Page 920 - Basic Electrical Engineering

The decay of biomass produce methane gas which can be used to produce
electricity. By burning methane, steam can be produced in a boiler and this
steam will run a turbine coupled with a generator.

13.7.4 Mini/Micro Hydel Power Generation

In hilly areas there is tremendous potential of generation of electricity where

there are hydel (water) resources in the form of falling water. The Himalayan
belt in India is gifted with such hydel resources. Mini and micro hydel set
(turbine–generator set) can be installed on such falling water resources to

generate electricity for local use. These small turbine–generator sets are
compact and require no maintenance. Instead of using diesel generator sets,

small turbine–generator sets can be used in hilly remote areas for the benefit
of small cluster of villages to supply electrical power to farms, schools,

houses, etc. The mini hydel plants are rated for 10 kW to 1000 kW. Upto a
rating of 100 kW, the plants are called micro-generating plants.

13.7.5 Electricity from Tidal Energy

Sea tides are created due to gravitational effects of the sun and the moon, and
the centrifugal force of the earth’s rotation. Sufficient head of water can be
captured by constructing barrages along the sea shore. The incoming and

outgoing tidal waves of varying heights can be blocked by the barrages. A
tidal wave height of atleast 7 m is required for economical generation of

electricity using water turbines. Tidal power station will fill the reservoirs by
opening the sluice gates behind the embarkment along the seashore and use

the water height to run turbines. Tidal power stations are constructed across
an estuary or a bay. Bay of Bengal in India provides the opportunity to set up

such power-generating stations.

13.7.6 Electricity from Ocean Energy

Almost two-third of earth’s surface is ocean. The surface water gets heated

up due to sun’s energy. The sun heats up the surface of the water a lot, and