Hydroelectric plants with flowing water

A run-of-river hydroelectric plant is a complex civil, hydraulic and electromechanical equipment built to convert the potential energy of the water available at a certain altitude compared to the altitude at which the turbines are positioned.

For this reason, the two fundamental factors for defining the developable power are:

jump: difference in quota existing from the place where the water resource is available and the return quota;
flow rate: the quantity of water available to be turbined, net of the mandatory release (DMV) by law.

The typical system layout is:

dam barrier: civil work in the riverbed with the aim of conveying water towards the settling tank;
settling tank: civil work consisting of a suitably sized tank for the purpose of sedimenting sand. It is usually equipped with mechanical gates for cleaning the tank itself;
mechanical screen cleaner: electromechanical equipment inserted between the two tanks with the aim of stopping suspended bodies present in the water;
loading basin: civil engineering work located immediately after the mechanical screen cleaner from which the forced conduit feeding the turbine starts, equipped with a mechanical gate for cleaning the basin itself;
penstock: pressurized pipeline made of various materials that conveys water from the intake structure to the power plant building;
power plant building: civil work intended to house electromechanical equipment;
power plant electromechanical equipment: electromechanical equipment with the aim of transforming potential energy into mechanical energy, first with the rotation of the turbine, and then electrical energy through the generator and electrical control and command panel of the turbine and connection to the grid;
restitution works: hydraulic channel for returning water to the riverbed.

The characteristic of flowing water systems is the lack of an upstream storage basin and therefore the possibility of modulating the power based on the request. In fact, production follows the flow regime of the watercourse based on its seasonality. The construction of such hydraulic systems is advantageous because it has a low environmental impact and a low construction cost compared to basin systems, while maintaining excellent economic profitability.