KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Prospect and Challenges of Pico-Micro Hydropower Technology

SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Dr. -Ing. Ramesh Kumar Maskey

SUBMITTED BY:
Ural Kafle
Roll: 20
Group: CIVIL (III/II)

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 2019/05/29

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................ii
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1
Global Energy and its prospect ...................................................................... 1
Energy in Nepal ................................................................................................ 1
PICO AND MICRO HYDROPOWER............................................................. 2
Problems in MHP and PHP ............................................................................ 3
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................... 6
References ............................................................................................................ 7

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Energy Consumption by Source (WECS, 2014) ........................................................ 1
Figure 2: Typical Layout – Water Flow Indicated by Blue Arrows (Photo Courtesy of
RIDSNepal) (Gautam, 2012) ..................................................................................................... 2
Figure 3: Schematic Diagram of a Pico Hydro Power (Pop, Leba, Tabacaru-Barbu, & Pop,
2008) .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Figure 4: Standing PHP Unit (Smits, 2008)............................................................................... 4

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
PHP = Pico Hydro Power
PP = Power Plant
MHP = Micro Hydro Power

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INTRODUCTION
Global Energy and its prospect
Electricity is increasingly becoming human being’s basic need. After the industrial revolution
and mechanization of labor, human kind’s energy demands continued to increase. Nowadays,
as we come of age from the 4th Industrial Revolution, we have realized the utmost importance
of energy in our daily lives. The 3rd and 4th Industrial Revolution was driven due to the
availability of electricity and an exponential development in electronics. However, these
revolutions have a huge price tag attached and the price tag reads “Environment”. As global
energy demands increase, the convenient energy sources such as fossil fuels will not be able to
meet global demand. Fossil fuels are finite, but there seems to be no retardation in the growth
of energy demand. In 2018, total energy consumption grew 2.3%, twice as fast as the average
rate in the last decade. (IEA, 2019). The demand for electricity grew faster than all other energy
sources at 4% and the share of electricity in global energy consumption in 2018 reached an
astounding 20%. (IEA, 2019)
However, energy related CO2 emission also increased by 1.7% (IEA, 2019). This implies that
in 2018 most of the increase in energy consumption was driven by an increase in consumption
of fossil fuel. There is 114 years of coal, 53 years of natural gas and 51 years of crude oil left
in reserves (Our World in Data, 2017). If the energy consumption increases yearly, these
figures have to be revised and corrected. Fossil fuels and its excess consumption produce
greenhouse gases that warm the earth and change the climate. To get around its inevitable
extinction and detrimental effects the globe has been looking into alternatives. Alternative
energy sources such as the wind, rivers, solar and geothermal are being rapidly brought into
the global energy market. These energy sources possess zero to none hazard to the
environment.
Energy in Nepal
Nepal is a developing economy with an HDI of 0.574, it ranks 149th in HDI metric (UNHDR,
2017). The total energy consumption in 2010 was 410,000 TJ and the per capita energy
consumption in 2013 was 128kWh (Nakarmi, 2016).

Figure 1: Energy Consumption by Source (WECS, 2014)

Nepal has a primitive energy sector as 87% of people live in rural area (CBS, 2012). The major
source of energy in Nepal is fuelwood. Only 2.82% energy is consumed via the national grids.
However, 90.70% of people have access to electricity (Energypedia, 2019). The country has
access to electricity but electricity has little market infiltration. This is due to the traditional
cooking practices and ease of availability of firewood and biomass as fuel. However, not only
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traditional practices and accessibility prompt people to use biomass; Nepal has many small
hydropower plants with isolated grids. These hydropowers have a maximum installed capacity
of 100 kW. These power plants, along with other alternatives, primarily photovoltaic cells have
made electricity accessible to most of the population. The energy consumed is not sufficient to
power all electrical appliances. Electricity from these power sources are mostly used to light
bulbs in the dark and run low power appliances. This phenomenon of low power isolated grids
and personal photovoltaic cell explains the discrepancy between the electrical and renewable
energy consumed and the percentage of population having access to electricity. Since, people
still use firewood to cook in the rural areas despite having access to electricity the share of
electrical energy consumed nationally is exceedingly low.
Yet one must not undermine the importance of these micro and Pico hydropower plants in
Nepal. Sometimes they are the only avenue of energy sources. PHP and MHP are at times the
harbinger of increase of social welfare in Nepal. Due to Nepal’s difficult terrain and a general
lack of investment there is not enough infrastructure to connect each village to the national
grid. This gap in energy has been filled by the PHPs and MHPs. Although, the produced energy
is not enough to completely replace traditional energy consumption practices it is sufficient to
light the dark and enable people to continue their chores and studies into the night.

PICO AND MICRO HYDROPOWER

Pico hydropowers are hydropower plants that produce power up to 5kW. These projects can
only power a small cluster of homes. Pico hydropower are however relatively economic to
install. Most of the villages in Nepal have an existing irrigation canal and some villages have
a traditional water mill ‘ghatta’; these available apparatuses can be used to provide a small
head to generate electricity (Gautam, 2012). The PHPs with low head should use turbines that
run on low head and high discharge (Gautam, 2012). These PHPs will not compete with the
irrigation canals as it can operate during the evening to cater the needs of households thereby
optimizing the resources (Gautam, 2012).

Figure 2: Typical Layout – Water Flow Indicated by Blue Arrows (Photo Courtesy of RIDSNepal) (Gautam, 2012)

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The ease of installation, operation and low investment cost make PHPs an attractive utility to
own. In Nepal, most of the PHPs have similar layout for power generation, as there are
‘ghattas’ and canals available in almost all Nepali villages.

Figure 3: Schematic Diagram of a Pico Hydro Power (Pop, Leba, Tabacaru-Barbu, & Pop, 2008)

Problems in MHP and PHP

PHPs, although easy to build and construct are hard to maintain. Most of the hydropowers in
hilly and Himalayan region are affected by excessive sediments, which decrease the capacity
of reservoir and erode the runner of the turbine (Thapa, Shrestha, Dhakal, & Thapa, 2004).
Higher amount of quartz content gives higher erosion rate and the percentage of quartz, shape
of particles also influence in erosion rate (Thapa, Shrestha, Dhakal, & Thapa, 2004).
Furthermore, for all MHPs, shut down period of powerhouse due to faults in intake, canal, and
forebay are about eighteen to twenty-four days each year. Every year, the repair and
maintenance cost is increased due to the civil component’s problem (Maharjan & Shrestha).
These shutdowns in severe cases, if the grid is isolated, can cause power outages for days.
Furthermore, shutting down a powerhouse is uneconomic for the community. As PHPs and
MHPs are subject to dire maintenance states they are prone to failure in many locations.
A recent visit to Kushadevi MHP displayed the dismal condition a MHP or a PHP can attain if
left unrepaired and unmaintained. During the monsoon of 2018 July, a torrential rain swept
away the intake structure of the Kushadevi MHP. The water could not enter the canals and
consequently could not strike the runner. This meant the MHP was generating no electricity. It
was abandoned. Kushadevi MHP was an innovative project that integrated ‘ghatta’ for
traditional use and an alternator to generate electricity. However, it is now abandoned and only
houses rodents.
Due to poor maintenance followed by a cessation of power production, many MHP and PHPs
in Nepal have been abandoned. Kushadevi’s fate may not have been human negligence but the

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same cannot be said for many abandoned or poorly functioning PHP and MHPs. Furthermore,
a major problem in Nepal has been the lack of properly designed PHP and MHPs. In Manang
Bhot the MHP’s power production is completely dependent upon the course of the river. If
Marshyangdi changes course there is no provision to guide the water towards the turbine and
the MHP is non-functional. Poor planning and poor studies will lead to bad design, which may
consequently lead to civil works failure and render the PP unusable. However, one must not
forget the genesis of these power plants from the small individual investment of the local people
and/or authority. The lack of funds to do a proper study is a major difficulty in PHP and MHP
sector. Yet, the people have realized the benefits of PHPs and MHPs and people continue
investing in them. PHP and MHP are a clean, green, renewable, and efficient source of energy
for the people living in rural areas.

Prospects
The PHP and MHP sector in Nepal require innovation. Countries that depend upon
hydropowers can help one another. In Laos, there has been an enormous project and research
in PHPs. Some innovative techniques can be borrowed from countries that have already
implemented these techniques. Some of the techniques in PHP and MHP are listed below with
figure.
1) Standing PHP Unit

Figure 4: Standing PHP Unit (Smits, 2008)

This type of setup is installed in a creek where the flow is limited and there is enough head.
The water can be a diverted from a river or come from a small dam or weir made in locally
available materials (Smits, 2008).

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 2) Lying PHP Unit

Figure 5: Lying PHP Unit (Smits, 2008)

The other type of installation is used in bigger streams or rivers with the pico-hydro unit
‘lying’ down at certain angle (Smits, 2008). This type of installation is suitable for places
where there is not much head, but a strong flow. The little bit of head which is needed
comes from existing rapids or small dams, sometimes not more than a couple of boulders.
The units are sometimes put in the middle of a river, so there is need for a strong
construction to keep the unit in place (Smits, 2008). This is often done by making a tripod
construction with or without additional weir to create more flow at the place of the pico-
hydro unit. (Smits, 2008)

For both types of installations, people use simple solutions to protect their pico-hydro unit from
being damaged (Smits, 2008). To protect the unit while it is in use, people install small nets or
grids to ‘filter’ the water from branches, leave and fish, which can potentially damage the unit.
When the unit is not in use, the water inflow is sometimes regulated by blocking the flow
(Smits, 2008). This is particularly easy at sites where water is diverted into a small canal,
because this can be closed using a small floodgate. Other measures are simply to lift up the
pico-hydro unit or to move it to the side (Smits, 2008).
These are a couple of methods, which can be applied in Nepal. As these setups require less
civil structures they are cheap to construct and cheaper to maintain. A simple setup, running
water and one has electricity. These methods should be tested and optimized for Nepal.

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CONCLUSION
Energy is necessary in human society. In addition, electrical energy is dynamic and versatile.
Moreover, its use in the global market is continually increasing. Furthermore, energy in this
era has to move towards renewability, as the antique giants of energy (Fossil Fuels, Natural
Gases and Coals) are dwindling in supply and have a huge negative social externality. They
are going to be replaced by a cleaner and greener source of energy. Solar, Hydropower, Wind
are the sectors that have to fill the large vacancy left by these giants.
In Nepal, the way forward in energy consumption is to replace the consumption of biomass
with electricity. This goal can be attained if we focus and invest in Hydropowers. However,
power in Nepal is mightily centralized. Steps must be taken from the policy level to decentralize
power and energy consumption. The decentralization of power will decrease the disparity in
energy consumption statistics and replace biomass energy consumption with electrical energy
consumption. This may take years on end to complete, until then it is the responsibility of
people and authorities to at least guarantee every house enough power to light few bulbs.
Guarantees such as these may seem farfetched and simply unattainable but with PHP, MHP
and Photovoltaic cells, these goals are just a few steps away.

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References

CBS. (2012). CENSUS REPORT 2011. Kathmandu: CBS.

Energypedia. (2019). Nepal Energy Situation. Retrieved from Energypedia Website.
Gautam, B. (2012, July). Low Head Pico-Hydro: A Robust Rural Renewable Energy
Technology for Remote Rural Areas. HYDRO NEPAL, pp. 64-66.
IEA. (2019). Global Energy and CO2 Status Report.
Maharjan, S., & Shrestha, R. (n.d.). Technical Problem Analysis of Micro Hydro Plants: A
Case Study at Pokhari Chauri of Kavre District. Journal of the Institute of
Engineering, 149-156.
Nakarmi, A. M. (2016, 1 4). IPPAN. Retrieved from
http://www.ippan.org.np/file_list/Current%20Energy%20Consumption%20trends%20
&%20future%20energy%20scenarios%20of%20Nepal%20&%20Energy%20Emerge
ncy%20why%20again.pdf
Our World in Data. (2017, August 08). How long before we run out of fossil fuels? Retrieved
from https://ourworldindata.org/: https://ourworldindata.org/how-long-before-we-run-
out-of-fossil-fuels
Pop, E., Leba, M., Tabacaru-Barbu, C., & Pop, M. (2008). Modeling, Simulation and Control
of Pico-hydro Power Plant., (pp. 103-108). Corfu.
Smits, M. (2008). Technography of pico-hydropower in the Lao PDR.
Thapa, B., Shrestha, R., Dhakal, P., & Thapa, B. S. (2004). Sediment in Nepalese
hydropower projects.
UNHDR. (2017). Nepal. Retrieved 05 28, 2019, from HDRO:
http://hdr.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/NPL
WECS. (2014). Energy Data Sheet. Kathmandu.