Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Note:
Left: Upper Reservoir; Right: Lower Reservoir, Penstock and Surge Shaft
Figure 1.16
Pumped-storage Hydro-electric Power Plant in Southern Spain
near Malaga
In addition to electricity generation in river or mountain power plants
there are so-called pumped-storage hydro-electric power plants (see Figure
1.16). These power plants can be used for electricity storage. In times of excess
power generation, a pump transports water in a storage basin to a higher level.
When the water flows back, a turbine and a generator can convert the potential
energy of the water back into electricity.
Hydro-electric power is, apart from the use of biomass, the only renewable
energy resource that covers a noticeable proportion of the global energy
demand. The resources and the contribution of hydro-electricity to the
electricity supply vary from country to country as shown in Table 1.8.
The Itaipu hydro-electric power plant shown in Figure 1.17 is situated in
the border area between Brazil and Paraguay. It is at present the largest hydro-
electric power plant in the world. It has a rated capacity of 12.6 GW and
generated 24.3 per cent of the electricity demand of Brazil and 93.6 per cent of
that of Paraguay in the year 2000. The total electricity generation in the same
year was 93.4 billion kWh. Table 1.9 shows the enormous dimensions of the
Itaipu power plant. However, an even larger plant is under construction: the
Table 1.9
Technical Data of the Itaipu Hydro-electric Power Plant
Reservoir
Dam
Generator units
Surface
1350 km
2
Maximum
196 m
Number
18 (9 each of
height
50 Hz and 60 Hz)
Extent
170 km
Overall
7760 m
Rated
715 MW each
length
power
Volume
29,000 km
3
Concrete
8.1 million m
3
Weight
3343/3242 t
volume
each
Source:
Itaipu Binacional (2003)
