Hydroelectric developments, environmental impact

Abstract

Hydraulic energy has been used for thousands of years and its conversion into hydroelectricity was one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century. In 1869, engineer A. Vergès was the first to install a pressure pipeline, with a diameter of 30 cm to a height of 200 m, near Grenoble (French Alps). This turned a turbine which was used to produce wood pulp. The invention of the dynamo by Z. Gramme in 1870, the introduction of the electric motor in 1873, the alternator and transformer in 1880, followed by the first transport of electric energy over a distance of 14 km (Grenoble, French Alps) by M. Desperez in 1883 opened the way for the transformation of hydraulic energy into electric energy and led to its use for industrial purposes and later for domestic uses (Vadot, 1987).