Hydro
Small Hydropower Plant
Lower-output hydro plants, often run-of-river, using compact turbines.
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Labelled system
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Original ENERGY ATLAS schematic. Interactive 3D is opt-in on this page.
Protect the turbine from debris.
Overview
Small hydro typically uses existing river drops or modest weirs. Environmental footprint can be smaller than large reservoirs, but fish passage and flow alteration still matter.
How it works
An intake directs water to a small turbine (including cross-flow types) and returns it downstream.
Components
Intake and trash racks
Protect the turbine from debris.
Compact turbine
Matched to local head and flow.