POWER RESOURCES

THERMAL POWER RESOURCES:

A thermal power station is a power plant in which heat energy is converted

to electric power. In most of the world theturbine is steam driven. Water is heated, turns
into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes
through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was
heated; this is known as a Rankine cycle. The greatest variation in the design of thermal
power stations is due to the different heat sources, fossil fuel dominates here, although
nuclear heat energy and solar heat energy are also used. Some prefer to use the
term energy center because such facilities convert forms of heat energy into electrical
energy.[1] Certain thermal power plants also are designed to produce heat energy for
industrial purposes of district heating, or desalination of water, in addition to generating
electrical power. Globally, fossil-fuel power stations produce a large part of man-made
CO2 emissions to the atmosphere, and efforts to reduce these are varied and widespread.

HYDROPOWER POWER RESOURCES:

Hydropower or water power is power derived from the energy of falling water or
fast running water, which may be harnessed for useful purposes. Since ancient times,
hydropower from many kinds of watermills has been used as a renewable energy source
for irrigation and

the

operation

of

various

mechanical

devices,

such

as gristmills, sawmills, textile mills, trip hammers, dock cranes, domestic lifts, and ore mills.
A trompe, which produces compressed air from falling water, is sometimes used to power
other machinery at a distance.
In the late 19th century, hydropower became a source for generating electricity. Cragside in
Northumberland was the first house powered by hydroelectricity in 1878 [1] and the first
commercial hydroelectric power plant was built atNiagara Falls in 1879. In 1881, street
lamps in the city of Niagara Falls were powered by hydropower.

NUCLEAR POWER RESOURCES:

Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions that release nuclear energy[5] to
generate heat, which most frequently is then used in steam turbines to produce electricity in
a nuclear power plant. The term includes nuclear fission, nuclear decay andnuclear fusion.
Presently, the nuclear fission of elements in the actinide series of the periodic table produce
the vast majority of nuclear energy in the direct service of humankind, with nuclear decay
processes, primarily in the form of geothermal energy, and radioisotope thermoelectric
generators, in niche uses making up the rest.

NON CONVENTIONAL POWER SOURCES:

1.Wind Power:
The development of wind power in India began in the 1990s, and has significantly
increased in the last few years. Although a relative newcomer to the wind industry
compared with Denmark or the US, domestic policy support for wind power has led India to
become the country with the fourth largest installed wind power capacity in the world.
2. Solar Power:
India is densely populated and has high solar insolation, an ideal combination for
using solar power in India. Much of the country does not have an electrical grid, so one of
the first applications of solar power has been for water pumping, to begin replacing India's
four to five million diesel powered water pumps, each consuming about 3.5 kilowatts, and
off-grid lighting. Some large projects have been proposed, and a 35,000 km area of

the Thar Desert has been set aside for solar powerprojects, sufficient to generate 700 to
2,100 gigawatts.