| The hydro power technology is based
on the water circulation in nature. Water from lakes and seas is vaporized by the
heat radiation of the sun. The water steam forms clouds and the water falls down as rain.
Rain falling in uplands has accordingly been lifted up from the sea surface level
by the sun and has thereby got larger potential energy. This potential energy is
transformed in the turbines in our rivers to useful mechanical energy, which in the
generator is transformed into electrical energy. As sun is the driving power of the water circulation, the energy from the hydro power can be regarded as stored and delayed solar energy. In the state of nature, i.e. if no turbine plants are built, the energy gets lost as friction in the water and towards the river beds including rapids and falls. Theoretically the result will be a heating of the water and its surroundings. This heating however is very small and has no practical importance. When the water has returned to the sea, it has in this way lost all its energy earlier received from the solar radiation. The development of the modern water turbine started during the first half of the 19th century. Since then new turbine types have been developed and existing designs have been improved - all this in order to take care of the energy from the flowing water as effective as possible. |
