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RELIABLE MICRO & PICO HYDRO WITHSTAND THE TEST OF TIME IN SRI LANKA

7/22/2020

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Micro hydropower in Sri Lanka has played an immense role in energy access for the country, as well as the region.  The Sri Lanka Energy Services Delivery Project (ESDP) and the follow-on Renewable Energy for Rural Economic Development Project (REREDP), both assisted by the World Bank (WB) and Global Environment Facility (GEF), provided extensive finance and technical assistance for the development of pico, micro, and mini hydro in Sri Lanka.  (More in our Sri Lanka factsheet here.)
​
Decades later the country has a 98% electrification rate, mostly through grid extension.  However, the local capacity built during the development of off-grid solutions now benefits other regions of S/SE Asia and also Africa.  Sri Lanka micro/mini hydro experts support various other contexts, e.g. India, Myanmar, Rwanda.  Its development in grid-interconnected micro hydro has inspired the same in Nepal (more here).

Likewise within Sri Lanka, utilities and regulatory bodies are keen to provide and maintain off-grid solutions that benefit last-mile communities that are not reachable by the main grid.

In this regard, HPNET member Padma Dewa Samaranayaka of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA) recently visited 2 project sites and was pleased to see that the fruits of SLSEA’s energy access initiatives are continuing to pay off, bolstered by the diligent efforts of the local communities who operate and manage the systems.  

The first project the team visited was the Kalakundawa micro hydro system, in Kaluthara District.  The SLSEA team found that the 12 kW micro-grid continues to run well after 7 years of operation.  Situated 9 km from the main grid, the Kalakundawa MHP provides electricity to 20 households in the village.  The system has required only minor repairs, which have been supported by SLSEA. ​
Kalakundawa micro hydro system. Credit: P. D. Samaranayaka.
Visiting the Kalakundawa micro hydro system. Credit: P. D. Samaranayaka.
Kalakundawa micro hydro system. Credit: P. D. Samaranayaka.
Next, the team ventured to the very remote village of Galamudana, where SLSEA installed 2 1kW pico hydro systems 8 years ago.  30 houses are connected to the systems.
Galamudana pico hydro. Credit: P. D. Samaranayaka.
Visiting Galamudana pico hydro system. Credit: P. D. Samaranayaka.
In both villages SLSEA is taking stock of preventive maintenance needed to ensure the systems run for many more years to come.
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PELTON TURBINE TRAINING AT CREATECH, Philippines

12/11/2019

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Last month, practitioners from Philippines and Malaysia gathered for a training session on Pelton micro hydro turbine fabrication. The session was the second part of a two-part training organized by HPNET and Sibol Ng Agham At Teknolohiya (SIBAT), to strengthen local capacities in fabrication and manufacturing.

The training responded to the knowledge exchange needs of HPNET Members in the Philippines and Malaysia who require skills to design and build Pelton micro hydro turbines.

Following an online training in November, the in-person training ran from December 2 - 7 and was held at SIBAT's Center for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology (CREATech) in Capas, Tarlac, Philippines. The overall aim was for participants to acquire knowledge of the design, manufacturing and testing of Pelton turbines, including fabrication of the Pelton runner assembly.
Participants benefited from an opportunity for hands-on learning, in addition to technical and theoretical presentations. 

Within Pelton Turbine Design, sub-topics covered included:
  • Single and multi jet turbines;
  • Vertical and horizontal axis turbines;
  • Direct and belt drive systems;
  • Net head calculations and shaft calculations;
  • Pelton runner sizing;
  • Bearing and belt selection;
  • Other components.

The resource person for this training was HPNET Member Mr. Ajith Kumara from Simple Engineering, a senior micro and mini hydropower specialist based in Sri Lanka. Mr. Kumara has extensive experience training practitioners in design and fabrication aspects of various electro-mechanical components of small-scale hydropower.

This training was made possible by SIBAT, WISIONS and Simple Engineering.


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WATCH: WEBINAR ON ENABLING LOCAL BANKS TO FINANCE HYDRO MINI-GRIDS

7/1/2019

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If you missed our second quarterly webinar last week, Mini-grid Financing:  Enabling the Role of Local Banks, you can watch it below!  

The webinar covers
- incentives for local banks to lend to RE mini-grids
- challenges for local banks and how development partners can alleviate them
- example of a 7-bank program (!) lending to RE mini-grids
- checklist for mini-grid developers to access local bank financing.

Special thanks to
WISIONS, energypedia UG, and the speakers Kapila Subasinghe, Dinesh Dulal, and Margarita Manzo for making it possible.

Stay tuned for our next quarterly webinar, “Mini-Grid Sustainability: Transitioning to Enterprise-based Micro Hydro"  in September
 here!
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