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The generator, as you might have guessed, generates the electricity. The basic process of generating electricity in this manner is to rotate a series of magnets inside coils of wire. This process moves electrons, which produces electrical current.
Each generator is made of certain basic parts:
- Shaft
- Excitor
- Rotor
- Stator
As the turbine turns, the excitor sends an electrical current
to the rotor. The rotor is a series of large electromagnets that
spins inside a tightly-wound coil of copper wire, called the stator.
The magnetic field between the coil and the magnets creates an
electric current.
Hydropower plants take advantage of a naturally occurring, continuous
process -- the process that causes rain to fall and rivers to
rise
The hydrologic cycle is important to hydropower plants because
they depend on water flow. If there is a lack of rain near the
plant, water won't collect upstream. With no water collecting
up stream, less water flows through the hydropower plant and less
electricity is generated.
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