GEC PRESSROOM HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER

IGEC Education Initiative

Other IGEC Initiatives

Green Tips

Sustainable Energy Facts

Hydro-Electric Power Facts

Hydro Electric power is one of the oldest sources of energy and was used thousands of years ago to turn a paddle wheel for purposes such as grinding grain. Our nation’s first industrial use of hydropower to generate electricity occurred in 1880, when 16 brush-arc lamps were powered using a water turbine at the Wolverine Chair Factory in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The first U.S. hydroelectric power plant opened on the Fox River near Appleton, Wisconsin, on September 30, 1882. Until that time, coal was the only fuel used to produce electricity. Because the source of hydropower is water, hydroelectric power plants must be located on a water source. Therefore, it wasn’t until the technology to transmit electricity over long distances was developed that hydropower became widely used.

Hydro-electric power plants convert the kinetic energy contained in falling water into electricity. The energy in flowing water is ultimately derived from the sun, and is
therefore constantly being renewed. Energy contained in sunlight evaporates water from the oceans and deposits it on land in the form of rain. Differences in land elevation result in rainfall runoff, and allow some of the original solar energy to be captured as hydro-electric power.

Hydro power is currently the world's largest renewable source of electricity, accounting for 6% of worldwide energy supply or about 15% of the world's electricity. In Canada, hydroelectric power is abundant and supplies 60% of our electrical needs. Traditionally thought of as a cheap and clean source of electricity, most large hydro-electric schemes being planned today are coming up against a great deal of opposition from environmental groups and native people.

History of Hydro Power
The first recorded use of water power was a clock, built around 250 BC. Since that time, humans have used falling water to provide power for grain and saw mills, as well as a host of other applications. The first use of moving water to produce electricity was a waterwheel on the Fox river in Wisconsin in 1882, two years after Thomas Edison unveiled the incandescent light bulb. The first of many hydro electric power plants at Niagara Falls was completed shortly thereafter. Hydro power continued to play a major role in the expansion of electrical service early in this century, both in North America and around the world. Contemporary Hydro-electric power plants generate anywhere from a few kW, enough for a single residence, to thousands of MW, power enough to supply a large city.

Early hydro-electric power plants were much more reliable and efficient than the fossil fuel fired plants of the day. This resulted in a proliferation of small to medium sized hydro-electric generating stations distributed wherever there was an adequate supply of moving water and a need for electricity. As electricity demand soared in the middle years of this century, and the efficiency of coal and oil fueled power plants increased, small hydro plants fell out of favour. Most new hydro-electric development was focused on huge "mega-projects".

The majority of these power plants involved large dams which flooded vast areas of land to provide water storage and therefore a constant supply of electricity. In recent years, the environmental impacts of such large hydro projects are being identified as a cause for concern. It is becoming increasingly difficult for developers to build new dams because of opposition from environmentalists and people living on the land to be flooded. This is shown by the opposition to projects such as Great Whale (James Bay II) in Quebec and the Gabickovo-Nagymaros project on the Danube River in Czechoslovakia.

Hydro-electric Power Plants
Hydro-electric power plants capture the energy released by water falling through a vertical distance, and transform this energy into useful electricity. In general, falling water is channelled through a turbine which converts the water's energy into mechanical power. The rotation of the water turbines is transferred to a generator which produces electricity.

BACK TO TOP