Pondage

rdf:langString Pondage

rdf:langString Pondage usually refers to the comparably small water storage behind the weir of a run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant. Such a power plant has considerably less storage than the reservoirs of large dams and conventional hydroelectric stations which can store water for long periods such as a dry season or year. With pondage, water is usually stored during periods of low electricity demand and hours when the power plant is inactive, enabling its use as a peaking power plant in dry seasons and a base load power plant during wet seasons. Ample pondage allows a power plant to meet hourly load fluctuations for a period of a week or more. As a daily hydropeaking cycle of a hydro power plant with pondage results in fast rising river levels downstream, environmental regulations often restrict the full use of the dispatchability as a peaker.