HYDROPOWER ENGINEERING,

WREE 5171
Chapter one:
Hydropower and Its Development
 Source of Energy
 Energy sources can be categorized as renewable and non-renewable.
 Renewable energy:- energy generated from natural resources such as
sunlight, wind, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally
replenish).
 Non-renewable energy:- energy, taken from "finite resources that will
eventually diminish ". This includes:
 Fossil fuels: Various types of coal, Petroleum and Natural gases
 Nuclear energy (fuel for fission of Uranium ore).
Layout of hydroelectric power plant
 Hydropower potential in Ethiopia
• Technically feasible hydropower potential in the world is estimated
15,000TWh/yr.
• Estimated Hydropower potential of Ethiopia is about 15,000 - 30,000 MW.
– More than 90% of energy consumed is derived from biomass fuels.
• Some 300 hydropower plant sites in the country with a total technical power
potential of 159,300 Gwh/year have been identified.
• So far only around 41% (2012) of the population has hydroelectric power
access.
 List of largest Hydropower plants
Max annual Area
electricity flood
Sr. Total Capacity production ed
No. Name Country (MW) (TW-hour) (km²)
1 Three Gorges Dam China 22,500 80.8 632
Brazil and
2 Itaipu Paraguay 14,000 94.7 1,350
3 Guri Venezuela 10,200 53.41 4,250
4 Tucuruí Brazil 8,370 41.43 3,014
5 Grand Coulee United States 6,809 20
Sayano
6 Shushenskaya Russia 6,400 26.8 621
7 Krasnoyarskaya Russia 6,000 20.4 2,000
8 Robert-Bourassa Canada 5,616
9 Churchill Falls Canada 5,429 35 6,988
10 Longtan Dam China 4,900 18.7
11 Bratskaya Russia 4,500 22.6
12 Ust Ilimskaya Russia 4,320 21.7
Millennium Grand Dam
Dam and spillways
Gravity, roller-compacted
Type of dam concrete
Height 145 m
Length 1.8Km
Reservoir
Capacity 63 Billion m3

Power station
Turbines 15 x 350 MW Francis turbines
Installed capacity 5,250 MW
Net generation 15,000 GWh/year (planned)
Tana Beless Hydroelectric power plant

Capacity=460MW
 Tekeze Dam
 Dam Type= double curvature concrete arch dam
 Height =185m, Crest length = 420m;
 The spillway capacity = 4,500m3/s.
 Power generation capacity = 300MW
 Dimension of underground powerhouse = 95m long x 18m wide x 38m high
 Number of turbines =4 (each 75MW)
 Type = Francis
 Major Hydro electrical projects in Ethiopia
Name Potential (MW)
Gilgel Gibe-I 180
Gilgel Gibe-II 420
Gilgel Gibe-III 1,870
Gilgel Gibe-IV 1472
Tana Beless 460
Tekeze 300
Grand M. Dam 6,000 to 6,500
Awash II HPP 32
Awash III HPP 32
Finchaa HPP 134
Koka HPP 43
MelkaWakena HPP 153
Tis Abay II 74
 Merits and Demerits of Hydropower
 Merits
 Renewable source of energy;
 Economical source of power;
 Non-polluting and hence environment friendly;
 Reliable energy source with approximately 90 percent availability;
 Low generation cost compared with other energy sources;
 Helps in management and regulation of water resources i.e. storage based
plants are often of multipurpose (flood control, irrigation, water supply,
navigation, fishing, tourism etc.),
 Provide employment opportunities being labour intensive;
 Lead to development of remote areas
 Afford a degree of independence from costly and unreliable supply of
imported fuel;
 Technically more reliable than many thermal plants;
 Low operation and maintenance cost,
 Better service operation flexibility, the operation of the plant can be
matched with load requirements
 Merits and Demerits of Hydropower…
 Demerits
 Susceptible to nature such as drought;
 Longer construction period;
 High initial cost;
 Loss of land due to submergence in the reservoir and displacement of
large population from reservoir area,
 Non-availability of suitable sites for the construction of dam,
 Environmental aspect; reservoir vs. river ecology,
 High cost of transmission system for remote sites,
 Long term flow data is essential for proper assessment,
 Breakdown in hydropower equipment may result not only in proportionate
reduction in power generation but also, particularly incase of run -of-river
plants, in letting the precious water run waste,