College of Engineering & Technology

Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering

Overview and Classification of power plant

Chapter-2
Introduction to Electrical & Computer
Engineering

Sisay F.(MSc. in Electrical Power Eng.)

Sources of the Energy
The Various Sources of energy are:
1. Fuels
Solid: Coal, coke anthracite
Liquids: Petroleum and its derivatives
Gases: Natural gas
2. Energy stored in water
3. Nuclear Energy
4. Wind Energy
5. Tidal power
6. Geothermal Energy
7. Thermoelectric power

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Cont.
The above sources of energy are classified in to two big
categories.
Conventional sources
Non Conventional sources
Conventional (or usual) sources of energy (electricity)
are coal, oil, wood, peat, uranium
Conventional sources are these which are commonly
and widely used sources.
E.g. Hydroelectric power plant, Thermal Power
(from coal, mineral oil, natural gas)

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Cont.
Non-conventional (or unusual) sources of energy
include: Solar power, Wind power, Tidal power, Ocean wave
power, Geothermal power (heat from deep under the
ground),Ocean thermal power (the difference in heat
between shallow and deep water),Biomass (burning of
vegetation to stop it producing methane),Biofuel
(producing ethanol (petroleum) from plants
Non Conventional sources are these which are are the new
sources of energy, which are still not in common use.
Solar, Wind, Tidal, Bio gas, Geo thermal

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 Energy stored in Water
The energy contained in flowing water is in the form of
mechanical energy. It may exist as the kinetic energy of a
moving stream or as potential energy of water at some
elevation with respect to a lower datum level an example of
which would be the water held behind a dam.
So this is the basic principle behind hydraulic plants(hydro-
electric power plants).
A hydro power station uses potential energy of water at high
level for generating electrical energy.
This power station is generally located in hilly areas where
dams can be built conveniently and large water reservoirs can
be obtained.

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Cont.
This kind of power station can be used to produce large
amounts of electrical energy. In most countries these
power stations are used as peak load power stations. This
is because they can be started and stopped easily and fast.
The water from the dam is lead to the water turbine
through the penstock. Here the hydraulic energy of water is
converted to rotational mechanical energy by the turbine.
The turbine is connected to the generator through the
turbine shaft and hence mechanical energy is converted
into electrical energy by the generator.
The main constituent of a hydro-electric power station are
shown and discussed on the next slides.

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Layout of Hydro-electric Power Plant

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 Reservoir: This is where water is stored for use as and when
Constituents of and
needed. The type Hydro-electric power
arrangement depends station
on topography of
the site.
Penstock: This is a conduit (conduits) that carry water to the
turbines. They are made of reinforced concrete or steel. A
surge tank is installed next to each penstock for over flow
control and protection of penstock from bursting.
Water turbine: Water turbines are used to convert hydraulic
energy of flowing water into rotational mechanical energy.
Generator: This machine is used to convert rotational
mechanical energy transferred from the turbine through the
shaft, into electrical energy. the produced electrical energy is
transmitted to the transformer for long distance transmission.

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Hydraulic Turbine
Generator set
Weight of the water head:

W (volume density gravity ) (v g )( N )

The potential energy of the water

head: systems is given by:
E potential ( mgh)(inJouls )
Thus the equivelent electrical
energy will be:
E potential overall
Eelectrical ( kwh)
3600 sec 10 3

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Cont.
Where
m = mass (in Kg)
g = constant 10m.s 2
h/H = water head height (meters)
= density of water (m3)=1000 m3
=system efficiency
The output power in kw can then be obtained using:
P overall gQH (kw)
Where Q=discharge through the turbine(m3/s )
=The flow through the penstock
Hence the power output is only function of the head(H)
and discharge(Q)
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 Pros & Cons of Hydro-Power Plant
Advantages
Requires no fuel, thus called clean power station
Small running charges and no need for specialized manpower
Simple construction & requires less maintenance
Very robust & has long life
Also used for flood control and irrigation

Disadvantages
Very high capital cost for dam construction
Uncertainty about availability of huge amounts of water
Skilled personnel required for construction
High cost of transmission line as plant is located in hilly areas.
Impacts native watershed ecology

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Types of Hydro Power Plants

Types of Power Plants (as to the height of head)

Low head plant
This type of plant is constructed if the water head available is
less than 10m.
10m
Medium head plant
Water head is available between 10 to 50 m. m
In this type of plant, a forebay is provided before the penstock to
act as water reservoir.
High head plant
Water head is available between 50 to 2000m.
2000m
This is the type of plant wherein a dam as already needed.
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Contd
Types of Power Plant (as to the nature of the load)

Base-load plant
This type of plant mainly depends on the nature of the
load. It is used regularly for base load operation. It has
the most economical cost in operation and maintenance.
Peak-load plant
This plant is used during peaking hours. Pumped storage
schemes are usually used as peak-load plants.

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 Types of Hydroelectric Power Plant as
to the type of Storage
Storage Schemes
A dam impounds water in a reservoir that feeds the turbine and generator,
which is usually located within the dam itself.
Run-of-River Scheme
Use the natural flow of a river, where a weir can enhance the continuity of the
flow. Both storage schemes and run-of-river schemes can be diversion
schemes, where water is channeled from a river, lake or dammed reservoir to
a remote power house, containing the turbine and generator.
Pumped Storage Scheme
Pumped storage incorporates two reservoirs. At times of low demand,
generally at night, electricity helps pump water from the lower reservoir to
the upper reservoir. This water is then released to create power when the
demand is high.
Two way flow
Pumped up to a storage reservoir and returned to a lower elevation for power
generation
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Categories based on Power Level

Large-hydro
> 100 MW feeding into a large electricity grid
Medium-hydro
15 - 100 MW usually feeding a grid
Small-hydro
1 - 15 MW - usually feeding into a grid
Mini-hydro
0.1 - 1 MW
Either stand alone schemes or more often feeding into
the grid
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Contd
Micro-hydro
From 5 - 100 kW
Usually provided power for a small
community or rural industry in remote
areas away from the grid.
Pico-hydro
< 5 kW
Remote areas away from the grid.
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Conventional Impoundment Dam

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Diversion (Run-of-River) Hydropower

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Pumped Storage System

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Hydro Turbines
Turbines are of two types:
Reaction turbines, where the turbine is totally
embedded in the fluid and powered from the
pressure drop across the device
Impulse turbines, where the flow hits the
turbine as a jet in an open environment, with
the power deriving from the kinetic energy of
the flow.

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 Categories of Turbines
Reaction Turbines
Derive power from pressure drop across turbine
Totally immersed in water
Angular & linear motion converted to shaft power
Propeller, Francis, and Kaplan turbines
Impulse Turbines
Convert kinetic energy of water jet hitting buckets
No pressure drop across turbines
Pelton, Turgo, and cross flow turbines

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Types of Turbines

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 Common Turbines

Kaplan 2 < H < 40

Francis 10 < H < 350
Pelton 50 < H < 1300

(H = head in meters)

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 Turbine Choice

Head
High Medium Low

Impulse Pelton Crossflow Crossflow

Turgo Turgo
Multi-jet Pelton Multi-jet Pelton

Reaction Francis Propeller

Pump-as-Turbine Kaplan

24

Boyle, Renewable Energy, 2nd edition, Oxford University Press, 2003

Turbine Ranges of Application

25
Turbine Application Chart

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Hydropower in Ethiopia
The hydropower potential of Ethiopia is about 45,000 MW .
The country also has the potential to generate 10,000 MW
from wind energy and 5000 MW from its geothermal
resources found in the Great East Africa Rift Valley.
However, Ethiopia was only able to generate a little over 2000
MW.
The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCO) operates
as an interconnected system consisting of 12 hydro (1,942.60
MW), 3 diesel standby plants (112,3 MW) and 1
geothermal plant (730MW).
[http://hidasse.com/gibe-iii-hydro-power/]

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Contd
The Tekeze Dam (300MW) was finished in 2009.
The 420MW Gilgel Gibe II and 460MW Beles plants were in
operation in 2010.
Fincha Amerti Neshe , a 100MW hydropower plant, started its
operation in 2011.
Ethiopia is exporting 400MW to Kenya and is in the process of
constructing a transmission line to Sudan. And it is hoping to
export power to Egypt and Yemen once Gibe III is
commissioned.
[http://www.mbendi.com/indy/powr/af/et/p0005.htm]

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Contd

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