The design of a hydroelectric plant, along with an installation of transformation of potential energy of water into electricity, is an activity that is not standardized. Each new project is an interesting engineering challenge, and teams need to work in different conditions of each site, integrated to design a functional, economical and environmentally sustainable project. The development of a project, here understood as the plant itself, the reservoir, the maneuver substation and the associated transmission line, is a multidisciplinary activity that encompasses areas of civil engineering, geology, mechanical and electrical engineering, environmental engineering, economic engineering, construction and assembly, and the engineering of operation and maintenance of civil works and electromechanical equipment. The book is organized to facilitate the performance of professional life of the new generations of engineers who will join the Electric Sector, or in other sectors that demand the knowledge regarding hydraulic structures. The book is a simple manual providing the practical step-by-step procedure for designing hydroelectric plants, including legislation, with a general view of the project.

Geraldo Magela Pereira is a Civil Engineer, graduated from the Brasília University (July, 1974), with 45 years of experience in hydroelectric powerplants projects (HPPs). He has received a Master's Degree in Civil Engineering and Civil Defense Protection at the Fluminense Federal University, Niterói - Rio de Janeiro State (2017). He has worked in the geotechnical and hydraulic areas, including studies on hydraulic models, arrangements and plan-coordination and direction of projects, in its various phases: Inventory Studies, and Feasibility Studies, along with Basic Projects and Executive Projects. He has also worked in the commercial area between 1998 and 2012, developing business for the implementation of projects in EPC Contracts. He published one paper in the XVI ICOLD of San Francisco (USA) in 1988, about the "Historic Food During the 2nd Phase of Tocantins River Diversion for the Construction of Tucuruí HPP", Q. 63, R. 2, and several papers in Brazilian seminars of large dams. He also published three books in Portuguese language: Hydroelectric Power Plants Design Step by Step in 2015, Spillways Design Step by Step in 2016 and Accidents and Ruptures of Dams in 2018. He published the book Spillways Design Step by Step again in 2020 in English language.