Large Scale Hydro

[Billy Roper]

Last week, I visited a large hydroelectric dam near me. The unit produces enough power for 40,000 homes. Post-collapse, I wonder how feasible it would be for a cooperative to maintain the functioning of such a unit? I anticipate much would depend on how many technical people you had on board who could keep it running and also make sure that the power produced was routed into the area you wished to power, rather than being dispersed throughout a larger electric power grid. Any thoughts or observations?

 

[Brent S]

Last week, I visited a large hydroelectric dam near me. The unit produces enough power for 40,000 homes. Post-collapse, I wonder how feasible it would be for a cooperative to maintain the functioning of such a unit? I anticipate much would depend on how many technical people you had on board who could keep it running and also make sure that the power produced was routed into the area you wished to power, rather than being dispersed throughout a larger electric power grid. Any thoughts or observations?

I have some electrical knowledge, not an engineer by any means, but more than most. I only wish I lived near something like that. It would be worth defending and keep operating. I need to check maps and see if anything is close at all.

 

[DrHenley]

For those of you who haven't read it, Billy actually gets into that in his book The Fifth Horseman

 

[Billy Roper]

From what I've researched, if you don't want to build your own from scratch, the things to bear in mind when considering defending a large hydro station are: You will be better off to get at least some of the technicians and workers on board. If the whole grid is down, you will have to isolate the dam's electrical output network from the rest of the grid while you get it back online. Kind of like turning off the appliances that threw a breaker before you turn it back on. Then, you will have to use the shutoff mechanisms in the control room to keep your current local. Obviously this isn't a project for a hobbyist. But imagine the potential.

 

[Brent S]

From what I've researched, if you don't want to build your own from scratch, the things to bear in mind when considering defending a large hydro station are: You will be better off to get at least some of the technicians and workers on board. If the whole grid is down, you will have to isolate the dam's electrical output network from the rest of the grid while you get it back online. Kind of like turning off the appliances that threw a breaker before you turn it back on. Then, you will have to use the shutoff mechanisms in the control room to keep your current local. Obviously this isn't a project for a hobbyist. But imagine the potential.

Electricity isn't just for comforts. It runs our tools and allows us to do so much more than without it. I've made some measures to keep powered for some time, but hydro is an amazing resource requiring no fuel, other than rain.

 

[Billy Roper]

Yep, the place near me is at the tail of a large lake, the dam was built below it in the 1950s to stop it from flooding, so the water is always there. Just open one or more of the sluice gates and the water rushing down from gravity spins the turbines which produces the electricity.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Awhile back I was looking in to a small hydro system for the creek on my property. A small hydro system is really very simple to setup and operate and the cost is reasonable if you do most of the work yourself. I gave up on that plan and decided on solar because the house site was over a mile away from the creek. My son is thinking about building near the creek and will probably go with a small hydro setup. Years ago I built a Pelton wheel type system for a friend of mine in Oregon to power his remote home. It worked out good for him.

 

[Brent S]

Awhile back I was looking in to a small hydro system for the creek on my property. A small hydro system is really very simple to setup and operate and the cost is reasonable if you do most of the work yourself. I gave up on that plan and decided on solar because the house site was over a mile away from the creek. My son is thinking about building near the creek and will probably go with a small hydro setup. Years ago I built a Pelton wheel type system for a friend of mine in Oregon to power his remote home. It worked out good for him.

I actually started to move loads of rocks in the big creek on the back of the property for a ram pump I built. I wasn't going to dam it, but just funneling it thru a narrower point to increase the velocity. Anyways, the owner on the other side (whom I've never met or seen) put up a sign demanding that I never try to damn his side of the creek again. Oh well, that project ended to avoid a dispute. I have a smaller creek on the front of the property that I tried to set the ram pump up on, but it didn't have enough elevation to pump as high as I wanted. It worked, but only lifted the water half of the height where I wanted it. I ended up trading the pump to a friend for some old wagon wheels that are yard art now. If you own both sides of creek you have a chance of doing something like this, but even then there are many laws with the EPA and state agencies involving water. You may think you own it, but the govt usually thinks otherwise.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I actually started to move loads of rocks in the big creek on the back of the property for a ram pump I built. I wasn't going to dam it, but just funneling it thru a narrower point to increase the velocity. Anyways, the owner on the other side (whom I've never met or seen) put up a sign demanding that I never try to damn his side of the creek again. Oh well, that project ended to avoid a dispute. I have a smaller creek on the front of the property that I tried to set the ram pump up on, but it didn't have enough elevation to pump as high as I wanted. It worked, but only lifted the water half of the height where I wanted it. I ended up trading the pump to a friend for some old wagon wheels that are yard art now. If you own both sides of creek you have a chance of doing something like this, but even then there are many laws with the EPA and state agencies involving water. You may think you own it, but the govt usually thinks otherwise.

Fortunately I own both sides of the creek and the forest service owns several miles all around my property so I don't have the neighbor problem. A small system should be set up as covertly as possible. The way I see it if I'm not damming the creek, blocking fish passage and I'm returning as much water as I take, the government agencies can kiss my a$$.

 

[Billy Roper]

That made me think about John Wayne in "Angel and the Badman". There's always the potential of someone blocking your flow upstream of your position where you can't defend it and shutting down your power, with a smaller system, unfortunately.

 

[Brent S]

Fortunately I own both sides of the creek and the forest service owns several miles all around my property so I don't have the neighbor problem. A small system should be set up as covertly as possible. The way I see it if I'm not damming the creek, blocking fish passage and I'm returning as much water as I take, the government agencies can kiss my a$$.

Staying low key and not advertising what you're doing is key.