Module -4

• Hydroelectric plants: Advantages & disadvantages of waterpower, Hydrographs and

flow duration curves, numericals, Storage and pondage, General layout of hydel
power plants- components such as Penstock, surge tanks, spill way and draft tube and
their applications, pumped storage plants, Detailed classification of hydroelectric
plants.
• Tidal Power: Tides and waves as energy suppliers and their mechanics, fundamental
characteristics of tidal power, harnessing tidal energy, limitations of tidal energy.
• Energy from ocean waves: Wave energy conversion, Wave energy technologies,
advantages, and disadvantages.
The hydro-power plays a very important role in the development of the country as it provides
power at cheapest rate being perpetual source of energy. Nearly 20% of the total world power
is generated using hydro-plants. There are some fortunate countries in the world where 90% of
the nation's power requirement is met by hydro power. There are few countries like Russia and
Nepal where vast hydro resources are yet to be harnessed. As per the estimate of the World
Power Organization, the world hydro-potential is roughly 5000 GW whereas only 200 GW is
presently developed (4% only). Many more hydro-plants are included in coming plan of the
Government of India.

Rain falling upon the earth's surface has potential energy relative to oceans towards which it
flows. This energy can be converted into shaft work passing through hydraulic prime mover
and ultimately into electrical energy.

The quantity of water available and head, are equally important in the generation of power.
The available head depends upon the selection of site for hydraulic power plant. The site of
the power plant is always selected for the highest available head when other things are in
favor of site selection.

The quantity of water available at the selected site depends upon the hydrological cycle of
nature. The quantity of water available can be determined from the study of rainfall and run-
off in that area or rainfall mid run-off decides the site for the power plant. As the availability
of water depends on the natural phenomenon of rain, the maximum capacity of hydraulic
generating plant is usually fixed on the basis of minimum quantity of water available. Usually
storage reservoirs are constructed for such plants in order to store the water during peak periods
of run-off and supply the same during off-peak periods of run-off. The study of rain fail and
run-off is very important for the students before going to the study of hydropower engineering.
This study helps in the design of dams, spillways and so on.

Advantages of Hydro-Electric Power Plants

The hydrostations are the best from many points of view. These include simplicity of design,
easy maintenance, absence of pollution and zero fuelling cost, as the source is perpetual one
and goes to waste if not exploited.

 The operating cost of the hydro-electric plant including auxiliaries is considerably

low.
 The useful life is 100-125 years for hydro plant.

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  In hydro plant the fuel cost is totally absent.
 The machines used in hydel plants are more robust and generally run at low speeds.
 Usually the hydrostations are situated away from the developed areas, so the cost
of land is not a major problem.
 The outstanding features of hydro-electric plants is a quick response to the change
of load.
 The efficiency of hydro-plant does not change with age.
 There are no stand-by losses.
 In many hydro-electric developments, it is also possible to create additional
benefits.
 It does not contribute to air and water pollution.

Disadvantages
 The capital cost (cost per kW capacity installed) of the hydro-plant is considerably more
than thermal plant.
 Power generation by the hydro-plant is only dependent on the quantity of water
available which in turn depends on the natural phenomenon of rain. The dry year is
more serious for the hydroelectric project.
 The site of hydro-electric station is selected on the criterion of water availability at
economical head. Such sites are usually away from load centres. The transmission of
power from power station to the load centre requires long transmission lines.
 It takes considerable long time for its erection compared with thermal plants.

Hydro Graphs
Hydrograph is defined as a graph showing
discharge. (run off) of flowing water with respect
to time for a specified time. The time period for
discharge hydrograph may be hour, day, week or
month. The discharge may be m3/sec, km2-
cm/hr or day-second-meter. Discharge hydro
graphs are known as flood or run-off
hydrographs. Each hydro graph has a reference
to a particular river site. The common nature of
hydro graph is shown in Fig.
We can read the followings from the
hydrograph:
1. Rate of flow at any instant during the duration
period.
2. Total volume of flow upto that instant as the
area under hydro graph denotes the volume of
water in that duration.
3. The mean annual run-off or mean run-off for each month of the year.
4. The maximum and minimum run-off for the year and for each month.
5. The maximum rate of run-off during the floods and duration and frequency of the flood.

Flow Duration Curve

Flow duration curve is another useful form to represent the runoff data for the given time. The
magnitudes of runoff as ordinates against the corresponding percentage of time as abscissae
results in a so called' 'flow duration curve". If the magnitude on the ordinate is the potential

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power contained in the stream flow, then the curve is known as "power duration curve". This$
curve is a very useful tool in the analysis for the development of water power.

The flow duration curve is drawn with the help of hydrograph from the available runoff data.
The method used for drawing the flow duration curve is illustrated with the help of following
example.
Discharge in
Month Discharge in m3/sec Month
m3/sec
1. 599 7. 2000
2. 400 8. 3000
3. 200 9. 1600
4. 100 10. 600
5. 200 11. 400
6. 800 12. 300
The hydrograph can be drawn as shown in Fig. below for the given runoff data

To obtain the- flow duration curve from the hydrograph, it is necessary to find out the length
of time during which certain flows are available. This information either from runoff data or
from hydro graph (this is more easy) is tabulated as given below.
Discharge m3/sec (a) Total No. of months Percentage time available
available (b) c= b/12 x 100
100 ( and more) 12 100
200 ( and more) 11 91.6
300 ( and more) 9 76
400 ( and more) 8 66.6
500 ( and more) 6 50

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 600 ( and more) 5 41.5
800 ( and more) 4 33.3
1600 ( and more) 3 25
2000 ( and more) 2 16.6
3000 ( and more) 1 8.3
Now the flow duration curve taking 100% time on the X-axis and runoff on Y-axis can be
drawn as shown in figure below:
If the head of discharge is known, the possible power
developed from the water in kW can be determined by
using the following equation.
kW (power) = mgH x ηoverall
1000
Where ηoverall = ηh ηm ηg.,
m = Rate of water flow in kg/sec, H = Height of fall in
meters, and ηh = Hydraulic efficiency of prime mover
and ηm and ηg are mechanical and generating
efficiencies.
The area under the flow duration curve gives the total
quantity of runoff during that period as flow duration
curve is representation of hydrograph with, flows
arranged in order of descending magnitude. Thus the flow duration curve can be converted to
a power duration curve with some other scale on the same graph
Storage & Pondage
Storage plants are the plants with facilities for storing water at their sites. However, often such
plants cannot store as much water as required for the full year operation. For continuous
operation, it is always preferred to have one or more reservoirs upstream. Depending upon the
place of storage and the function, the reservoirs are grouped as storage and pondage.

Storage: Storage can

be defined as the
collection of a large
quantity of run-off
during monsoon
seasons, which is
essentially used in the
dry seasons for the
plant operation. This is
the_ main or the
upstream reservoir,
made by the
construction of a dam across the stream, as shown in figure.

Pondage: It is defined as a regulating means of water, and is a small reservoir that is used for

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the collection of the excess flow water from the dam spill ways of the main reservoir or from
the river stream. It is basically a small pond or reservoir just behind the power house

The amount of regulation obtained with pondage usually involves storing water during low
loads (during low power demand periods such as early. morning hours and Sundays) to aid
carrying peak loads during the week, The water that would go over the dam spill-way unused
during low-loads can be released and added to normal river flow to supply peak loads, usually
for a few hours of duration. For fluctuating loads, pondage increases the maximum capacity
that a plant can carry.

Plants with reservoirs upstream can store the excess water of spring floods for release during
the summer to supplement the low rates of flow during this dry season. Reservoir water
elevation will generally be lowest during the year at the end of the summer. Pondage increases
the capacity of a river for a brief period only, like for a week. But, storage increases the capacity
of a river over an extended period such, like 6 months to 2 years.

Pump storage plants

Pump storage plants are generally used for peak loads. If there is shortage of water at a
particular location of the plant for power generation, then the water after passing through the
turbine is pumped back from the tail race to head race during off peak periods of thermal or
nuclear plant, provided the ponds are constructed at head and tail water locations. This type of
plant generates power for off peak load but during off-peak period, water is pumped from tail
water pond to the head water pond for future use. The pumps are powered with secondary
power from some other plant as steam plant or run off-river plant where water would otherwise
be wasted over the spillway.

Pumped storage plant is a special type of hydro-electric plant. It works generally in

combination with thermal plants to improve overall efficiency of the combined system.The
effect of the load on efficiency of hydro and thermal power plants is shown in Fig.
The efficiency of the thermal plant decreases rapidly
with decrease in load, whereas the decrease in
efficiency is not very much marked (upto 25% load)
with respect load in case of hydro-plant. Therefore,
it is not desirable to operate the thermal plant at part
load.

If the capacity of the thermal plant is 100 MW and if

the load on the plant is only 80 MW then instead of
operating the plant at 80 MW, it is operated at 100
MW and extra 20 MW power generated is used to

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pump water from a lower level reservoir into the upper level reservoir and this energy is stored
in form of potential energy of water. Now if the load on the plant increases say 110 MW, then
the 100 MW is supplied by thermal plant and the remaining 10 MW by hydel (pumped storage)
plant as some stored energy (in form of stored water during off-peak period) is available in the
hydel plant. Such type of the system to pump the water from lower storage to upper storage
when the load on the thermal plant decreases below its rated load and to use the pumped water
again for power generation when the load on the thermal plant increases above its rated load,
is known as Pumped Storage Plant. Such combined operation increases the overall system
efficiency and also solves the problem of peak load

Usually reversible pump turbine-motor generators are used in such plant. That is, the same unit
can be run as a turbine or a pump. Also the generator can be used as a motor for running the
pump, by the supply of electrical power.

The arrangement of the components of the pump storage plant is shown in Fig.

3.4 (a) and Fig 3.4 (b). Water leaving the turbine of main hydro-electric plant is stored in tail
race pond as shown in Fig, 3.4 (a).This water is again lifted to head race reservoir by means of
a separate pump as shown in Fig, 3.4 (b) and used for power generation at the peak load time.

A unique feature of pumped storage plant is that, very little water is required for its operation.
Once the head water and tail water ponds are filled, the only water needed is to take care of
evaporation and seepage. The pump storage plant decreases the operating cost of steam plant
when working in combination with it because it serves to increase the load factor of the steam
plant and provides added capacity to meet peak loads. Pump storage plants are widely used in
Germany and now-a-days these types of plants gained high popularity throughout the world.

A small capacity of this type of plant is in operation at Jarkwadi (Maharashtra) from last many
years and another plant is also in operation in Tamilnadu.

General layout of hydel power plants

The arrangement of different components for hydroelectric power generation is shown.

The functions of different components used in storage type hydraulic power plant are described
below:
1. Reservoir: The main 'purpose of the reservoir is to store the water during rainy season and
supply the same during dry season. .

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2. Dam: The function of the dam is to increase the height of water level behind it which
ultimately increases the reservoir capacity. The dam also helps to increase the working head of
the power plant. Many times high dams are built only to provide the necessary head to the
power plant.
3. Trash rack: The water intakes from the dam or from the forebay are provided with trash rack
to prevent the entry of debris which might damage the wicket gates and turbine runners or
choke-up the nozzles of the impulse turbine. If the winters are severe, special provision is made
to prevent the trouble from ice. To prevent ice from clinging to the trash racks, they are often
heated electrically. Sometimes an air bubbling system is provided in the vicinity of the trash
racks which brings warmer water to the surface of trash racks.

4. Surge tank: There is sudden increase of pressure in the penstock due to the sudden decrease
in the rate of water flow to the turbine when the gates admitting water to the turbines are
suddenly closed owing to the action of governor. This happens when the load on the generator
decreases. This sudden rise of pressure in the penstock above normal due to reduced load on
generator is known as "water hammer”.
When the turbine gates suddenly open because the turbine needs more water to supply an
increased load demand, water has to rush through the penstock and there is a tendency to cause
a vacuum in the water system. The penstock must withstand the positive hammer caused by
sudden closing of turbine gates and no vacuum should be produced in the system when the
gates suddenly open under increased load conditions.
A surge tank is introduced in the system between the dam and power-house nearest to the
power house, and preferably on the high ground to reduce the height of the tower to provide
better regulation of water pressure in the system during variable load conditions. When the
turbine gates are partly closed and water flow into the turbine is reduced suddenly, water rises
in the surge tank. This produces a retarding head and decreases the velocity of water in the
penstock. When the velocity of the water in the penstock is reduced to the value demanded by
the turbine, the level of the water in the surge tank starts falling and fluctuates up and down till
its motion is damped out by friction. When there is sudden rise in the load on the turbine,
additional water is supplied from surge tank. This lowers the water surface in the surge tank

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thus producing an accelerating head which increases the flow of water in the penstock. The
surge tank thus helps in stabilizing the velocity and pressure in penstock and reduces the water
hammer effect. '
5. Penstock: A pipe between the surge tank and prime-mover is known as penstock. The
structural design of the penstock is same as for any other pipe except it has to bear very high
pressure on inside surface during decreased load conditions on generator and on onside surface
during increased load conditions on generator. Penstocks are most commonly made of steel
through reinforced concrete. If the distance from the forebay to the power house is short,
separate penstocks are used for each turbine.
In very cold weather conditions, it is sometimes advised to bury the penstock to prevent
the ice formation in the pipe and to reduce the number of expansion joints required. Uncovered
(running on the ground) penstocks are usually more expensive because of the expansion joints,
anchors and other apparatus required 'but they have the advantage of being accessible for
inspection and repairs.
6. Spillway: Spillway is considered a safety valve for a dam. It must have the capacity to
discharge major floods without damage to the dam and at the same time keeps the reservoir
level below some predetermined maximum level.
7. Power House: A power house consists of two main parts, a sub-structure to support the
hydraulic and electric equipment and superstructure to house and protect this equipment.
The superstructure of most power houses is a building housing all operating equipment’s.
The generating units and exciters are usually located on the ground floor. The turbines which
rotate on vertical axis are placed just below the floor level while those rotating on a horizontal
axis are placed on the ground floor along-side the generator.
8. Prime Movers: The main purpose of the prime mover is to convert the kinetic energy of
water into mechanical energy to produce electric energy. The prime movers which are in
common use are Pelton turbine, Francis turbine, Kaplan turbine and propeller turbines.
9. Draft tube: The draft tube is essential part of reaction turbine installation. It supplements the
action of the runner by utilizing most of the remaining kinetic energy of the water at the
discharge end of the runner.
The draft tube is a diverging discharge passage connecting the running with tailrace. It is
shaped to decelerate the flow with a minimum loss so that the remaining kinetic energy of
water coming out of runner is efficiently regained by converting into suction head, thereby
increasing the total pressure difference on the runner. This regain of kinetic energy of water
coming out from reaction turbine is the primary function of the draft tube.

Classification of Hydroelectric Plants

• According to Availability of Head – High, Medium, Low.
• According to Capacity - Large, Medium, Small, Mini, Micro.
• According to Facility Type - Run-of-River without Pondage, Run-of-River with
Pondage, In-stream, Storage Type, Pump Storage.
• According to purpose – Single, Multi.
• According to hydrological Relation - Single Stage, Cascad.

According to Availability of Head:

High Head Plants - Head: 100m to 2000m
• Mainly in these plants pressure tunnel is provided before the surge tank, which in turn
connected to penstock.
• The penstocks are huge steel pipes which take large quantity of water from the valve
house to the power house.

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Medium head plants -Head : 30 to 100m
• Mainly forebay provided before the Penstock, acts as water reservoir for medium head
plants.
• The forebay acts as surge tank for these plants.
• The turbines used will be Francis type of the steel encased variety.
Low Head Plant - < 30 m
• In this case small dam is built across the river to provide the necessary head.
• In such plants Francis or Kaplan type of turbines are used

According to Capacity:
• Large: >100 MW
• Medium: 25 – 100 MW
• Small: 1-25 MW
• Mini: 100 KW - 1MW
• Micro: 5 – 100 KW

According to Facility Type:

• Run-of-river Type without Pondage - These are hydro power plants that utilize the
stream flow as it comes , without any storage being provided.
• Run of river plants with pondage - May work as base load or peak load plants. Storage
for a day to day fluctuation or even for a week. Pondage permits storage of water during
the off –peak period and use of this water during peak periods.
• Storage Type Plant - Hydropower plants with storage are supplied with water from
large storage reservoir that have been developed by constructing dams across rivers.
Assured flow for hydro power generation is more certain for the storage schemes than
the run-of-river schemes. Flow is controlled.
• Pumped storage plants - Pumped storage type hydropower plants are those which
utilize the flow of water from a reservoir at higher potential to one at lower potential.
During off-peak hours, the reversible units are supplied with the excess electricity
available in the power grid which then pumps part of the water of the tail-water pond
back into the head-water pond.

According to purpose:
• Single Purpose - When the whole soul purpose of a project is to produce electricity then
such a project is known as a Single Purpose Hydro Power Project.
• Multipurpose - When the water used in hydropower project is to be used for other
purposes like irrigation, flood control or fisheries then such a project is known as Multi
Purpose Hydro Power Project.

According to hydrological Relation:

• Single Stage - When the run off from a single hydropower plant is diverted back into
river or for any other purpose other than power generation, the setup is known as Single
Stage.
• Cascade System - When two or more hydropower plants are used in series such that the
runoff discharge of one hydro power plant is used as the is a intake discharge of the
second hydro power plant such a system is known as CASCADE hydropower plant.

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Oceans cover about 71 per cent of earth’s surface. They receive, store and dissipate energy
through various physical processes. As per present technological status, recoverable energy in
oceans exists mainly in the form of waves, tides and temperature difference (between surface
and deep layers). Tides and waves produce mechanical energy whereas temperature difference
produces thermal energy. Tidal energy technology is relatively more developed compared to
the other two, which are still undergoing evaluation and initial development stages.

TIDAL ENERGY
Tidal energy exploits the natural rise and fall of coastal tidal waters caused principally by the
interaction of the gravitational fields of the Sun and the Moon. The ocean level difference
caused due to tides contains large amount of potential energy. The highest level of tidal water
is known as flood tide or high tide. The lowest level is known as low tide or ebb. The level
difference between the high and low tide is known as tidal range. The tidal range varies greatly
with location. Only sites with large tidal ranges (about 5 m or more) are considered suitable for
power generation. Total combined potential at these sites is estimated as 1, 20,000 MW.

Energy naturally present in ocean water bodies or in their movement can be used for the
generation of electricity. This is achieved broadly in the following ways:
1. Tidal energy: During the rising period of tides, water is stored in a water reservoir
constructed behind dams on shore. The potential energy of stored water body is used to generate
electrical energy similar to that in a conventional hydropower plant. For the tidal energy
method to work effectively, the tidal difference (difference in the height of the high and low
tides) should be at least 4m. We discuss tidal energy in this chapter.
2. Wave energy: Using the kinetic (dynamic) energy of the ocean, waves is utilized to rotate an
underwater power turbine and generate electricity thereon as an underwater wind farm.
3. Ocean thermal energy: The temperature difference between warm ocean surface water and
deep sea cold water is used to generate electricity. This is similar to geothermal power
generation where heat trapped in the earth surface is converted into electrical energy.

Tides are the daily rise and fall of sea level at any given place. The pull of the Moon’s gravity
on Earth is the primary cause of tides and the pull of the Sun’s gravity on Earth is the secondary
cause (Figure below). The Moon has a greater effect because, although it is much smaller than
the Sun, it is much closer. The Moon’s pull is about twice that of the Sun’s.

Most coastal areas, with some exceptions, experience two high tides and two low tides every
day. Almost everyone is familiar with the concept of a 24-hour solar day, which is the time that
it takes for a specific site on the Earth to rotate from an exact point under the sun to the same
point under the sun. Similarly, a lunar day (also known as a "tidal day") is the time it takes for

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a specific site on the Earth to rotate from an exact point under the moon to the same point under
the moon.

Unlike a solar day, however, a lunar day is 24 hours and 50 minutes. The lunar day is 50
minutes longer than a solar day because the moon revolves around the Earth in the same
direction that the Earth rotates around its axis. So, it takes the Earth an extra 50 minutes to
“catch up” to the moon.

Because the Earth rotates through two tidal “bulges” every lunar day, coastal areas experience
two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. High tides occur 12 hours and 25
minutes apart. It takes six hours and 12.5 minutes for the water at the shore to go from high to
low, or from low to high.

Tidal Range
The tidal range is the difference between the ocean level at high tide and the ocean level at low
tide. The tidal range in a location depends on a number of factors, including the slope of the
seafloor. Water appears to move a greater distance on a gentle slope than on a steep slope.

Types of Tides
• According to the height of the tide
– High tide: when the sea water reaches its greatest height within the tide cycle.
– Low tide: when the sea water reaches its lowest height within the tide cycle.

• According to the lunar phase

Spring Tides
During the full moon and new
moon phases, the Moon and the Sun are
aligned and their effects combined,
producing the spring tides
When the gravitational pull of both
bodies is in the same direction, the high
tides are higher and the low tides lower
than at other times through the month.
Spring tides don't just occur in the spring;
they occur whenever the Moon is in a
new-moon or full-moon phase, about
every 14 days.Tide of greater range than the mean range; the water level rises and falls to the
greatest extent from the mean tide level.

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Neap tides
Neap tides are tides that have the smallest tidal range, and they occur when the Earth, the
Moon, and the Sun form a 90o angle. They occur exactly halfway between the spring tides,
when the Moon is at first or last quarter.

At neap tides, the tidal range is relatively small. Neap Tides occur twice a month, during the
first and third quarter phases of the Moon.

Tidal variations in a lunar month

Fundamental characteristics of tidal power

• These are periodical phenomenon.
• In any tidal cycle no two tides are alike.
• The tides are influenced by the relative positions of sun and moon and their distances
from earth.
• The tides at full moon and new moon are higher than rest.
• The tidal range is not constant and varies continuously.
• The mean tidal range varies from one place to another.
• The tidal range is small at first quarter and third quarter moon.

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Harnessing tidal energy
There are three main components of a tidal power plant i.e.
The power house: Auxiliary equipments,
turbines and generators are the main
components of the power house. Large
sized turbines are used because of low
head available.

The dam or barrage: The function of a dam

is to form a barrier between the sea and the
basin or between one basin to the other
basin in case of multiple basins. The most suitable word for tidal power plant is barrage.
Barrages have to resist waves whose shock can be severe and where pressure changes sides
continuously.

Sluice-ways: The function of a dam is to form a barrier between the sea and the basin or
between one basin to the other basin in case of multiple basins. The most suitable word for
tidal power plant is barrage. Barrages have to resist waves whose shock can be severe and
where pressure changes sides continuously.

Classification of Tidal power systems

• Single basin arrangement
– Single ebb cycle system
– Single tide cycle system
– Double cycle system
• Double basin arrangement
• Single basin arrangement

Single Basin System:

Single basin system can generate power only intermittently. This is the simplest system of
generating tidal power. The single basin scheme has only one basin. The basin is separated
from the sea by a dam (barrage, Dyke). The sluice way is opened during high tide to fill the
basin. The turbine-generator units are mounted within the ducts inside the barrage.
The single basin system can be further classified as:
(i) Single Ebb-Cycle System,
(ii) Single Tide-Cycle System,
(iii) Double Cycle System.

Single Ebb-Cycle System:

In single ebb-cycle system, when the high tides (flood side) are
falling, sluices are opened to permit the sea water to enter the
basin, while the turbine sets are shut. The level of the basin
begins increasing. The energy is stored in the form of tidal
range. Tidal range provides water head during low tides. The
generation of power takes place, when the water from the basin
flows over the turbine into the low level sea water. The turbines
are designed for single way operation. The power output from
such system is intermittent in nature and highly variable.

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Single Tide-Cycle
System:
In single tide cycle
system, the generation
is affected when the sea
is at high tide. The sea
water is admitted into
the basin over the
turbines. As the high
tide period is over and the sea level begins falling again, the generation is stopped. The basin
is drained into the sea through the sluice ways. In this system also the power output is
intermittent.

Double Cycle System

In double cycle system, the reversible turbines are installed and power is generated during
filling and emptying of basin. Filling process occurs when the ocean is at high tide while the
water in basin at low tide level, the emptying occurs when the ocean is at low tide and basin at
high tide level.

The flow of water in both directions is used to drive the reversible turbines. Each turbine drives
the generator. In this system also continuous generation of power is not possible because of
short duration. Electric power is generated during two short periods, during each tidal period
of 12 hours 25 minutes or once every 6 hours and 12.5 minutes.

Double Basin System:

There are two basins at different levels. A dam is provided between two basins. The turbines
are located in the dam. The
sluice gates are provided in
the dam. One basin is called
the upper basin; the water
level is maintained above that
in the other, the low basin.
The high level basin gates are
called the inlet gates and low
level gates as outlet gates.
The upper basin is filled with
water.

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When the water level in upper basin A provides a sufficient difference of head between the two
basins, the turbines are started. The water flows from basin A to basin B through the turbines
and the power is generated. The power generation thus continues simultaneously along with
filling up of water in basin A. When the tide attains its peak value, the water level in basin A
is maximum; the inlet sluices are then closed. The water flows from the upper basin to the
lower basin through the turbines.

Thus, the water level in the upper basin falls and that in the lower basin rises. When the rising
level in lower basin B becomes equal to the level of the falling tide, the outlet sluices are
opened. When the tide reaches its lower most level, the outlet gates are closed. After some time
the tide rises. When its level becomes equal to low level of the upper basin, the inlet gates are
opened. Consequently the level of water in basin A starts rising. Thus, the cycle is repeated.

Two basin schemes have the advantages over normal schemes is that generation time can be
adjusted with high flexibility and it is also possible to generate almost continuously.

Advantages of Tidal power plant

• It is free from pollution as it does not use any fuel.
• Large area of valuable land is not required.
• It does not produce any unhealthy waste like gases and ash.
• It has a unique capacity to meet the peak power demand effectively when it works in
combination with thermal or hydroelectric system.
• It is much superior to hydropower plants as it is totally independent of rain which
always fluctuates year to year.

Disadvantages:
• Due to variation in tidal range, the output is not uniform.
• There is a fear of machinery being corroded due to corrosive sea water.
• It is difficult to carry out construction in sea.
• As compared to other sources of energy, the tidal power plant is costly.
• The power transmission cost is high because the tidal power plants are located away
from load centres.

Tidal potential in India

In India, potential sites identified are Gulf of Cambay and Gulf of Kutch in Gujrat with
maximum tidal range as11 m and 8 m and average tidal range of 6.77 m and 5.23 m respectively
and power generation potentials of 7,000 MW and 1,200 MW (installed capacity) respectively.
A potential of 100 MW with maximum tidal range of 5 m and average tidal range as 2.97 m
has been estimated at Durgadurani creek of Sundarbans area. Some potential also exists at
Belladona creek in West
Bengal with mean tidal range
of 3.6 m.
In Jan 2011, the state of
Gujarat announced plans to
install Asia’s first commercial-
scale tidal current power plant;
the state government approved
the construction of a 50 MW
project in the Gulf of Kutch.

Renewable Energy Power Plants DKB, ME Dept., VCET, Puttur

15
Waves form as a result of the water's motion, gravitational forces, and winds. The most
common waves we see are created by wind. Wind-driven waves, or surface waves, are created
by the friction between wind and surface water. As wind blows across the surface of the ocean
or a lake, the continual disturbance creates a wave crest. However other waves include those
created by gravitational forces (e.g. tidal waves) and those created by underwater disturbances.
Wave energy is a form of renewable energy that can be harnessed from the motion of the waves.
Depending on the lunar cycles, tides, winds, and weather, waves can vary in size and strength.
As waves roll through the ocean, they create kinetic energy, or movement. This movement can
be used to power turbines, which, in turn, create energy that can be converted into electricity
and power. There are five main types of technology used including; Absorbers, Attenuators,
Oscillation water columns, overtopping and Inverted- Pendulum device.
Absorbers
An absorber is a floating structure which absorbs energy
from wave motion through its movements at the water
surface. The system consists of a float, spar, and heave plate
as shown in the figure. The float moves up and down the
spar in response to the motion of the waves. The heave plate
maintains the spar in a relatively stationary position. The
relative motion of the float with respect to the spar drives a
mechanical system contained in the spar that converts the
linear motion of the float into a rotary motion. The rotary
motion drives electrical generators that produce electricity
for onboard use or for export to nearby marine applications
using a submarine electrical cable.

Attenuators
Attenuators capture energy by being placed
perpendicular to the crest of the wave. The traveling
crests and troughs of the waves causes the attenuator
to continuously flex at the joints where segments are
connected. This motion drives hydraulic rams which
pump high-pressure oil through hydraulic motors to
generate electricity.

Oscillation water columns

An Oscillating Water Column (OWC) is a
partially submerged enclosed structure. The
upper part of the structure, above the water, is
filled with air, and incoming waves are funneled
into the bottom part of the structure. The water
column in the device then rises and falls with the
wave which causes the air in the top structure to
pressurize and depressurize. This in turn pushes
and pulls air through an air turbine at the top of
the structure, converting the energy to electricity.

Renewable Energy Power Plants DKB, ME Dept., VCET, Puttur

16
Overtopping
Overtopping device captures sea water from waves that overtop
a barrier and fill a reservoir situated above sea level. The
water is then released back to sea through low-head
turbines. This technology is very similar to a conventional
hydropower dam.

Inverted- Pendulum device

An oscillating wave surge converter,
or more simply an inverted-
pendulum device, uses the surge
motion of waves to move a hinged
paddle back and forth. The motion of
the paddle drives hydraulic pumps
which drive electrical generators.

Advantages
– Renewable
– Environment Friendly
– Abundant
– Variety of Ways To Harness
– Reliable
– Vast Amounts of Energy can be Produced
– Small Footprint
– Minimum Visual Impact
– Low Operational Cost and Fewer Maintenance Issues
Disadvantages
– Suitable to Certain Locations
– Effect on Marine Ecosystem
– Source of Disturbance for Private and Commercial Vessels
– Weak Performance in Rough Weather
– Noise and Visual Pollution
– High Costs
– Hard To Scale
– Slow Technology Improvements
– Difficult To Transmit
– Few Implemented

Renewable Energy Power Plants DKB, ME Dept., VCET, Puttur

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