The recently shut down Edward Hyatt hydroelectric plant in northern California has been set to reopen in the near future. The cause of the sudden shutdown was due to the damage to the Oroville Dam after a spillway which nearly caused it to collapse entirely. The spillway was caused by an overload of concrete, rocks, and other debris which caused water levels to rise to an unsafe level in which the turbines could no longer operate. Cleanup efforts have been made to allow the resuming of the plant’s operations however the shutdown has caused water levels to rise even more as water is not being filtered. The closing of the plant has resulted in the surrounding area to depend more on natural gas plants as their source of energy has been cut off, however efforts to resume the hydroelectric plant power generation have been underway and operators hope to reopen the plant in the near future.

 

This article illustrates some of the dangers of newfound reliance on renewable energy sources. Similar to wind and solar energy, hydroelectric power depends on natural forces in order to create electricity, and there are unexpected occurrences with natural resources, no electricity is produced. The shutting down of the plant caused an unexpected shortage of power for the surrounding area of the plant, causing them to rely on other natural gas plants as their electricity source. I believe that this illustrates that the world will always need sources of reliable energy such as nuclear or natural gas so that when renewable energy faults and no electricity is being produced, there is always a fall back to meet people’s electricity needs.

 

Source:

 

Overton, T. (2017, March 1). Oroville Dam Power Plant May Reopen This Week. Retrieved from

http://www.powermag.com/oroville-dam-power-plant-may-reopen-this-week/