Small Hydro Potential & Prospects

CII Godrej GBC Publication

Introduction Small hydro is a renewable, non-polluting and environmentally benign source of energy. In India, hydro projects up categorized as small hydro Depending on the capacities, Micro, Mini and Small hydro Mini hydro Mico hydro Small hydro to 25 MW have been power (SHP) projects. they are categorized as projects as under.

RES - Fact Sheet - No.2

June 2004

In India, about 18,000 villages are to be electrified mainly through renewable energy sources. Many of these villages have potential for setting up mini and micro Hydel projects. It presents a huge business potential for investors and equipment manufactures. Potential available Installed so far Projects under implementation Applications Micro & Mini hydro: As mini and micro Hydel project are normally installed under river run off scheme, they are located in hilly areas. Most of the micro Hydel projects are used for stand alone power generation application to cater to domestic and commercial requirements, while power generated from mini hydel plants is normally exported to the grid. Case study: A mini Hydel project of 0.8 MW has been commissioned in the hilly state of Himachal Pradesh and connected to the grid. The total available head for this project is 249m and quantity of water flow, on an average is about 0.39 m3/sec. The total power generation is 30 lakhs units in a year. Due to icing in winter, the water flow would reduce to 25% of its designed discharge and hence lower power generation. The company has wheeling and banking arrangement with state electricity board at 2% charges. The generated power is being exported to grid at the rate of Rs 2.50 per unit as per power purchase agreement. - 15,000 MW - 1530 MW - 610 MW

10 kW to 99 KW 100 kW to 999 kW 1,000 kW to 25,000 kW

Depending on the head, SHPs are classified as low head (below 3 meters) medium head (from 30 75 meters) and high head (above 75 meters).

The estimated potential of small hydro power in India is about 15,000 MW. Thus far about 4250 potential sites have been identified aggregating to a capacity of 10,000 MW. However, so far 466 projects in 29 states aggregating to 1530 MW have been installed and projects amounting to 610 MW are under implementation. This offers a tremendous potential of small hydro power to be tapped in India.

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Small Hydro: (1MW to 25 MW) A typical small hydro power plant would have a turbine connected to the water source through penstocks. The generator which is coupled with turbine would generate power when water flows through it. Depending on the head availability and quantity of water flow, there are various types of turbines used for power generation. Normally for low head and large projects, horizontal Kaplan type turbines are being used while for high head and low water flow projects, pelton wheel types are being used. Power generation and economics of a typical 1 MW plant is highlighted below: Investment required Average Power generation Gestation period Simple payback period - 5.0 to 6.0 crore/ MW - 30 Lakhs units / yr - 2 years - 4 to 5 years @ Rs.2.80/unit

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Case study: A small hydro power plant of 18 MW with two turbines of 9 MW each has been commissioned during 1992. The head available is 18m and quantity of water flow is about 4200 m3/sec. This project is a water storage scheme, which has a set dam where water is stored and flows to the turbine through penstocks. The total gestation period of this project was less than 2 years. The plan has been successfully operated at 55% plant load factor since commissioning. The project has 40 years power purchase agreement with Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd and the cost of electricity exported is Rs 3.25 / unit. The average power generation of this plant is about 350 units per day which works out to 80.0 to 85.0 million units per year. This plant required an investment of Rs 35.0 Crores, which was paid back in less than 7 years.

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