MINI HYDRO POWER STATIONS

 
By Dr. G.K. Viswanadh

Associate Professor in Civil Engineering

JNTU College of Engineering

Kukatpally, Hyderabad
Development of electrical power in India:

•The split up of present installed capacity on the basis of energy is

 hydroelectric power 37%
thermal power 58%
 nuclear power 3% and
diesel power 2%.
•Total hydroelectric potential of India is 41,000 MKw
•only 17% has been developed so far.
• The hydro resources therefore need to be fully exploited.

 
Hydel Station:
 
•A hydroelectric power station is used to generate electric power where
water resources are available.

• For this purpose there must be ample quantity of water available at

sufficient head, and suitable site must be available

•The energy that can be produced depends on the quantity of water

available, the rate at which it is available and head etc

•A lot of civil engineering construction work is involved for HYDEL

plant, very often the project is a multi purpose one, comprising
flood control and power –irrigation and power etc….
CLASSIFICATION OF HYDEL PLANTS:
 
Hydroelectric plants exhibit a great deal of variety and have some
special features, uncommon to other projects.

A classification can be done in various ways depending upon a particular

aspect of classification.  

1.Classification based on hydraulic features:

a) Conventional hydro power plants:

utilizes available hydraulic energy of flowing water
b) Pumped storage plants:
utilizes the concept of recycling the water.
c) Tidal power plants:
Uses the tidal energy
d) Depression power plants:
Utilizes sea water.
2. Classification based on basis of operation:

If power station feeds into a grid ,then its use can be

distinguished as base load plant or a peak load plant.

3. Classification based on plant capacity:

Type capacity
Micro hydel plants upto 100 Kw
Mini hydel plants upto 1000 Kw
Small hydel plants upto 5000 Kw
Medium capacity plants 5 to 100 Mw
High capacity plants 101 to 1000 Mw
Super plants above 1000 Mw
4. Classification based on head:
 

Type of plant Head in meters

Low head plants 15

Medium head plants 15 to 70

High head plants 71 to 250

Very high head plants above 250

 
 Advantages of mini hydro schemes:
 
 
•      Energy credit.

•      Alternative to auto generation.

•      Supply of generation at reduced transmission losses.

•      Reduce green house gases.

•      Avoid infrastructure facilities.

•      Renewable energy.

•     Efficient energy conversion system

•      Stabilized technology.

• 
• Of all the non-conventional energy sources, small hydro represents
‘high density’ resource.

•Stands in the first place in generation of electricity through out the

world.

•Global installed capacity of small hydro is around 47000 Mw against

the estimated potential of 180000 Mw.

•India has a history of 100 years in small hydro.

•switched on early to larger hydro and pursued the same reaching an

installed capacity of 21000 Mw with only 500 Mw small hydro.  
 Definition of mini hydro schemes:

There is a general tendency all over the world to define small

hydro by power output. Different countries are following different

norms keeping the upper limit ranging from 5 to 50 Mw.

In India small hydro schemes are further classified by the central

electricity authority (CEA) as follows. 

Type of station capacity unit ranging

Micro upto 100Kw upto 100Kw
Mini 101 Kw to 2000Kw 101 to 1000Kw
Small 2001Kw to 15000Kw 1001 to 5000Kw
 Need for small Hydro schemes

  The present installed capacity of Power Plants in our country

• is more than 100,000 MW.

   We need another 100,000 MW in the next 10 years to make

• electricity available to one and all.

  Power development plays a vital role in a country’s

• economic growth and standard of living.

  In India the first small hydro power station of 130 KW

 Small hydro projects having an estimated potential of 10,000
MW
•of which only 1500 MW has been exploited can play a role in
this
• capacity addition.

 Nature has provided us with innumerable potential resources for

• hydropower generation.
• 
•Small Hydropower projects are a promising means of generating
energy for isolated areas
Small hydro merits developments due to the following:

1. It needs limited investments affordable by private houses.

2. Short gestation, enabling quicker electricity and financial returns.
3. Small hydro could be relevant at decent heads as-low-as 2 m.
4. Environmentally friendlier that conventional hydro
Not involving setting up of large dams associated
with problems of deforestation, submergence or
rehabilitation. 
Least impact on flora and fauna and bio-diversity.
No chances of impinging on “carrying capacity” of modular eco-
systems unlike large-scale development interventions.
5. One of the least carbon-dioxide emission responsible power sources,
even considering a full energy chain right from the impact of
Production of plant equipment. 
6. Small hydro is significant for off-grid, rural, remote area
applications in falr-isolated communities having no chances of grid
extension to come.
7. Levelised cost of generation from small Hydro would be less than
5. half that of thermal.

8. Their real capital investment is less than that of thermal, considering

infrastructure costs (small dams/diversion structure vis-à-vis large
mines/transport of coal) and auxiliary factors (small hydro auxiliary
consumption of ½ % vis-à-vis 10% in case of thermal).

9. On the basis of project life cycle cost in real terms, inflation-free

small hydro becomes several times cheaper than thermal option.
 SMALL HYDRO VIS-À-VIS OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY
SOURCES:
 
Merits of small Hydro even amongst renewable sources are:

 A highest density renewable energy source

 cost of generation is cheapest among renewable.

 Small hydro efficiencies are highest amongst renewable.

 Small hydro resources are likely to a have more consistency  

 

INDIAN POTENTIAL OF SMALL HYDRO:

• India has one of the world’s largest irrigation canal networks

with thousands of dams.

• It has monsoon fed as well as snow fed rivers and streams with
perennial flows.

• An estimated potential of 10,000 MW of small hydro exists in

India.

• However, nearly 5000 MW have been actually identified through

more than 2000 sites in 13 states of India
•  
• Mini hydel potential at thermal power plant cooling water tail
ends is also indicted as a fine example of energy retrieval,
efficiency and conservation.
•
 

Suitable Locations for Mini Hydro Power plants in India:

S.NO STATE NO OF SITES CAPACITY MW

1 Andhra Pradesh 283 112

2. Arunachal Pradesh 190 111

3. Bihar 110 134

4. Gujrat 197 157

5. Himachal Pradesh 298 1393

6. Jammu & Kashmir 131 859

7. Kerala 216 561

 8. Madhya Pradesh 80 238

9. Maharastra 122 68

10. Meghalaya 36 8

11 Orissa 48 28

12. Punjab 198 196

13. Uttar Pradesh 328 1,128

14. West Bengal 69 69

 
  TOTAL 2306 5062
PRINCIPAL COMPONETNTS OF HYDRO ELECTRIC
SCHEME:
• Water diversion arrangement.
 
• Bypass Regulator.

• Intake Channel.

• Intake pool.

• Intake structure
• Power House.

• Tail Race Pool.

• Tail Race Channel.

• Draft tube.
 Water Diversion Arrangement 

• The distinguishing feature of the diversion canal plants is that the

waters of the canal are diverted away from the main canal through a
diversion channel referred as a power canal.

• Diversion canal plants are, generally speaking low head plants.

• Like run-off-river plants, they do not have any storage reservoir.

• The powerhouse requirements of pondage are met through intake

pool,which is located just before the powerhouse.
 By-Pass Regulator

 
The main functions of the by-pass regulator are:

•to divert the required quantity of water towards the powerhouse

and pass the balance flow down the canal

•to instantaneously come into action to pass the water down the
canal, when the power house trips.
 Intake Pool:

An intake pool is provided before intake structure to maintain

smooth transition into the intake of the turbine.

Power House:
 
A Power House is a building consisting of a substructure to
support the hydraulic and electrical equipment.

The superstructure is a building which generally accommodates the

generators and excitors on the ground floor 
4Type of Turbine:
 

Four types of turbine installations can be chosen for

3.05m head and 13.34 cumecs flow range.
 
        Tubular turbine

        Syphon intake axial flow turbine

        Open flume vertical turbine

        Bulb turbine with propeller runner.

        Rim turbine with propeller runner.

 Lay-out Arrangements
 

The turbine generator layout can be either a horizontal shaft layout or

vertical shaft layout and occasionally inclined shaft layout also.
 
• In horizontal shaft layout the turbine and the generator are
at the same elevation connected by a horizontal shaft.

• In vertical layout the generator is on the top of turbine,

both connected by vertical shaft.

• Inclined shaft arrangement is possible only for small

size turbines.
 

The vertical arrangement is usually preferred to the horizontal

arrangement because: 

• It is more compact and needs less floor area for a power house.

• The design of hydraulic passages is simpler in vertical arrangement.

• In reaction turbines the wheels can be placed nearer to the a\tail

water without disturbing the powerhouse arrangement.

• Above heads of 25m, vertical arrangement gibes cheaper solution.

 
The horizontal arrangement is convenient under some special
circumstances such as:

• When two runners are mounted on the same shaft to feed a common
generator it is called as double overhung arrangement.

• Where vertical arrangement involves deep excavations at the same

time considerable space for the horizontal development exists.

• In tubular turbines and in tidal power plants.

 Selection of Turbine Parameters
 
The parameters of turbine are estimated based on
•the empirical formulae,
• statistical data of the turbines designed
• installed by various manufacturers
•and selection charts recommended by various manufacturers
for the turbine.

. Hence the following few parameters of the turbine are arrived based on
 rated head,
discharge output
and maximum discharge and maximum output.
       Draft Tube

The draft tube is a conduit which connects the outlets of the turbine
runner to the tailrace.

Water as it emerges out of the runner, flows through this pipe of

gradually increasing diameter and come to tailrace level.

The advantages of having a draft tube instead of letting the water fall
directly into the atmosphere are as following. 

•  The effective pressure head is increased.

• The draft turbine permits the turbine to be installed at a

higher level than the tail water level, which facilitates
the maintenance of the turbines, etc. 
Back Ground of Mini Hydel Schemes:
 
The mini/micro hydropower became an attractive alternative
due to the limited availability of fossil fuel resources and accelerated
exploitation of conventional energy sources and the problems
associated with non-conventional energy sources.
 
The construction of mini / micro hydro plant needs attention to take
into account the requirements of adequate environmental conservation
and nature.
 
The prominent among the non-conventional and renewable energy
sources for generation are biomass, tidal, solar, wind and
geothermal. But these are in preliminary stages of the development
and cannot be expected to play any substantial role in the near future,
even though research and development are being carried out for
tapping them on commercial scale.
 
The extent of power losses during transmission has been shattering the
economics.
 
The importance of developing canal falls as source of hydro power
generation in India has been well acknowledged. The canal fall schemes
are blessed with the advantages of small gestation periods, and are
devoid of submergence, resettlement and other problems of environment
and ecology.
 
Optimum scheme of hydro development at with the best possible techno-
economic solutions can be arrived in a canal system if the system is in its
planning stage. However, certain limitations are faced while introducing
the power component in the already existing canals.
 
The design features of a canal powerhouse will depend upon the size of
the canal, it’s discharge variations over the year, the head available the
fall and ground configuration in the canal reach under consideration.
 LOCATION OF MINI HYDRO SCHEMES

 
• Mini Hydro Schemes on canals.

• Mini Hydro scheme canals of thermal power stations.

 
• Projects on Dam Toe / Canal head works.
 
• Mini Hydro Schemes on Natural Falls.
 
• Mini Hydel Schemes on Irrigation Tanks
 

CONCLUSIONS
 
• Small Hydro Power schemes are economically attractive
only if their engineering is appropriate to the scale of
investment and the risks involved also such schemes need
to be developed in the shortest possible time and at a
minimum cost

• The revenue of most hydro plants depend directly on the

amount of energy produced and the tariff policy for
selling electricity to the nearest transmission company.

• The revenues of small hydro power plant can be sensitive

to the seasonal variation of the energy production; hence
generation prediction must rely on accurate hydrological
1.      

• The mini Hydel schemes cannot substitute for major

hydel/thermal schemes but they can only supplement
them.

•    Mini hydel schemes are environmental friendly.

•.Majority of mini hydel schemes occur in the head

range of 3 m to 20m with more concentration in the
range of 5-15 m.

• The discharge range generally will not affect the cost

effectiveness of a mini scheme.
1.     


Load factor less than 30% makes scheme
economically not viable. Load factor 50-70 % is more
desirable.

 Cost of the project increases as installed capacity

increases. Since 70% of the cost of the scheme goes
towards hydraulic and electrical equipments, it is
necessary to adopt improved manufacturing approach
to bring down the equipment cost to Rs.1.0 to 1.25
crores per MW.
1.   

•
The canal based mini schemes are generated most
 

economically the next in the order would be dam/anicut

based schemes and then steam based schemes

•  At present the mini hydel schemes with cost of energy

per KWH (unit) less than Rs.2.0 to2.5 would be attractive.
Schemes costlier than above i.e., 2.50 to 3.50 per KWH
(unit) are also likely to be adoptable in coming years
especially comparing the cost of other sources of energy
like thermal/diesel.
 
Thank you