A COMPARATIVE STUDY IN DEVELOPING POTENTIAL MICRO-HYDROPOWER PLANTS

IN CAMARINES SUR, PHILIPPINES AND BEPPU CITY, JAPAN

ABSTRACT

One classification of a hydropower plant is a micro hydropower plant, which usually

generates 5 to 100 kilowatts of electricity. The potential energy of naturally flowing water is
converted into electricity by a turbine, pump, or water wheel. Compared to other primary sources
of energy that rely on fossil fuels, it is more environmentally friendly. It does not consequently emit
waste heat or gases, which are typical of fossil fuel-powered facilities and have a significant
negative impact on air quality and global warming. Several conditions must be satisfied before a
micro hydropower plant can be installed in a chosen location. Studies were done, for instance, in
the rivers and falls in Camarines Sur, Philippines, and Beppu City, Japan. The GIS method, the
H-Q curve, and the product of the discharge area were the methods used in the study in Beppu
City, Japan, to determine the discharge and average velocity. The researchers used estimation
of discharge by product of area and average velocity in Camarines Sur, Philippines. The highest
power capacity and rate of discharge that can produce effective power in towns are found in the
Tubigan Falls in the Philippines and the Hiya-Kawa River in Japan. But the only potential sites for
installing a micro hydropower plant in the 5th district of Camarines Sur are Itbog Falls, Nalalata
Falls, and Lologon River. On the other hand, Oita Prefecture’s Beppu City’s possible sites for
micro hydropower plants are the Sakai-gawa and Haruki- gawa river.
 I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The world is facing a catastrophe dealing with energy resources. One major problem the
world is dealing with is the lack of energy production. The predictable end of the global cycle of
oil, gas, and coal, which has also been producing a significant increase in greenhouse gasses, is
causing the energy crisis. The energy crisis is a severe issue that the world is facing today.
According to Enerdata (n.d.), amid a global pandemic, the world's energy consumption recovered
with a 5% increase in 2021 after declining by 4.5% in the previous year. This recovery is three
points higher than the 2%/year average from 2000 to 2019. The worldwide energy consumption
in 2021 will be higher in value than in 2019.

Figure 1.1

As stated on Energy.gov. (n.d.), hydropower benefits the communities that it serves in a

variety of ways. Hydroelectric and hydropower continue to be instrumental in our battle against
climate change by offering significant influence, reservoirs, and flexible capabilities. The
advantages of hydropower are outlined below as the US moves toward 100 percent electricity
production by 2035 and cumulative emissions by 2050.

Micro hydropower plant is a kind of hydroelectric power system that utilizes the flowing of
water and can produce up to 100 KW of energy, enabling it to supply electricity to small towns.
The electricity produced can supply the public, such as rural towns and villages, especially in
developing countries. Moreover, they can use electricity without using the power grid. It is
renewable energy resources and accessible, which benefits the people. A micro hydro scheme
can be designed at the household or community level, frequently using materials and labor.
According to Energypedia (n.d.), in 1995, the micro-hydro capacity in the world was estimated at
28 GW, supplying about 115 TW/h of electricity. About 60% of this capacity was in the developed
world, with 40% in developing areas.

Micro-hydropower utilizes hydro-turbines that convert potential energy in small rivers and
streams into kinetic energy by mechanical shaft power, which can generate a generator or other
machines. The power that it generates is proportional to the discharge and head loss. The general
formula for estimating the power output of any hydro system is

𝑷 = 𝑸𝑯𝜸𝒘

According to Bhojasia (n.d.), the availability of water, a sizable catchment area, and rocky
ground are the primary criteria for choosing a micro hydropower plant site. Mountainous regions
are preferred for building a hydropower plant due to the steep geographies and rivers that provide
natural heads, which results in high potential power generation (Larentis et al., 2010). The
Philippines is renowned for its mountainous terrains and numerous naturally occurring streams of
running water that span mountains or hills. The land of Japan is mainly composed of mountains.
As stated in Web Japan (n.d), the mountains make up nearly three-fourths of the country's area,
and the archipelago's long mountain ranges serve as its spine. Japan is also rich in mountain
streams, lakes, and rivers. Both countries show great potential as the site location for micro
hydropower plants.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

This study focuses on the possible areas for installing a potential micro hydropower (MHP)
plant in the RINCONADA district of Camarines Sur, Philippines, and Beppu City of Oita Prefecture
of Japan. The initial parameters, such as head, discharge of water, and power generation were
utilized in both Camarines Sur of the Philippines and Beppu City of Japan (Terano, 2021,
Masahiko et al., 2015).
 II. METHODOLOGY

FIGURE 2.1
The potential sites for hydropower plants in Camarines Sur were found in a) Itbog Falls,
b) Nalalata Falls, c) Tubigan Falls, and d) Lologon River. These bodies of water may be used to
procure power as it has enough potential energy. The method used in calculating the discharge
and power of potential hydropower plants in Camarines Sur is acquiring the product of the
discharge area and the cross-sectional average velocity. For the head computation, vertical
distance is required. (Terano, 2021).

a)Itbog Falls b)Nalalata Falls c)Tubigan Falls

 d)Lologon River

FIGURE 2.2

Camarines Sur, Philippines applied the vertical distance, which was determined by
calculating 𝑉𝑑 = 𝐾𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃, where 𝐾 is the stadia interval factor, 𝑠 is the stadia interval and 𝜃 is
the inclination angle, and 𝑉𝑑 is the vertical distance (m). The head of the water was calculated
using the equation 𝐻 = 𝑅𝑚 + 𝑉𝑑 − 𝐼𝐻, where 𝐻 is the head (m), 𝑅𝑚 is the middle rod reading,
and 𝐼𝐻 is the height of the tool. In calculating the discharge, Manning’s equation was used.
Discharge was calculated using 𝑄 = 𝐴𝑉 where 𝑄 is the discharge (𝑚 3 /𝑠), 𝐴 is the area, and 𝑉 is
the velocity. On the other hand, power was obtained using the equation 𝑃 = 𝛾𝑄𝐻𝑛𝜂 where P is
the power (kW), 𝛾 is the unit weight of water, 𝐻𝑛 is the head minus head loss, and 𝜂 is the
efficiency which is 85% from the study (Terano, 2021).

The rivers observed for potential micro-hydropower plants in Beppu City, Japan, were the
Sakai-gawa River, Haruki-gawa River, Shin-kawa River, Asami-gawa River, and Hiya-kawa River.
Three methods were used in determining the discharge of the rivers: acquiring discharge using
the basins’ area, precipitation, and discharge coefficient, using GIS, getting the discharge using
the H-Q curve, and the estimation of discharge by computing the product of discharge area and
the average velocity at the point 500 m from the mouth of the rivers (Masahiko et al., 2015).
 FIGURE 4

In the three methods used: 1) the estimation using GIS, the discharge was determined
through 𝑉 = 𝑃𝐴𝐿, where 𝑃 is the precipitation, 𝐴 is the area of drainage, and 𝐿 is the discharge
coefficient. 2) The estimation using the H-Q curve with the equation 𝑄 = 𝑎(𝐻 − 𝑏) 𝑐 where 𝑄 is the
discharge (𝑚 3 /𝑠), 𝐻 is the water level, and a,b, and c are constants. Manning’s formula was also
used to determine the form of the curve. c) Obtaining the discharge using the equation 𝑄 = 𝐴𝑉,
where A is the area and V is the velocity. For the power determination, the equation used was
𝑃 = 𝑔𝐻𝑄𝐸 where 𝑃 is the power (kW), 𝐻 is the head, 𝑄 is the discharge, and E is the efficiency
which is 70% from the study (Masahiko et al., 2015).
 III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1 Beppu City, Japan

Locations Head Discharge Average Power

Sakai-gawa River 0.78 m 15 𝑚3 /𝑠 72 (171) kW

Haruki-gawa River 1.57 m 18 𝑚3 /𝑠 67 (88) kW

Shin-gawa River 1.35 m 22 𝑚3 /𝑠 325 (774) kW

Asami-gawa River 1m 6 𝑚 3 /𝑠 190 (452) kW

Hiya-kawa River 1.30 m 12 𝑚3 /𝑠 870 (2071) kW

TABLE 3.1

3.1.1 Head
Water levels (m) and daily precipitation (mm) were measured in Oita City, Oita
Prefecture, Japan, at places 500 meters from the mouths of the Sakai-gawa River, Haruki-
gawa River, Shin-kawa River, Asami-gawa River, and Hiya-kawa River.

3.1.2 Discharge
For the Sakai-gawa, Haruki-gawa, and Asami-gawa Rivers, the estimated
discharge varied from about 0 𝑚3 /𝑠 to 18-22 𝑚3 /𝑠 but mostly stayed low. Tidal influences
on water level are most likely to blame for the discrepancy between the discharge for the
Hiya-kawa River predicted by the two approaches.

3.1.3 Power
At 500 meters from each river's mouth, the Manning formula estimates the
potential generated power (kW). Parentheses around values indicate the number of
homes the future power generation can power, assuming that each household uses 300
kW of electricity each month (or 0.42 kW).
 3.2 Camarines Sur, Philippines

Location Rod Reading Height of Vertical

Instrument (m) Distance (m)
Upper (m) Middle (m) Lower (m)

Itbog Falls 2.3 2.2 2.1 2 4.021

Nalalata Falls 1.1 1 0.9 1.37 4.039

Tubigan Falls 0.87 0.8 0.73 1.40 3.58

Lologon River 1.35 1.3 1.25 1.475 1.899

TABLE 3.2

3.2.1 Vertical Measurement

The relevant rod readings for each site are displayed in Table 2. The head of the device was
determined using the rod readings.

Location Middle Reading Vertical Distance Height of Head (m)

(m) (m) Instrument (m)

Itbog Falls 2.2 4.021 2 4.221

Nalalata Falls 1 4.039 1.37 3.669

Tubigan Falls 0.8 3.580 1.4 2.980

Lologon River 1.3 1.899 1.475 1.724

TABLE 3.3

3.2.2 Head
The vertical distance that water travels through determines the head (h). The distance
between the water input pipe's location points was measured in drops. The calculation for the water
head is shown below. Table 3 provides a summary of the information gleaned from the calculation
above. Itbog Falls, with 4.221 m, has an enormous computed head of water, followed by Nalalata
Falls, Tubigan Falls, and the Lologon River.

Location Trial Time (sec) Velocity (m/sec) Average Velocity

(m/sec)

Itbog Falls 1 9.45 0.529 0.565

2 9.27 0.539

3 7.98 0.627

Nalalata Falls 1 17.77 0.281 0.263

2 20.82 0.24

3 18.58 0.269

Tubigan Falls 1 2.51 1.992 2.403

2 1.71 2.924

3 2.18 2.294

Lologon River 1 8.52 0.587 0.643

2 8.33 0.6

3 6.75 0.741

TABLE 3.4

3.2.3. Float Method Measurement

Velocity was calculated at 5m distance. The float method uses a floating item that is placed
close to the water's surface to estimate the velocity as well as the rate of flow in a river. This method
measured the duration of a float water bottle as it moved along the falls' current throughout three
trials. The findings are displayed in Table 4, with Tubigan Falls with the highest average speed
(2.403). The Lologon River, Itbog Falls, and Nalalata Falls come after that.
 Location Average Velocity Actual Velocity Cross Sectional Discharge
(m/sec) (m/sec) Area (𝒎𝟐 ) (𝒎𝟑/sec)

Itbog Falls 0.565 0.4803 4.3507 2.09

Nalalata Falls 0.263 0.2236 10.515 2.3512

Tubigan Falls 2.403 2.0426 5.46 11.153

Lologon River 0.643 0.5466 3.6384 1.989

TABLE 3.5

3.2.4 Discharge
Based on the data, among all the waterfalls, Tubigan Falls has the highest percentage of
outflow in the four locations, then the Lologon River, Itbog Falls, and Nalalata Falls.

Location Discharge Head (m) Theoretical Power Power Capacity

(m^3/sec) (kW) (kW)

Itbog Falls 2.09 4.221 86.542 73.561

Nalalata Falls 2.3512 3.669 84.626 71.932

Tubigan Falls 11.153 2.98 326.045 277.138

Lologon River 1.989 1.724 33.639 28.593

TABLE 3.6

3.2.5 Power
The outcome for each site's power capacity is shown in Table 6. Such was calculated with
approximately 85% efficiency.
 The potential sites examined for micro hydropower plants in Beppu City are all rivers while
in Camarines Sur are mostly falls and a river. As indicated in Table 1, the heads of Sakai-gawa,
Haruki-gawa, Shin-gawa, Asami-gawa, and Hiya-kawa are 0.78 m, 1.57 m, 1.35 m, 1 m, and 1.30
m, respectively. On the other hand, in Table 3, the heads of Itbog, Nalalata, Tubigan, and Lologon
are 4.221 m, 3.669 m, 2.980 m, and 1.724 m, respectively.

Table 1 and Table 5 show the discharge in each river and falls. Sakai-gawa has 15 𝑚 3 /𝑠,
18 𝑚 3 /𝑠 in Haruki-gawa, 22 𝑚3 /𝑠 in Shin-gawa, 6 𝑚 3 /𝑠 in Asami-gawa and 12 𝑚 3 /𝑠 in Hiya-
kawa. For the discharge obtained in Camarines Sur, Itbog has 2.09 𝑚 3 /𝑠, 2.3512 in Nalalata,
11.153 𝑚 3 /𝑠 in Tubigan, and 1.989 𝑚 3 /𝑠 in Lologon.

Table 1 and 6 indicated the power generated in each river and fall. Camarines Sur only
included the power itself while in Beppu City, they included the possible households that can be
serviced by the computed power. Sakai-gawa has 72 kW for 171 households, 67 kW for 88
households from Haruki-gawa, 325 kW for 774 households from Shin-gawa, 190 kW for 452
households from Asami-gawa, and 870 kW for 2071 households from Hiya-kawa. On the other
hand, Itbog, Nalalata, Tubigan, and Lologon can generate 73. 561 kW, 71. 932 kW, 277.138 kW,
and 28.591 kW, respectively.
 IV. CONCLUSION

The two studies utilized various areas that have the potential to generate micro
hydropower plants. In addition, they compared the results that varied in conditions of water head,
discharge rate, and power capacity to be able to see if the power will be supplied enough in the
areas. The Tubigan Falls in the Philippines and the Hiya Kawa River in Japan have the highest
power capacity and rate of discharge which can produce efficient power in towns. However, the
only potential sites for installing a micro hydropower plant in the 5th district of Camarines Sur are
Itbog Falls, Nalalata Falls, and Lologon River. On the other hand, Oita Prefecture’s Beppu City’s
possible sites for micro hydropower plants are the Sakai-gawa and Haruki- gawa River. The data
are the basis if the said specific locations are qualified to produce power which is a renewable
source and tends to lessen global warming and ocean acidity. According to the International
Energy Agency, by 2040, global electricity demand would have grown by 70%, accounting for
24% of total energy consumption, up from 18% at the time. Currently, renewable energy sources
around the nation offer reasonably priced electricity, and they may also contribute to the future
stability of energy rates. In today’s time it is important to use renewable energy because the world
has only limited resources.
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