Water(Rain water) research group slides preliminary findings report prepared by me when I was attached as a lecturer in the School of Electrical and Electronics for the renewable energy project. The project was run together with Wind power and Solar power research group and all of these project and research group were funded by PPKS/ICATS, Sarawak.

1. Water(Rain Water)

2. Background
 Introduction on hydropower
 Water power can be harnessed in many ways
 Micro-hydro power is the small-scale harnessing of
energy from falling water; for example, harnessing
enough water from a local river to power a small factory
or village.
 It is a technology that has been utilized throughout the
world, by a diverse range of societies and cultures, for
many centuries. Water can be harnessed on a large or a
small scale - Table 1, below outlines the categories used
to define the power output form hydropower.

3. Background
1. Objectives:
 To provide power for isolated home or small community
 To make use an economical source of energy
 To be connected to electric power network
2. Mini Hydro specification:
 A hydroelectric power, produce power up to 1
MW, operating at small damned pool with a waterfall and
several hundred feet of pipe leading to a small generator
housing

4. Problem Statement
1. Fuel energy is becoming more expansive
 Hydro power is an economical alternative source of energy
without purchase of fuel
2. Compliment the limitation of other energy systems, for
instance
 Photovoltaic solar energy systems
 Wind energy systems
3. An appropriate scale hydro-power
 Many argue that large hydro is not only environmentally
damaging (as large areas of land are flooded) but that there is
also a negative social impact where large imported
technologies are used.

5. Problem Statement
4. “Small” is not universally defined
 Size of project related not just to electrical capacity but also to
whether low or high head
Type Typical Power Flow Runner Diameter
Micro < 100 kW < 0.4 m3/s < 0.3 m
Mini 100 to 1000 kW 0.4 to 12.8 m3/s 0.3 to 0.8 m
Small 1 to 50 MW >12.8 m3/s >0.8 m
Table 1: Typical Hydropower Classification
5. To assess the suitability of a potential site, the hydrology of
the site needs to be known and a site survey carried out, to
determine actual flow and head data.
 Hydrological information can be obtained from the meteorology or
irrigation department usually run by the national government.

6. The technology and types
 Types Of Hydropower Plants
1. Conventional
 Most hydropower plants are conventional in design, meaning
they use one-way water flow to generate electricity. There are
two categories of conventional plants:
1.1. Run-of-river plants
 These plants use little, if any, stored water to provide water flow
through the turbines. Although some plants store a day or
week's worth of water, weather changes - especially seasonal
changes - cause run-of-river plants to experience significant
fluctuations in power output.

7. The technology and types
1.2. Storage plants
 These plants have enough storage capacity to off-set seasonal
fluctuations in water flow and provide a constant supply of
electricity throughout the year. Large dams can store several
years‟ worth of water.
 Pumped Storage
 In contrast to conventional hydropower plants, pumped
storage plants reuse water. After water initially produces
electricity, it flows from the turbines into a lower reservoir
located below the dam. During off-peak hours (periods of
low energy demand), some of the water is pumped into
an upper reservoir and reused during periods of peak-
demand.

8. Example of Existing Projects
1. Mini Hydro Power in Ghana
2. Figure No1,The Tazimina project in Alaska is an example of
a diversion hydropower plant. No dam was required
Figure 1: Turbine
Selection based on
Head and
Discharge

9. Example of Existing Projects
3. Micro-hydro: reservoir
and powerhouse
projects in Thailand
 Here are some photos to
give you a sense of the
size and scale of the
technology.
Figure 3: Powerhouse at Mae
Kam Pong village. The turbine
and generation equipment is
inside. You can see the water
Figure 2: The picture is exiting the turbine in the
located at Pang Hai village in waterfall below the powerhouse
Chiang Mai. floor.

10. Suitable conditions for
micro-hydro power
1. The best geographical areas for exploiting small-
scale hydro power are those where there are steep
rivers flowing all year round,
 For example, the hill areas of countries with high year-
round rainfall, or the great mountain ranges and their
foothills
 Like the Andes and the Himalayas.
2. Islands with moist marine climates,
 Caribbean Islands, Philippines and Indonesia are also
suitable.
 Low-head turbines have been developed for small-scale
exploitation of rivers where there is a small head but
sufficient flow to provide adequate power.

11. Suitable conditions for
micro-hydro power
3. Site survey gives more detailed information of the
site conditions to allow power calculation to be
done and design work to begin.
 Data may gives a good overall picture of annual rain
patterns and likely fluctuations in precipitation and,
therefore, flow patterns.
4. Flow data should be gathered over a period of at
least one full year where possible, so as to
ascertain the fluctuation in river flow over the
various seasons.
 There are many methods for carrying out flow and head
measurements

12. Working Principle
 Run-of-the-river micro-hydro scheme requires no water storage
but instead diverts some of the water from the river which is
channeled along the side of a valley before being „dropped‟ into
the turbine via a penstock.
Figure 4:
Layout of a
typical micro
hydro scheme

13. Working Principle
 In previous figure, Figure 4 the turbine drives a
generator that provides electricity for a workshop.
The transmission line can be extended to a local
village to supply domestic power for lighting and
other uses.
 There are various other configurations which can
be used depending on the topographical and
hydrological conditions, but all adopt the same
general principle.

14. Working Principle
 Turbines can be categorized mainly in two types: Impulse
turbine and Reaction turbine.
Table 2: Turbine type and
Head Classification
Figure 5: Turbine Selection
based on Head and
Discharge

15. Another typical
Hydropower Layout
Head (m)
Flow (m3/s)
Power in kW 7 x Head x Flow

16. Operational Components
1. Civil works
 Diversion of dam or weir
 Low dam of simple construction for run-of-river
 Concrete, wood, masonry
 Cost of dam alone can render project unviable
 Water passage
 Intake with trashrack and gate; tailrace at exit
 Excavated canal, underground tunnel and/or penstock
 Valves/gates at turbine entrance/exit, for maintenance
 Power house
 Houses turbine, mechanical, and electrical equipment

17. Operational Components
2. Turbine & generator
Figure 6: This is a crossflow Figure :7 The picture shows a
turbine pelton type
 Shown here are the turbine and generator for two village systems.
 These systems use 220 volt 3-phase synchronous generators, typically 15
to 40 kVA.
 The boxes on the right of Figure 7 house are meters and control
equipment.

18. Operational Components
2. Turbine & generator
 Scaled-down version of large-hydro turbines
 In run-of-river, flow rate is quite variable
 Turbine should function well over a range of flow rates or
multiple turbines should be used
 Reaction:
 For low to medium head applications
 Submerged turbines uses water pressure and kinetic energy
 Impulse:
 For high head applications
 Uses kinetic energy of a high speed jet of water

19. Operational Components
3. Electrical and equipments
 Generator
 Induction
 Synchronous
 Other equipment
 Speed increaser to match turbine to generator
 Valves, electronic controls, protection devices
 Transformer

20. Cost and Price
 The price will vary with turbine style, generally impulse
turbines cost less than reaction turbines.
High head site - 3000 watt turbine (3kW)
Site conditions: 100 feet (30.5 meters) of head, and 275 gallons per minute
(17.3 liters/second)
Impulse Turbine - Turgo style
This turbine will cost $3250.00 FOB Amsterdam, NY
Moderately Low head site - 3000 watt turbine (3kW)
Site conditions: 13 feet (4 meters) of head, and 2150 gallons per minute
(136 liters/second)
Reaction Turbine - Kaplan style
This turbine will cost $5250.00 FOB Amsterdam, NY
Very Low head site - 4000 watt turbine (4kW)
Site conditions: 7 feet (2 meters) of head, and 5000 gallons per minute
(315 liters/second)
Reaction Turbine - Kaplan style
This turbine will cost $22,250.00 FOB Amsterdam, NY

21. Conclusion
 To implement the mini hydro projects, middle or high
head sites should be considered rather than low
head sites. Low head sites are relatively more
expensive to construct and bear the risk of flooding.
 Hydropower is a clean, domestic and renewable
source of energy. Hydropower plants provide
inexpensive electricity and produce no pollution.
And, unlike other energy sources such as fossil
fuels, water is not destroyed during the production of
electricity—it can be reused for other purposes.

22. Conclusion
 Hydropower plants can significantly impact the
surrounding area—reservoirs can cover
towns, scenic locations and farmland, as well as
affect fish and wildlife habitat.
 To mitigate impact on migration patterns and wildlife
habitats, dams maintain a steady stream flow and
can be designed or retrofitted with fish ladders and
fish ways to help fish migrate upstream to spawn.