We explain what hydraulic energy is and how a hydroelectric plant works. The advantages and disadvantages of this energy and examples.
What is hydraulic power?
It is known as hydraulic energy, hydropower or hydropower. obtained from the use of the kinetic and/or potential energy of currents, falls or waterfalls. It is a form of energy that has been widely used in the history of humanity and on different scales, since it can be transformed into numerous other forms of useful energy.
In general terms, hydraulic energy It is considered safe, renewable and clean since it does not exhaust the water it uses, nor does it underproduce toxic or polluting substances.
However, it usually has a considerable environmental impact given the impact that the installations can have, especially on a large scale, as is the case of hydroelectric dams, which modify the flow of rivers, flood dry land and can even change the quality of the water.
For centuries, the riverbed It was used with mills and rotors to take advantage of its force and convert it into mechanical energy whether to grind grains or wheat, or to generate electricity. The strength of water, its fluidity and its abundance make these mechanisms an ideal resource for humanity.
See also: Mechanical energy
How do hydroelectric plants work?
Hydroelectric plants are the best-known case of harnessing hydraulic energy to, in this case, generate electrical energy. This It is carried out by locating the power plant in a natural waterfall river bed or by building a hydroelectric dam (if it does not have the necessary height).
The logic of these locations is to take advantage of the gravitational potential energy of the water or the intensity of its current, to make liquid move a hydraulic turbine constantly generating a rotation movement that is transferred to an electricity generator.
This electrical energy can then be transmitted through the network to the homes and businesses that require it.
Advantages of hydropower
Hydropower has the following virtues:
- It is renewable Well, they do not waste the water of the rivers, nor do they affect their drying.
- It is cheap and easy to obtain Given the abundance of water on the planet. There are, of course, the installation costs of hydroelectric plants, but that only counts as an initial investment.
- It is a form of clean energy Well, it does not underproduce polluting substances as there are no combustion processes or raw materials.
- In the long run it is economical Since it does not depend on the entry of raw materials or the fluctuations of its market.
Disadvantages of hydropower
This form of energy has the following defects:
- The environmental impact of large facilities on rivers and lakes.
- The high cost of building the plants, as well as the secondary costs of flooding fertile land to build a dam.
- The alteration of river ecosystems downstream, since the water leaving the plant lacks sediment.
- Extreme drought seasons and phenomena such as El Niño can drastically reduce electricity production.
Importance of hydraulic energy
This form of energy is key in the development of sustainable and ecological forms of meet the growing energy demand in the post-industrial world.
Burning fossil fuels is too polluting, nuclear energy poses some dangers and, along with other forms of energy generation, is not efficient enough. Hydroelectric power and other forms of renewable electricity are increasingly seen as a necessary option in the future world.
Examples of hydraulic power
Examples of the use of hydraulic energy are:
- The hydraulic mills Which are pushed along the bed of a river and serve to rotate a piston and in it a millstone, with which grains, seeds, wheat, etc. are ground or crushed. This same principle has been used with the force of the wind.
- Hydroelectric plants. Such as the Simón Bolívar Hydroelectric Power Plant, in Venezuela, also called Guri Dam, which takes advantage of the flow of the Caroni River, a tributary of the Orinoco, to generate some 10,235 MW of electricity that supplies the entire country.
