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Clean Energy Basics Introduction to hydroelectric power More information is available at www.nrel.gov/clean_energy/hydroelectric_power.html Department of Energy (DOE)-National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Solar energy Wind energy Biomass energy Geothermal energy Hydroelectric power Hydrogen energy Ocean energy Flowing water creates energy that can be captured and turned into electricity. This is called hydroelectric power or hydropower. The most common type of hydroelectric power plant uses a dam on a river to store water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. But hydroelectric power doesn't necessarily require a large dam. Some hydroelectric power plants just use a small canal to channel the river water through a turbine. Another type of hydroelectric power plant— called a pumped storage plant— can even store power. The power is sent from a power grid into the electric generators. The generators then spin the turbines backward, which causes the turbines to pump water from a river or lower reservoir to an upper reservoir, where the power is stored. To use the power, the water is released from the upper reservoir back down into the river or lower reservoir. This spins the turbines forward, activating the generators to produce electricity. Keywords: Chemistry-Industrial chemistry and chemical process engineering; Energy-Solar, wind, and other renewable sources; Medical Sciences and Technology-Biomedical technology Resource tags: Federal laboratories, centers, and facilities; User facility
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