Six Main Advantages of Hydroelectric Power Plant

Hydroelectric Power Plant is a generator that transforms potential energy into energy that has a speed known as the kinetic energy of water so as to produce electrical energy.

Not only limited to water from waterfalls and reservoirs, but also includes power plants that produce hydropower in other forms such as wave power, waterfalls, and others.

Hydropower as a power plant that relies on water potential has many advantages compared to other types of power plants.

However, this type of power plant also has various weaknesses, including the potential for flash floods and landslides. In this article, everything will be explained about the advantages and disadvantages of hydroelectric power. Check out the following reviews.

Advantages of Hydroelectric Power

Power plants that use hydropower have six main advantages, including:

1. Renewable

Hydropower uses water as a source of energy that is fully renewable and will never run out unless the water stops flowing. Therefore hydropower is built to last for a long time. Tens or even hundreds of years.

In Indonesia, one of the oldest hydropower plants is the Jelok hydropower plant, which has been around since 1938. And until now it can still produce electricity and provide maximum benefits to the surrounding area. Located in Delik Village, Tuntang District, Semarang Regency. The existence of this hydropower plant utilizes water from Rawa Pening, built by the Nederlandsch-Indische Electriciteits-Maatschappij (ANIEM) or electricity managers at that time.

2. Emission Free

Hydropower does not release emissions into the atmosphere, unlike other power plants. This is of course the biggest draw of any renewable energy source. Emissions are the biggest threat to the environment because they can affect air quality and damage the ozone layer as a protector of the earth.

One of the power plants that produces the most emissions is the Steam Power Plant (PLTU), which uses coal as its power source. The smoke and waste that is emitted is very damaging to the environment, therefore PLTUs in European countries and in other countries have been reduced and have even stopped operating.

3. Reliable

Hydropower is by far the most reliable renewable energy available in the world. Unlike at sunset or when the wind dies down, the water usually has a constant and steady flow for 24 hours.

Even if there are periods, electricity production will decrease when rainfall decreases or there is a long dry season which causes the water discharge to decrease and the electricity produced decreases. Under normal climatic conditions the percentage decrease is not too sharp.

4. Customizable

Because hydropower is so reliable, hydropower can actually regulate the flow of water. This allows hydropower plants to produce more energy when needed or reduce energy production/output when not needed. This is something that other renewable energy sources cannot do.

5. Artificial Lake

To build a hydropower plant, a large number of water reservoirs or often referred to as artificial lakes are needed. The artificial lake can be used for recreational purposes and can help the development of tourist attractions.

As a tourist destination, the result of hydropower development is Cirata Reservoir Water Tourism in West Java. Apart from being used as a power plant, the Cirata Dam hydropower plant is also a tourist attraction for local residents, and many visitors even come from Jakarta, Bogor and Bandung.

6. Encouraging Regional Development

Since water dams can only be built in certain locations, the presence of such dam construction can help speed up development at the location where the hydropower plant is built. The reason is, to build a dam requires a lot of equipment. To transport them, roads had to be built, which helped pave new roads for rural towns which greatly benefited the surrounding communities.

Disadvantages of Hydroelectric Power

Although it has many advantages, hydroelectric power plants also have some disadvantages, including:

• Impact on River Habitat Fish

To make a hydroelectric power plant, a source of flowing water must be dammed. This prevents the fish from reaching their natural breeding grounds, which in turn affects other animals that depend on them for food.

When the water stops flowing, the habitat of the animals that are on the banks of the river starts to disappear. Because the difficulty of getting water can cause several types of animals to become extinct.

• Location Limited

To build a hydroelectric power plat, the place is certain and limited, it is rather difficult to find the right place. The amount of water discharge is sufficient, has the right slope, and is easily accessible. In addition, sometimes the exact location is far from the city or other industrial facilities so that a long electrical cable installation is required.

• Higher Initial Cost

In general, every power plant requires a large investment and is not easy to build. Construction of hydroelectric power plants does require the construction of dams to hold back the flow of water. As a result, they are more expensive than fossil fuel generators for the same output capacity. However, later they do not have to worry about buying fuel. So it happened in the long run.

• Flood and Landslide Risk

Even though it has been built using high technology, it does not mean that PLTA is one hundred percent safe. Many hydropower plants have collapsed and caused huge amounts of water to flow and submerged everything downstream, houses, agricultural land, bridges, public facilities and even claimed many lives.

So that's the various benefits and drawbacks of using water as a power plant. See also other interesting articles about renewable energy as a source of energy in the future.