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LAYMAN’s Guidebook on how Develop a Small Hydro Site.pdf

August 29, 2009 · Filed Under Civil & Architectural Engineering  · Tags: , , , , ,

Taken from Introduction: This handbook, an updated version of the original Layman’s Handbook on how to develop a Small Hydro Site, published by the Commission in 1993, has been written, in the frame of the ALTENER programme, under contract with the Commission of the European Communities (Directorate General for Energy, DG XVII). It has not been designed to replace professional expertise but it is hoped it is comprehensive enough to advise laymen on all necessary procedures that should be followed to develop a site. However its content includes enough technical information, so a non-specialist engineer would be able to produce a primary feasibility report.

Hydraulic engineering is based on the principles of fluid mechanics. However until now there does not exist, and probably never will, a general methodology for the mathematical analysis of the movement of the fluids. Based on the large amount of accumulated experience there exists many empirical relationships to achieve practical engineering solutions with the movement of the water, the fluid that concerns hydroelectricity. Chapter 2, based on part of the original chapter 5 written by Eric Wilson - is devoted to this subject.

All hydroelectric generation depends on falling water. The first step to develop a site must address the availability of an adequate water supply. Chapter 3 is entirely devoted to this subject, and particularly to comment on the European Atlas of Small Scale Hydropower Potential, developed by the Institute of Hydrology in the UK, on behalf of ESHA and with the financial aid of the DG XVII.

Experience shows that many small hydro plants have failed because they were poorly designed, built or operated. Most of these failures seepage under the weir, open channel slides occurred through a lack of proper geological studies of the site. Chapter 4 incorporates guidelines on such studies. Hydraulic structures and ancillaries represent almost fifty per cent of the investment cost. If poorly designed they will require such high maintenance costs that the investment will become unprofitable. Chapter 5 is devoted to these structures.

Turbines transform the potential energy of water to mechanical rotational energy, which in turn is transformed into electrical energy in the generators. Chapter 6 is devoted to the study of turbines and generators and to the devices employed to control them.

Although since the publication of the first edition of the Layman’s Handbook many sites have been developed in the E.U, the installed capacity would be greater if the administrative procedures to authorise the use of water had been simpler. Many hundreds of authorisation requests are pending approval, mainly because of supposed conflict with the environment. Chapter 7, Environmental impact and its mitigation?, intends to provide a few guidelines to help the designer to propose mitigating measures that can be easily agreed with the licensing authorities. The various papers presented to HIDROENERGIA and more specifically to the European Workshop on THERMIE Strategies to overcome the environmental burden of small hydro and wind energies that was held at Vitoria in October 1996, constitute the basis of this chapter.

An investor decides to develop a small hydro site in order to obtain a reasonable profit. To do that his decision should be based on sound economic principles. Chapter 8 shows how the financial mathematics can help to calculate the cost of the kWh produced annually, and to compare different possible alternatives for the scheme.

Chapter 9 reviews the administrative procedures and buy-back tariffs nowadays in force. Unfortunately the trend toward deregulation of the electricity market makes the situation very volatile, preventing accurate reporting of the market from an institutional viewpoint.

Contents:

  • Introduction [ A free fuel resource potentially everlasting. ~ Definition of small hydropower ~ Site configurations ~ Planning a small hydropower scheme ]
  • 2 Fundamentals of Hydraulic Engineering [ Introduction ~ Water flow in pipes ~ Water flow in open channels ~ Computer programs ]
  • 3 The water resource and its potential [ Introduction ~ Evaluating streamflows by discharge measurements ~ Streamflow characteristics ~ Residual, reserved or compensation flow ~ Estimation of plant capacity and energy output ~ Firm energy . ]
  • 4 Site evaluation methodologies [ Introduction ~ Cartography ~ Geotechnical studies ~ Learning from failures ]
  • 5 Hydraulic structures [ Structures for storage and water intake ~ Onlinefreeebooks.net ~ Waterways ]
  • 6 Electromechanical equipment [ Powerhouse ~ Hydraulic turbines ~ Speed increasers ~ Generators ~ Turbine control ~ Switchgear equipment ~ Automatic control ~ Ancillary electrical equipment ~ Examples. ]
  • 7 Environmental impact and its mitigation [ Introduction ~ Burdens and impacts identification ~ Impacts in the construction phase ~ Impacts arising from the operation of the scheme ~ Impacts from transmission lines ~ Conclusions ]
  • 8 Economic Analysis [ Introduction ~ Basic considerations ~ Financial mathematics ~ Methods of economic evaluation ~ Financial analysis of some European schemes . ]
  • 9 Administrative procedures [ Introduction ~ Economic issues ~ How to support renewable energy under deregulation* ~ Technical aspects ~ Procedural issues ~ Environmental constraints ]

This handbook is available FREE at Micro Hydro Power website, we merely collect the information, Online Free Ebooks neither affiliated with the author(s), the website and any brand nor responsible for its content and change of content. (Read our disclaimer here or here before you download the document from the website written above by clicking the below link).

Download free LAYMAN’s Guidebook on how Develop a Small Hydro Site.pdf (266 pages pdf file, 11.4 MB).

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