User:Smallgoat/sandbox

The Ohio Falls Plant was built in 1923 by LG&E (Louisville Gas and Electricity) and KU (Kentucky Utilities) along the Ohio river. The plant is located inside the Ohio Natural Wildlife Conservation Area and is considered a large impoundment hydro power plant. The water entering the dam spins the blades within the turbine, rotating the generator and producing electricity. The Ohio Falls Plant features eight 10.4 MW turbine generator electricity units. At its inception the Ohio Falls Plant generated enough energy to power the city of Louisville, but as the city grew the source became insufficient.

The facility is owned and ran by the U.S. Army Corps Engineers who operate the navigation of the flow of the dam into the river. The U.S. Army Corps Engineers place priority in environmental conservation and controlling the water levels within the river. This limits the ability for the Plant to optimize electricity production. LG&E and KU are currently investing in the plant to increase its production without damaging the ecosystem. LG&E and KU have implemented a three phase reconstruction plan. Phase 1: Was completed in 2002 and involved updating equipment technology to have automated and remote operation capabilities. Phase 2: was completed in 2004-05 and focused on regulating waste that enters the dam and could damage the machines. This included adding "trash-rack cleaning machine, sluice gate and trash racks" to filter out trash that flows through the river into the dam. Phase 3: Scheduled to be finished in 2017 includes a final restoration of the units including, "new runner, rewinding the generator, stator restack, converting rotating exciter to static excitation and refurbishment of wicket gates." As part of the remodeling of the plant a computer model was created to determine the optimal size and shape of the turbines to ensure maximum productivity from the plant. This allows the plant to produce more energy while operating at wider variety of water levels.

The overall production capacity of the Ohio Falls plant is 80 megawatts. Based on the calculation of the average American resident electricity usage of 3,000 kilowatts a year the plant is capable of providing power for 233,600 residents. (80,000,000/1,000=80,000 x 24 hours/ day x 365 days/year=700,800,000 kilowatt-hours/3,000=233,600 residents). The LCOE (levelized cost of energy) for hydropower is 83.5/MWh totaling the cost of the Ohio Falls plant at $5,851,680 a year.

Some benefits associated with hydro electricity production at the Ohio Falls Plant include the clean generation of electricity. Due to the process in which hydropower is created there are no emissions created from its production. This is a benefit that impacts both the economic as well as the environmental climate of this area. Hydropower also redistributes the production power of energy from outside sources such as international fuel companies to the local community creating sustainability within the Louisville area. The power of sunbeams facilitate the movement of water Ohio River, this entails that the hydro electricity is a renewable form of energy not relying on harvesting other materials from the earth that can be depleted over time.