Hydroelectric power
ITE PAOLO SAVI VITERBO ITALY
Ana Maria Bolovan, Benedetta Bringhenti, Valeria Bussotti, Chiara Fonck, Ilaria Viola
Types of Hydropower Plants
The types of hydropower facilities are:
- Impoundmen;
- Diversion;
- Pumped storage
Some hydropower plants use dams and some do not.
Hydropower plants range in size from small systems for a home or village, to large projects producing electricity for utilities.
IMPOUNDMENT
The most common type of hydroelectric power plant is an impoundment facility. Typically it is a large hydropower system. It uses a dam to store river water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn activates a generator to produce electricity. The water may be released either to meet changing electricity needs or to maintain a constant reservoir level.
DIVERSION
Diversion, sometimes called run-of-river, facility channels a portion of a river through a canal or penstock. It may not require the use of a dam. For this reason this type can be more eco-friendly.
Pumped storage
Pumped storage plant works like a battery, storing the electricity generated by other power sources like solar, wind, and nuclear for later use. It stores energy by pumping water uphill to a reservoir at higher elevation from a second reservoir at a lower elevation. When the demand for electricity is low, a pumped storage facility stores energy by pumping water from a lower reservoir to an upper reservoir. During periods of high electrical demand, the water is released back to the lower reservoir and turns a turbine, generating electricity.
Italy’s status on renewable sources
The Energy Services Operator (GSE) periodically publishes data and statistics on the renewable sources used in Italy. The issue of the “Energy from Renewable Sources in Italy – 2016” statistical report allows us to provide a picture of the current situation on renewable sources in Italy, a sector that is constantly developing and changing.
According to this statistical report, renewable energy sources play a key role on the Italian energy scene.
Over more recent years, the installed capacity of these plants has remained more or less constant while the other renewable sources have grown considerably thanks to the various incentive schemes in support of their development. �In 2000, the capacity of hydroelectric plants accounted for around 91% of total installed capacity from renewable sources, while this percentage is now only 36%, due to the exponential growth of bioenergy and wind and solar power.
Hydroelectric Power in Italy
How many hydroelectric plants are there in Italy, and where are they located?
Italy is the world's 14th largest producer of hydroelectric power.
There are 4300 hydroelectric plants in Italy, with over 1500 people working there.
Italy’s landscape, with its numerous mountain chains, offers the perfect location for this kind of energy source.
Hydroelectricity was the first source widely used in Italy to produce electric energy, and remained the main source at least until the 1960s
Since the 1960s the share of hydroelectricity decreased constantly due to the increase in energy needs and almost unchanged total capacity.
In 1895 Lorenzo Vanossi built the first Italian electric generator to work with in Lombardy.
Now hydropower stations are spread all over in Italy.
Italy’s largest hydropower plant
Italy's largest hydropower plant is located in Piedmont, in the Province of Cuneo, at Entracque.
The Entracque Power Plant, also known as The Upper Gesso Plant, is a pumped-storage hydroelectric power station located in Valle Gesso just south of Entracque, Italy
Other large Italian hydropower plants
The Valle Gesso is not the only hydrowpower plant, we have other very large ones:
It uses the pumped-storage hydroelectric method.
Hydroelectric Power in Viterbo’s area��History of Viterbo hydroelectric power plants
The history of Viterbo’s hydroelectric power plants has been long and troubled. Since October 1897, when the engineer Netti Aldobrando presented a project to illuminate the city with electricity, there were various bureaucratic obstacles. The new "hydroelectric" light system was inaugurated in 1905 on August 4 and it is still working!
Marconi of Orte hydroelectric power station
On the terminal section of the river Nera, a few kilometers from the confluence with the Tevere river, in the province of Viterbo, there is this hydroelectric system with flow water type which, in addition to the production plant, also includes the dam of San Liberato and the channel of derivation.
The Orte power station is the last in a complex of four flowing water power plants built on the Tevere river for the production of hydroelectric power.
The hydroelectric power in Terni
The complex includes 19 plants, 7 dams, 3 reservoirs, and a pumping station. It extends into 3 regions - Umbria, Lazio, and Marche – as well as the municipalities of Terni, Perugia, Rieti, and Macerata.�It is so large and complex that a drop of water takes 10 hours to come down from the highest part to the lowest.�The system is based on state-of-the-art technology, and is managed in real time and very efficiently by a single operation centre, which is located in Terni. The fully digital control centre opens and closes the dams, allocates the flows, and responds to programming requirements. The remote management is implemented by a latest-generation system.
Hydropower in Europe
Hydropower has a long history in Europe and in the first half of the last century contributed to industrial development and welfare in most of the countries of Europe. Today, almost 600 TWh are generated in an average hydrological year, which equates to about 60% of the economically feasible hydropower potential within Europe. It should be noted, however, that the yearly hydropower production is influenced by the hydrological situation each year. The European countries with the largest installed hydropower capacity are: Norway, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Germany.
The figure in the next slide shows the situation of the hydropower use and untapped potential in the different countries in the Europe region.
Hydro generation in 2017
Hydropower potential
Challenges
Relatively little investment has been undertaken over the last 12 years. The low investment level today can be attributed to fact that current electricity prices on the European spot market are very low due the following reasons:
• Production capacity in Europe is too high
• Cost of CO2 certificates are very low
• The actual market is distorted due to the high subsidies provided for renewable energy sources such as solar and wind
However, in view of environmental and socio-economical constraints, the partial use of the untapped hydropower potential is extremely challenging and can be reached only through innovative and sustainable solutions for new hydropower plants.
Future Role
Becoming the world’s first climate-neutral continent by 2050 is the objective behind the European Green Deal, the most ambitious package of measures that should enable European citizens and businesses to benefit from sustainable green transition.
Hydropower will become more important in the coming decades, because it can be an excellent catalyst for the energy transition in Europe. However this will require a more flexible, efficient, environmentally and socially acceptable approach to increasing hydropower production to complement wind and solar energy production
Thank you for your attention
ITE PAOLO SAVI VITERBO ITALY
Ana Maria Bolovan, Benedetta Bringhenti, Valeria Bussotti, Chiara Fonck, Ilaria Viola