Various Components of Hydroelectric Power Plants and their Working: Part-1

The water flowing in the river comprises of kinetic energy and potential energy. In hydroelectric power plants the potential energy of water is utilized to produce electricity. There are eight important components of the hydroelectric power plant. All these components and their working have been described below:

The dam is the most important component of hydroelectric power plant. In fact the name ‘dam’ is considered to be synonymous to the ‘hydroelectric power plant.’ The dam is built on a large river that has abundant quantity of water throughout the year. The dam is built at location where the height of the river is sufficiently high so as to get maximum possible potential energy from water.

Water reservoir is the place behind the dam where water is stored. The water in the reservoir is located at the height above the rest of the dam structure. The height of water in the reservoir decides how much potential energy water possesses. Higher the height of water more is its potential energy. The high position of water in the reservoir also enables it to move downwards effortlessly due to gravity.

The height of water in the reservoir is higher than the natural height of water flowing in the river, hence water in reservoir is considered to be altered equilibrium. This also helps to increase the overall potential energy of water, which helps ultimately produce more electricity in the power generation unit.

These are the gates built on the inside of the dam. The water from reservoir is released and controlled through these gates. These are called inlet gates because water enters the power generation unit through these gates. When the control gates are opened the water flows due to gravity through the penstock and towards the turbines. The water flowing through the gates possesses potential as well as kinetic energy.