Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant: Today we use many energy sources in our daily life, one of the most important energy sources is electricity. We can never imagine our life without it. Electricity is generally produced through various power plants like thermal power plants, nuclear power plants, hydropower plants, solar power plants, geothermal power plants, and many more.
The most convenient and easily accessible power plant which also creates the least pollution is the Hydropower plant. Hydro refers to water, so in hydropower plants, electricity is produced through the flow of running water. Let us now know more about hydropower plants.
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What are Hydropower Plants? Advantage and Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant 2022
HydroPower plants are plants that use impounded water of rivers on which dams are constructed, to produce electricity. The dam, which is constructed, has a turbine underneath the tumbling water. This causes the turbine to move and the potential energy of the turbine in combination with the kinetic energy of fast-flowing water converted into mechanical energy to produce electricity.
Hydropower plants also known as Hydropower electricity plants are mostly set up in regions having plenty of water. These power plants, after the production of electricity, supply the power to many local regions, factories, markets, etc. Now after learning the meaning of hydropower plants let us look upon some of their advantages and disadvantages.
- Advantages of Hydropower Plants
- Disadvantages of Hydropower Plants
- Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant
- FAQ’s on Pros and Cons of Hydropower plant
Advantages of Hydropower Plants
Here are a few advantages of hydropower plants :
- Water is available throughout the year
- Operational and maintenance cost is lower than other power plants
- The cost of fuel is nil
- Hydro Plants are made for multiple purposes
- The requirement of working staff is less. The cost of expenses is lower as compared to other plants.
Water is available throughout the year: Water is a natural resource that is available all year round. The quality and quantity of it may get reduced due to seasonal change or other man-made reasons but it can get replenished with time. Anyone setting hydropower plants will make sure that water must be easily accessible in the areas where plants have been set up.
Operational and maintenance cost is lower than other power plants: The Hydropower plants which are set up require huge infrastructure to build embankments and thus capital or finance required is also huge only at initial stages but less as compared to other plants. For example, a thermal power plant requires not only infrastructure but also operational and maintenance expense is high as there are daily requirements of raw material I.e. Coal to run the plants and machines has to be repaired regularly. Thus we can conclude here that hydropower plants have a lower cost expense as compared to other electricity-producing plants.
The cost of fuel is nil: Fuel is not required in Hydropower plants as everything depends on the flow of water to generate electricity. Plants do not consume water to generate electricity like other plants consume fuel to produce electricity.
Hydro Plants are made for multiple purposes: Hydropower plants serve not only the purpose of production of electricity but are also used for other purposes like irrigation, controlling flood, recreational, etc. We can therefore say that hydropower plants also help in developing the economy of a nation indirectly also.
The requirement of working staff is less: Staff required to monitor the working of the plant is less. This also leads to reducing the cost of operation of hydropower plants and making it economical for a country.
The cost of expenses is lower as compared to other plants: Expenses like transportation of raw material, wages, etc. requirement is least in the case of the hydropower plant. Other plants have to pay daily wages to workers and also spend a lot on transportation of raw material.
Disadvantages of Hydropower Plants
Listed are a few Disadvantages of Hydropower Plants.
- Embankment construction cost is high
- Land space requirement for set up is large
- Water must be abundant to continue the process
- Aquatic life is effected
- Embankment areas need to be evacuated for flood plains.
Embankment construction cost is high: The cost of construction of infrastructure I.e. The embankment is high at the initial stages. Hydropower requires huge capital as an investment at the starting point while other electricity-producing plants require to make plants and set up machines that are lower as compared to it.
Land space requirement for set up is large: Since an embankment or dam is made upon the river, therefore, the land required for setting up the huge infrastructure is large.
Water must be abundant to continue the process: Requirements of water in hydropower plants is must but some time due to certain drought conditions or some natural causes, quantity gets decreased and with less amount of water, generation of electricity gets interrupted.
Aquatic life is affected: Embankment reduces the possibility for fish to reach their breeding ground which in turn affects other animals as they rely upon fish for food. As the flow of water ceases, the nearby habitat of rivers gets reduced also they are not able to access water.
Embankment area needs to be evacuated for flood plains: A hydropower plant wherever made the nearby locality and area are affected at large as people residing there have to evacuate to fulfil the needs of plants. Sometimes due to heavy rainfall or typhoons, the embankment although strong would affect a large number of people residing in an area nearby, same happened in the case of Banqiao Dam where people have to suffer flood as the dam collapsed due to strong wind and heavy rainfall and approximately 171000 Localities have to lose their life.
Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant
Let us now look at the advantages and disadvantages together.
| Advantages of hydropower plant | Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant |
| Water is available throughout the year | Embankment construction cost is high. |
| Operational and maintenance cost is lower than other power plants | Land space requirement for set up is large |
| The cost of fuel is nil | Water must be abundant to continue the process |
| Hydro Plants are made for multiple purposes | Aquatic life is effected |
| The requirement of working staff is less. The cost of expenses is lower as compared to other plants. | Embankment areas need to be evacuated for flood plains |
FAQ’s on Pros and Cons of Hydropower plant
Question 1.
What are Hydropower plants?
Answer:
Plants that use water to generate electricity using large turbines under tumbling water are called hydropower plants.
Question 2.
What are Embankments?
Answer:
Embankments are large structures stone-built to stop river water to generate electricity or used for irrigation purposes.
Question 3.
What are the advantages of hydropower plant?
Answer:
The advantages of hydropower plants are:
- Water is put away in the dam.
- The development of dams helps in giving water systems to the neighbourhood ranchers; it likewise helps in controlling floods.
- This strategy for power age doesn’t create any contamination.
- Their functional expense is exceptionally low.
Question 4.
What are the Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant?
Answer:
The Disadvantages of Hydropower Plant are:
- Hydroelectric power age makes ecological outcomes.
- Development requires enormous space.
- Require high Initial expense.
- It causes the hazard of the dry season.
- Transmission of force is convoluted and the expense will likewise be high.
- Rely upon whether.