What Is Run Of River Electricity?


by Charles DIckens - Date: 2009-12-04 - Word Count: 293 Share This!

The name in itself is a dead giveaway of what Run of River Electricity really is. Generating electricity of this kind is becoming very popular in Canada and in various other places around the world where rivers are powerful enough to be used.

The concept

Run of River Electricity is a very simple concept that is easy to understand. Hydro Power Stations that operate and create electricity of this kind do not need water to be kept pent up in a dam or a reservoir. Instead they take advantage of the flow of the river and any elevation that it might have to produce the electricity. A part of the water is diverted towards the turbines through what is called a penstock. This water operates the turbines thus creating electricity. Once this is done, the water returns to the river.

Advantages

The biggest advantage of using Run of River Electricity as an option for Hydro Power Supply is the fact that this kind of project does not require a reservoir or dam to be built. This in itself is a big factor that favors the environment as construction of a dam or a reservoir could damn the surrounding ecology.

Disadvantages

Since Run of River Electricity relies entirely on nature, the amount of electricity that is generated is never constant. When the ice melts into springs there is a lot of electricity that is generated as the force of the water is tremendous. However this decreases during the drier months as there is not enough of water energy to generate energy. Another major drawback of this system is that the Micro Hydro Power plants are not capable of storing power. Therefore this kind of system cannot be used alone as it would need a back up for the drier months.

Related Tags: run of river electricity, hydro power stations, micro hydro power

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