How do hydroelectric power stations produce electricity?

Answer 1

• Water held high up in the hills behind a dam.
• Pipework drains the lake to a lower level.
• The force of the water in the pipe is used to spin a turbine.
• The turbine is connected to an alternator and produces electricity.
• When it rains the lake is topped up with water.
• During low demand periods, water can be pumped back up to the lake as well, using electricty from other sources.

Answer 2

Hydro power works pretty simply. First humans put up a "wheel" if you may on a river or a strong moving currents. Second the strong current pushes the wheel around creating energy that humans can harness and power our homes and cities.

The above method is used for waterwheels that power mills. Most power plants that use water to generate electricity will build a dam across a river. This will cause water to back up in the river, so that they can allow water to flow through the dam and drop a certain distance. They run this falling water through a turbine that will turn as the water falls through it. The turbine then turns an electric generator. This turbine and generator setup is used in most power plants, whether geothermal (where heat from the earth is used to make steam), nuclear, fuel oil, or coal (where a fuel is used to turn water into steam). In most cases steam is used to turn a turbine. For hydroelectric, the falling water is used.

Hydroelectric plants usually run a relatively low RPM turbine (600 - 900 RPM, versus 2100 - 3600 for other plants), and have a relatively low generating capacity (many will be less than 10 megawatts from a turbine, versus 50 - 100 for geothermal, up to 500 -700 for nuclear or fuel burning). Their advantage is that they can generate electricity so long as the river is supplying water, without needing to burn fuel, and without the emissions that other plants would give off.

Answer 3

Water flows into a dam which spins generators. This produces electricity which powers most kinds of society.