1.1 ADVANTAGES: 1. Once a dam is constructed, electricity can be produced at a constant rate. 2.

If electricity is not needed, the sluice gates can be shut, stopping electricity generation. The water can be saved for use another time when electricity demand is high. 3. Dams are designed to last many decades and so can contribute to the generation of electricity for many years / decades. 4. The lake that forms behind the dam can be used for water sports and leisure / pleasure activities. Often large dams become tourist attractions in their own right. 5. The lake's water can be used for irrigation purposes. 6. The build up of water in the lake means that energy can be stored until needed, when the water is released to produce electricity. 7. When in use, electricity produced by dam systems do not produce green house gases. They do not pollute the atmosphere.

1.2
1 Hydraulic parameters (guaranteed output and annual electricity generation etc.) should be determined through hydropower calculations based on hydrological data obtained. 2 Determine the reasonable scope for the power supply and the design load level of the hydropower station, and the load characteristic and parameters of the system the hydropower station belongs to. 3 Make a clear understanding of the composition, characteristic and development planning of different power stations in the power system. Clearly design the hydropower stations position and function within the power system. 4 Determine the working capacity and reserve capacity that the hydropower station respectively can undertake, and determine whether it is appropriate to set a duplicate capacity for the hydropower station through capacity balance & electricity balance calculations and economic calculations. 5 Several feasible schemes for the installed capacity and the number of units of the hydropower station should be determined based on the layout, manufacture of the units and electricity supply conditions of the hydropower station. Then technical and economic comparisons should be carried out to select the most reasonable and appropriate scheme.

1.3
The flooding of large areas of land means that the natural environment is destroyed. 4. People living in villages and towns that are in the valley to be flooded, must move out. This means that they lose their farms and businesses. In some countries, people are forcibly removed so that hydropower schemes can go ahead. 5. The building of large dams can cause serious geological damage. For example, the building of the Hoover Dam in the USA triggered a number of earth quakes and has depressed the earths surface at its location. Dams built blocking the progress of a river in one country usually means that the water supply from the same river in the following country is out of their control. This can lead to serious problems between neighbouring countries.

1.4.a Run-of-the-river hydroelectric stations are those with small or no reservoir capacity, so that the water coming from upstream must be used for generation at that moment, or must be allowed to bypass the dam. 1.4.d

Pumped-storage
This method produces electricity to supply high peak demands by moving water between reservoirs at different elevations. At times of low electrical demand, excess generation capacity is used to pump water into the higher reservoir. When there is higher demand, water is released back into the lower reservoir through a turbine. Pumped-storage schemes currently provide the most commercially important means of large-scale grid energy storage and improve the daily capacity factor of the generation system.
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