Large Hydroelectric power generation-scheme components [8] I. FUNCTION OF HYDROPOWER IN POWER SYSTEM The electric energy supplied by the hydropower plant is abundant, low
Hydroelectric power plants convert the potential energy of stored water or kinetic energy of running water into electric power. Hydroelectric power plants are renewable sources of energy as the water available is self
Hydropower generation has a high efficiency and conventional hydropower plant can make use of 80% water resources, while the heat efficiency of thermal power plant only reaches 30%~50%.
Hydropower from the YRB could provide high-quality, reliable, and stable power to Central China, East China, and South China, and plays an important role in implementing the “West-East Power Supply”.
There are abundant hydroelectric resources in the Yangtze River basin (YRB) in China, with an annual water resource of approximately 996 billion cubic meters and a fall of 5400 m. The potential installed capacity is 281,000 MW, and the annual power generation is 1.30 trillion kWh, accounting for a large portion of the nation's total power.
Energy droughts for hydropower over Yangtze River basin (YRB) last for 2–24 days. Developed hydropower potential (DHP) was reduced by 26% during energy droughts. There is a lagged effect of La Niña on the frequency and duration of energy drought. The future risk of extreme energy drought like 2022 will increase by 88% under SSP585.
Among them, the annual average numbers of energy droughts in the Three Gorges hydropower plant (IHC = 22500 MW), the Ertan hydropower plant (IHC = 3300 MW) on the Yalong River, and the Gongzui hydropower plant (IHC = 2100 MW) on the Dadu River are 10.5, 12.4 and 25 times, respectively.
The energy drought severity of hydropower largely depends on the capacity of the hydropower plant. The drought severities of most small hydropower plants (IHC < 100 MW) are <100 MW/event, whereas the severities for large and medium hydropower plants (IHC > 1000 MW) could reach approximately 1000–10,000 MW/event.
DHP is the maximum possible hydropower generation of all reservoirs in this study, which is estimated based on reservoir characteristics, such as location, capacity, dam height, and IHC. In comparison to the actual hydropower generation, DHP is not affected by socio-economic factors such as energy demand, various water consumption, etc.
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