Hydropower Technology

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  Flowing water produces energy that can be taken and turned into electricity. This is called hydropower or hydroelectric power. Hydropower mentions to the conversion of energy from flowing water into electricity. This is considered a renewable source of energy because the water cycle is constantly renewed by the sun^. The most common type of hydropower plant uses a dam on a river to store water in the reservoir. Released water from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning the turbine, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. But hydropower doesn't necessarily require a bulky dam. Some hydropower plants just use a small canal to network the river water through the turbine. Another type of hydropower plant - called “pumped storage plant” - can also store power. The power is sent from a power grid into the electric generators. After that the generators spin the turbines in backward direction, which causes to pump the water from a river or lower reservoir to an upper reservoir, there the power is stored. After that the water is released from the upper reservoir back to the lower reservoir or river and that flow spins the turbines forward, starting the generators to generate electricity. A small or micro-hydroelectric power system can produce enough electricity for a home, farm or ranch.