The area built up behind the run of the river system is called a pondage. It contains water which is utilized at times of high demand for electricity generation. The water that falls because of the presence of spillways accumulates in this storage area when water demand is less. The level of water in the pondage is found to be elevated to around 1 to 1.5 meters from the river water level when it is being utilized.
The energy demand can be satisfied by using a significant amount of pondage water. The energy plants running using this system are more efficient than the ones without it.
What is Pondage Used for?
It is a storage area that is utilized in hydropower plants and is used for maintaining the following aspects:
- The desired level of flow of water can be stored.
- It can be utilized at the time of high electricity demand.
- The fluctuation of the flow of the stream is balanced.
- The spilled water is utilized so that it doesn’t go to waste due to leakage.
Also See: What is Hydraulic Fracturing?
Why is Pondage Required?
It is required due to the following reasons:
- It is majorly used by hydroelectric power plants to generate electricity.
- During the time of catastrophes like drought, the pondage water can be released into natural water bodies.
- The aquatic habitat is also managed, and biodiversity is maintained as the water level is regulated.
How to Calculate Pondage Factor?
It is the ratio of the total number of hours of inflow of water to the working of the power plant in a particular week. For example, number of days for which a power plant runs is 3 days and the total number of hours per day is 4 then the pondage factor would be,
(7* 24)/(3*4)= 14
Here 14 is the pondage factor of a particular hydropower plant.
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