Justin Richards wrote:
> I can see how a diesel fired station is controlled but I cant see how
> you could control a hydro powered turbine.

The water flow is controlled.

I once saw a generator being switched on line at a hydro power station in
northern Washington.  This was in the mid 1970s, so things are probably mor=
e
automated now.  They had a big dial on the wall, which must have been
showing the phase angle between the generator and the grid.  People were
manually fuzting with things trying to make the needle stay on straight up.
When it got close and steady enough for their judgement, someone flipped a
switch.  There was sortof a thud, and then that was it.

It seems to me that could have been done better and more reliably with serv=
o
electronics, even in the 1970s.  Maybe there was some of that behind what
the people were controlling, but there was a surprising amount of manual
interaction.


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