Robert explores BC Hydro’s behemoth dam in Revelstoke to see if Hydropower really is as simple as it sounds..!
Hydroelectric Dams are vast and enormously complex pieces of infrastructure. However, the way they create renewable energy is comparatively simple! Take something high up to give it potential energy. Drop it a certain height to convert that potential energy into movement or kinetic energy. Use that kinetic energy to turn a turbine to generate electricity.
And do all of that in the most efficient way possible. Bingo! Tucked away in the Mountain Resort of Revelstoke, a few hundred kilometres East of Vancouver is BC Hydro’s enormous 2.8 Gigawatt dam, which first opened in 1984.
Timestamps
0:00 7.8 MILLION Homes
0:45 Welcome to Revelstoke, Canada!
2:39 Boggles the mind!
3:18 Simple in theory
4:00 Extracting Power from the Penstocks
6:20 Big Snow, Big Storage
7:20 MASSIVE Hydraulics
8:12 Very VERY Loud
10:00 What’s the impact?
10:44 Canada’s First Nations
11:24 The Powerhouse
12:45 100 years old
13:20 The Generator!
13:56 What’s next?!
14:58 500,000 Volts!
16:40 3% of Coal
17:05 Concluding thoughts
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