Hydroelectric Power - The Risks:

Again: HYDRO IS CHEAP!

• Operating costs about 0.6 cents per KWH
• Coal Plant averages around 2.2 cents per KWH

  Energy density in stored elevated water is high:

  

  So one liter of water per second on a turbine generates 720 watts of power. If this power can be continuously genreated for 24 hours per day for one month then the total number of KWH per month is then:

  720 watts x 24 hours/day x 30 days/month = 518 Kwh/month.

  Power generating capacity is directly proportional to the height the water falls. For a fall of say only 3 m, 30 times less electricity would be generated (e.g. 17 Kwh/month) - but this is just for a miniscule flow rate of 1 kg/sec.

  Capacities of some large dams:

  Grand Coulee            1942 6500 MW
  John Day                1969 2200 MW
  Niagara (NY)            1961 2000 MW
  The Dalles              1957 1800 MW
  Chief Joseph            1956 1500 MW
  McNary                  1954 1400 MW
  Hoover                  1936 1345 MW
  Glen Canyon             1964  950 MW
  

  Pacific Northwest has 58 hydroelectric dams --> 63% of total electricity generated

  Other Advantages:

  

  Some Real Disadvantages:

  

Dams are frequently located upstream from major population centers:

• 1918--1958: 33 Major dam failures resulting in 1680 documented fatalities
• 1959--1965: 9 major dams failed throughout the world
• 1976: Teton Dam failure in Idaho
• Most of the dams on the columbia have been built since 1950 and are not close to their failure points

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