 - Misplaced Pages Continue

3192-1213: 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,

3268-635: 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

3344-440: 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

3420-673: 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

3496-571: The distribution of water for agricultural, municipal, or industrial consumption and not primarily for the generation of electricity . The new law would authorize the FERC to: Section 6 of the Bill would direct the FERC to: Finally, Section 7 would direct the Department of Energy to study: Some environmental groups, such as American Rivers , support the bill because it primarily addresses only very small power plants, which are less disruptive to

3572-619: 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 ,

3648-635: The environment than the much larger megadams many environmental groups oppose. The Congressional Budget Office report on the Bill indicates that it would have no significant net impact on the federal budget. The changes made by the bill would reduce the workload for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The studies the bill requires the Department of Energy to make are similar to on-going studies of hydropower and would not require much additional funding. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of

3724-570: 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

3800-590: 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

3876-446: 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

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3952-403: 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,

4028-453: 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 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

4104-502: 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 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

4180-419: The head. The power available from falling water can be calculated from the flow rate and density of water, the height of fall, and 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

4256-460: 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

4332-400: 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

4408-401: 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

4484-598: 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,

4560-497: 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

4636-421: The lower plain. Italy prioritized early near-nationwide electrification, almost entirely from hydropower, which powered their rise as a dominant European and imperial force. However, they failed to reach any conclusive standard for determining water rights before WWI. Conduit hydroelectricity Conduit hydroelectricity (or conduit hydropower ) is a method of using mechanical energy of water as part of

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4712-500: 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

4788-606: 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

4864-477: 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

4940-514: 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

5016-513: 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

5092-489: 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

5168-423: 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 is used to validate the manufacturer's efficiency guarantee. Detailed calculation of the efficiency of a hydropower turbine accounts for

5244-721: 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,

5320-563: 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

5396-481: 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

5472-415: The water delivery system through man-made conduits to generate electricity. Generally, the conduits are existing water pipelines such as in public water supply . Some definitions expand the definition of conduits to be existing tunnels, canals, or aqueducts that are used primarily for other water delivery purposes than electricity generation . Historically, electricity generation from water pipelines

5548-428: The water supply system that is normally done through pressure reducing valves . The conduit hydroelectricity generation in this case can be done by replacing the pressure reducing valves with small turbines and electrical generators . Since 2008, there has been considerable technological development in off-the-shelf "“water-to-wire” turbine technologies including reaction, impulse, and hydrokinetic turbines that target

5624-618: 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

5700-668: 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

5776-409: Was rare because the water would have been pumped by other engines in the system prior to the intake of water turbines to generate electricity. The energy generated from the turbines would have been offset by the power used in pumping, canceling out the power generation benefit. However, there have been renewed interests to apply this method to recover energy when there is a need to reduce pressure in

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