Power and Energy

3.4.5 Potential and firm power, maximum power output, firm energy,
surplus energy, seasonal energy, and average annual energy

Sanjeeb Baral
JS, MoEWRI
 Power
• The power generated from hydro is a function of head and discharge. For
a particular project layout, the head is constant and different power can
be generated using discharge of different percentile of time.
hg QH
P= kW
100
• Where, h is overall efficiency of a system. The overall efficiency of the
plant is the product of hydraulic efficiency, the turbine efficiency and
generator efficiency (h =hh * ht * hg).The hydraulic efficiency indicates the
total loss in conveyance system
• g is specific weight of water, whose value is 9.81 kN/ m3 and
• Q is available discharge in m3/s.
 Gross head (H)
• The gross head is the difference between the water level in the headrace and the
water level in the tailrace. For storage plant, gross head (H) is the difference in
water level in the reservoir and water level in the tailrace. For run-of river plant, it is
a difference in water level in the point of diversion of water and water level at the
point where the water is returned back to the river.

For hydropower project with Pelton For hydropower project with Francis
turbine, gross head (H) = water level turbine, gross head (H) = water level at
at intake – turbine axis level, intake – water level at tail water level
Net head (h)
• It is the head available for the turbine. It is equal to the difference of total head at the point of entry and at
the point of exit of the turbine. This includes the respective pressure and velocity heads at both places.
• For impulse turbine, net head, h = H – Z – hf
• Where, hf is headloss
Operating head
• Operating head is the simultaneous difference of water surface elevation in the forebay and tail race, after
making due allowance of approach and exit velocity heads.
• Operating head = Total energy level (T.E.L) at forebay entrance – T.E.L at exit
Rated head:
• It is the head at which the turbine functioning at full gate opening will produce a power output, equal to
that specified in the name plate of the turbine. This rated head should be equal to the design head of the
turbine so as to ensure maximum overall plant efficiency.
Design head:
• It is the net head under which the turbine reaches peak efficiency at synchronous speed.
Hydraulic efficiency of plant
• The hydraulic efficiency of a hydropower scheme is the ratio of net head to gross head. This efficiency
indicates the total losses from intake to powerhouse. Higher the losses in the system, the lower the
hydraulic efficiency, so we always tried to minimize losses while designing the project.
Firm power
• The power, which is insured at any time of
the day, is known as firm power. Firm power Power duration curve

is completely dependable and available 100%

Power
of time. Such power corresponds to Secondary Energy

minimum stream flow. Such power can be

increased by the use of pondage so that Primary Energy

greater minimum flow is available for 100% 25% 50% 75% 100%

of time. Percentage of time

Secondary power
• The secondary power is the amount of power, which is excess of the
firm power. It is also called surplus or non-firm power. The plant can
deliver the secondary power only for a part of a year. It is
comparatively less valuable. It is useful in an interconnected system of
power plants.
 Plant capacity
• It is the capacity of the plant with respect to the available head, discharge and
efficiency. With known head and storage, the capacity of plant would be
inversely proportional to the load factor at which the plant is to operate.
• Following two conflicting considerations are taken to select the plant capacity as
the plant capacity either represent the minimum flow for running all around the
year or high flow with bigger capacity which surely remain ideal in the major
portion of the year.
• Run the plant of the base portion of the load curve to utilize the maximum
energy of flowing water.
• Run the power plant at the peak load period for better operational convenience
and efficiency.
• Such things can be achieved by
• Analysis of different alternatives has to be made for maximum utilization
• Firm capacity of the plant may be increased due to pondage so detail calculation of
duration curve is required before fixing the plant capacity.
• Generally the capacity of the low head plant corresponds to the flow which is available 40-
50% of the time
Installed capacity
• The plant capacity, which is economically viable, is known as installed
capacity. It is also defined as the maximum power, which can be
developed by all generators of the plant at the plant at the normal
head and with full flow.
h g Qd H
P= kW
100 h g Q 30 H
P30 = KW
• Where, h = Overall efficiency 100
• g = 9.81 kN/ m3
• Qd = design discharge m3/s h g Q 40 H
P40 = KW
100
Power duration curve
Installed Capacity Optimization
• Increase Q – the project installed capacity increase
• All the structure sizes also increased
• So cost of project is increased

• If Q is increased, the project capacity increased so energy generation is also

increase
• So revenue is also increased

• Co curve of cost and benefit curve draw for different discharge with Q20,
Q30, Q40, Q50, Q60, Q70, Q80
• The intersection of cost and benefit gives optimum installed capacity
4-15(p-105): Draw a flow duration curve from the stream flow record from the proposed power
development site if the available head is 80m and the maximum discharge capacity is 60 m3/sec,
determine firm and secondary energy at the site if overall efficiency is 78%.
Months Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Q
(m3/sec) 37 35 31 25 19 37 65 84 62 51 44 41

Month Discharge Discharge in descending order Rank (n) % of time (n/N)

Jan 37 84 1 8.33
Feb 35 65 2 16.67
Mar 31 62 3 25.00
Apr 25 51 4 33.33
May 19 44 5 41.67
Jun 37 41 6 50.00
Jul 65 37 7 58.33
Aug 84 37 8 66.67
Sep 62 35 9 75.00
Oct 51 31 10 83.33
Nov 44 25 11 91.67
Dec 41 19 12 100.00
• The flow duration curve from given monthly data is constructed as
shown in table above. The plot of percentile time and discharge is
called FDC. As design discharge is given as 60m3/sec, calculate the %
time corresponding to the design discharge.
• By linear interpolation, percentage time = (33.33 - 25) x (62 + 60) = 26.52%
(62 - 51)
• Head = 80m
• Overall Efficiency = 78%
• Design Discharge = 60m3/sec
• So Power (Installed capacity), P = h g Q H
• So P = 9.81 x 0.78 x 60 x 80/1000 = 36.72 MW
• Calculation table for flow duration curve:
 Discharge in % of time Energy
Month Discharge descending Order Rank (n) (n/N) Power (MW) (GW)
Jan 37 84 1 8.33 36.73 26.81
Feb 35 65 2 16.67 36.73 26.81
Mar 31 62 3 25.00 36.73 26.81
60 26.52 36.73 4.87
Apr 25 51 4 33.33 31.22 20.29
May 19 44 5 41.67 26.93 21.23
Jun 37 41 6 50.00 25.10 18.99
Jul 65 37 7 58.33 22.65 17.43
Aug 84 37 8 66.67 22.65 16.53
Sep 62 35 9 75.00 21.43 16.09
Oct 51 31 10 83.33 18.98 14.75
Nov 44 25 11 91.67 15.30 12.51
Dec 41 19 12 100.00 11.63 9.83
∑ 232.96

• The percentile of time in X- axis and power generated in Y-axis is plotted to get power
generation curve. The area under the power duration curve gives energy generated.
4-9 (89) In a Hydropower Project, monthly flow of a river at headworks site and
headloss in penstock (from headpond) is as shown in table:
If the intake level is at 1768.50, water level at pipeinlet (Headpond) is 1766.99 and
Turbine axis level is at 1345.00m. The dry season outage is 3% and wet season
outage is 5%. Turbine Efficiency for full discharge is 90%, Generator Efficiency is
97% and Transformer Efficiency is 99%.
Calculate installed capacity of a plant if it is designed in 40% of available discharge.
Also Calculate the dry and wet energy generated from a plant (Wet season is April
to Nov). Calculate plant factor of a plant considering outage.
If the dry season energy rate is Nrs. 8.40 and wet season energy rate is Nrs. 4.80,
calculate the yearly revenue from the project. Consider 10% of minimum flow as an
environmental release. If transmission loss is 5% upto the metering point of NEA
and internal consumption of 1% of the generated energy, what will be the total
revenue?
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Discharge
(m3/sec) 0.36 0.38 0.4 0.5 0.76 1.67 2.59 2.49 1.45 0.94 0.56 0.43
Head loss in
Penstock (m) 1.86 1.89 1.9 2.58 4.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 5.08 2.9 1.92
 Probability of
Q Q in Desc. Frequency Q
Month Rank Exceedence % Discharge
(m3/sec) order (N+1)/n (m3/sec)
(1/F)
Jan 0.36 2.59 1 13.00 7.69 2.59
Feb 0.38 2.49 2 6.50 15.38 2.49 10 2.56
March 0.40 1.67 3 4.33 23.08 1.67 20 2.00
April 0.50 1.49 4 3.25 30.77 1.45 30 1.47
May 0.76 0.94 5 2.60 38.46 0.94 40 0.90
June 1.67 0.76 6 2.17 46.15 0.76 50 0.66
July 2.59 0.56 7 1.86 53.85 0.56 60 0.51
Aug 2.49 0.50 8 1.63 61.54 0.50 70 0.43
Sept 1.45 0.43 9 1.44 69.23 0.43 80 0.39
3.00
Oct 0.94 0.40 10 1.30 76.92 0.40 90 0.37
Nov 0.56 0.38 11 1.18 84.62 0.38
2.50
Dec 0.43 0.38 12 1.08 92.31 0.36
Discharge (m3 /Sec)

2.00

1.50
• Hence from the flow duration curve
Q40 = 0.90 m3/sec
1.00

0.50

0.00
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Probability of Exceedence %
 River Available Design Total Generation Dry season Wet season
Month Days Net head
Flow Flow flow Headloss capacity energy energy
(m3/s) (m3/s) (m3/s) M m (kW) (kWh) (kWh)
Jan 0.36-.04 0.32 31 0.32 3.37 420.13 1154.10 837,187
Feb 0.38-04 0.34 29 0.34 3.40 420.10 1225.26 831,460
Mar 0.40 0.36 31 0.36 3.41 420.09 1296.46 940,454
Apr 0.50 0.46 30 0.46 4.09 419.41 1649.96 1,128,572
May 0.76 0.72 31 0.72 5.59 417.91 2565.30 1,815,316
Jun 1.67 1.63 30 0.90 6.59 416.91 3181.27 2,175,992
July 2.59 2.55 31 0.90 6.59 416.91 3181.27 2,251,209
Aug 2.49 2.45 31 0.90 6.59 416.91 3181.27 2,248,525
Sept 1.45 1.41 30 0.90 6.59 416.91 3181.27 2,170,552
Oct 0.94 0.90 31 0.90 6.59 416.91 3181.27 2,248,525
Nov 0.56 0.52 30 0.52 4.41 419.09 1861.89 1,257,812
Dec 0.43 0.39 31 0.39 3.43 420.07 1403.25 1,017,916
Maximum Power Generation, kW 3181.27
Total seasonal Energy, kWh 3,627,017 15,296,502
Annual generation, GWh 3.63 15.30
Total energy, GWh 18.92

Ratio of wet season energy with dry season energy 4.22

• Available flow = river flow – environmental flow (where, environmental flow is
the 10% of driest month flow)
• Design Flow = If the available flow is greater than the design flow (0.9m3/sec), the
design flow is equal to design flow and if the available flow is less than the design
flow then the design flow is equal to the available flow.
• Here, headloss from intake to headpond = 1768.50 - 1766.99 = 1.51m
• The headloss from headpond to turbine axis level is given. So Total head loss can
be obtained by adding the headloss from intake to headpond and monthly
headloss of penstock pipe.
• Gross head = intake water level – turbine axis level = 1768.5 -1345.00 =423.50
• Net head can be calculated by subtracting monthly loss from the gross head.
• Combined efficiency for full discharge = 86.43%
• So Generation capacity (power) P = h g Q H
• Dry season energy = power * No of operating days* 24 * (1- dry season outage)
• Wet season energy = power * No of operating days* 24 * (1- wet season outage)
 Design Generation
Net Head Dry season Wet season Energy Rate
Months Discharge capacity
(m) energy (KWh) energy (KWh) (Nrs) Amount
(m3/sec) (KW)
(Nrs)
Jan 0.32 416.91 3181.27 837187 8.4 7032373
Feb 0.34 419.09 1861.89 831460 8.4 6984264
March 0.36 420.07 1403.25 940454 8.4 7899815
April 0.46 420.13 1154.10 1128572 4.8 5417145
May 0.72 420.10 1225.26 1815316 4.8 8713518
June 0.90 420.09 1296.46 2175992 4.8 10444761
July 0.90 419.41 1649.96 2251209 4.8 10805802
Aug 0.90 417.91 2565.30 2248525 4.8 10792920
Sep 0.90 416.91 3181.27 2170552 4.8 10418649
Oct 0.90 416.91 3181.27 2248525 4.8 10792920
Nov 0.52 416.91 3181.27 1257812 4.8 6037496
Dec 0.39 416.91 3181.27 1017916 8.4 8550492
Sub Total 3,627,017 15,296,502 103,890,156
Total 18,923,520 103,890,156
 Actual energy produced by the plant 18,923,520 KWh
Plant factor = Plant factor = = 0.679
maximum energy production capacity 27,867,925.2 KWh

• Actual energy produced by the plant considering plant factor = 18,923,520 KWh
• Maximum energy production capacity of the plant = installed capacity x 365 x 24
(KWh) = 3181.27 x 365 x 24 = 27,867,925.2 KWh

• Transmission loss and consumption is constant in wet season and dry season.
Total loss is (5% +1%= 6%). But dry season and wet season rate are different.
• The dry season energy that can be sold after loss = 3,627,017 x (1-6%)
• The dry season energy that can be sold after loss = 15,296,502 x (1-6%)
• Total revenue = 3,627,017 x (1-6%) x 8.4 + 15,296,502 x (1-6%)x 4.8 =
97,656,743.2 Rs
• A power development site has the following average estimated river
flows. If 8515KW is generated continuously throughout the year with
70% efficiency and average head of 18.3m, what will the storage
requirements?
Months Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Flow
(106m3) 349 378 286 154 126 63 86 63 189 257 286 256

Solution:
Power generated = 8515KW, Head = 18.3m and Overall efficiency = 70%

For the installed capacity to be increased upto 8515kW, the discharge to be maintained is

P = 9.81x 70% xQx18.30 Q = 67.76 3/sec

Overall Efficiency – 70% and H = 18.3

Flow Q in descending Rank % of time

Month (106 m3) Days Q (m3/sec) order (n) (n/N) Power
Jan 349 31 130.30 156.25 1 8.33 19.64
Feb 378 28 156.25 130.30 2 16.67 16.37
Mar 286 31 106.78 110.34 3 25.00 13.87
Apr 154 30 59.41 106.78 4 33.33 13.42
May 126 31 47.04 95.95 5 41.67 12.06
Jun 63 30 24.31 95.58 6 50.00 12.01
Jul 86 31 32.11 72.92 7 58.33 9.16
67.76 61.52 8.52
Aug 63 31 23.52 59.41 8 66.67 7.47
Sep 189 30 72.92 47.04 9 75.00 5.91
Oct 257 31 95.95 32.11 10 83.33 4.03
Nov 286 30 110.34 24.31 11 91.67 3.05
Dec 256 31 95.58 23.52 12 100.00 2.96
• This can be calculated in a simple way as shown in table below.

Design Q Actual Q Deficit Percentile time Area Area x365x24x3600/100

67.76 67.76 0 61.52

67.76 59.41 8.35 66.67 21.50 6,780,634.20

67.76 47.04 20.72 75 121.08 38,182,700.81

67.76 32.11 35.65 83.33 234.78 74,040,551.93

67.76 24.31 43.45 91.67 329.85 104,020,549.92

67.76 23.52 44.24 100 365.23 115,178,570.14

Total storage requirement (m3) 338,203,006.99

Thank You!