Hydroelectric Power I:

Hydropower is a natural renewable energy source as it makes use of The Hydrological Cycle

Hydropower production is sensitive to secular evolution of weather; seasonal snowpacks, etc, etc. Long term droughts (10 years or so) seem to occur frequently in the West

About 30% of the hydropotential in the US has been tapped to date

Why is Hydro so attractive?

• BECAUSE ITS CHEAP! for the consumer --> average price in the PNW is around 4 cents per KWH --> this is 3 times less than the national average!

• Low cost to the consumer reflect relatively low operating costs of the Hydro Facility. Most of the cost is in building the dam

Energy density in stored elevated water is high:

So one liter of water per second on a turbine generates 720 x 3600 = 3000 KWH of electricity!

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