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the flow

ETHIOPIA:  REVIVING AND OPTIMIZING HYDRO MINI-GRIDS

12/28/2020

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In addition to Asia Pacific examples that inspire our SEEED initiative, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) through Energising Development (EnDev) Ethiopia is initiating a process to revive micro hydro projects, in order to instill optimization in end use and long-term sustainability using an enterprise-based approach. 

The team leader for the project is HPNET member Bart Jan van Beuzekom, who previously led the formation of EnDeV Nepal’s Micro Hydro Debt Fund, a rare credit line made available to community-based micro hydro.  
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Read on to learn more about EnDev Ethiopia’s efforts to review and optimize hydro mini-grids.

A study developed by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the World Resources Institute, the World Bank and others estimates Ethiopia’s untapped mini hydro potential (< 1MW) to be 267.5 MW.  Tapping this potential can help to address the 67% of Ethiopia’s rural population that is unelectrified.  Towards providing energy access to the 60 million people that remain unelectrified across the country, EnDev Ethiopia has been actively advancing small-scale hydropower through project implementation and capacity building, in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) and the GIZ Green People’s Energy for Africa (GPE) initiative.

EnDev Ethiopia supported the development of five micro hydro projects (MHPs) from 2013 - 2016, with the aim to enhance rural livelihoods through productive end use.  Two of these sites are operating at limited capacity, while three have stopped operating.  Implemented on a cost-sharing basis with local partners to pilot MHP management by cooperatives, EnDev Ethiopia is committed to reviving and optimizing all of the projects. The five MHP sites are located in the regions of SNNPR and Oromia, as shown on the map below.
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MHP Site Locations in SNNPR and Oromia, Ethiopia. Credit: Google Earth.

​The five MHP mini-grids feature the following key data:
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Credit: GIZ.
The initial phase of the effort involved field visits to understand the social, technical, and management issues faced by each of the projects.  The next phase, as detailed in the released ToR, focuses on structured data collection to assess reviving and optimizing the project focusing on the following assessments for each project.
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​Technical assessment.  The condition, functionality, operation records, safety, flow data, and electricity generation, units sold, and costs will be assessed, along with assessment of whether extending the distribution to nearby villages is feasible.

Management assessment.  The details of the MHP management roles and responsibilities; tariff collection; business model strengths and weaknesses; disputes; and the management aspects of the cooperative.

Productive end use assessment. Skillset for enterprise management, productive end use opportunities, regional best practices, catalog of end uses optimal for each cooperative, business plan for increasing load factors and revenue generation, appropriate micro finance institutions, and opportunities for scale up.

Social assessment.  Impact of electricity access on gender aspects, equitable decision making, and social service institutions.
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EnDev Ethiopia’s initiative to rehabilitate and optimize micro hydro projects for economical and technical resilience are commendable and will lead to in-depth best practices for new project implementation and rehabilitating existing mini-grids.  We look forward to following up with an update on the outcomes!
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INDONESIA:  TRAININGS AND EXPOSURE VISITS HOSTED BY ASEAN HYDROPOWER COMPETANCE CENTRE (HYCOM)

10/8/2019

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Micro hydro development in Indonesia started around 1991 with the support of GIZ (German international cooperation). Later on, Energising Development (EnDev) Indonesia implemented many MHP projects until 2014, with Entec AG Swiss / PT Entec Indonesia as consultants. 

The ASEAN Hydro Competence Centre (HYCOM) was inaugurated in 2011 and is jointly operated and managed by PT Entec Indonesia and the Technical Education Development Centre Bandung (TEDC). In addition to PT Entec and TEDC, HYCOM was established with the support of:
  • ASEAN Center for Energy (ACE) and GIZ
  • Entec AG
  • Renewable Energy Platform Swiss (REPIC)
  • University FH Technik (Zurich)

HYCOM works to promote small-scale hydropower and disseminate know-how in the sector. Offering hands-on training and application oriented research, HYCOM endeavours to improve the implementation and operation of small-scale hydropower installations worldwide. To date, HYCOM has conducted about 40 trainings and workshops with 350 participants from 25 countries, and has hosted approximately 500 visitors from all over the world.

​This quarter HYCOM conducted three knowledge transfer activities, which are described below by guest bloggers and HPNET Board Members, Mr. Gerhard Fischer and Mr. Ardi Nugraha.

TRAINING FOR MICRO HYDRO OPERATORS

In the past 3 months, HYCOM conducted two trainings for micro hydro operators. The trainings focused on Operation and Maintenance concepts and procedures, economic consequences of neglected maintenance, safety issues, understanding turbine characteristics and other practical issues of operation from water hammer, cavitation, synchronizing, alignment, balancing issues and very important  environmental issues. The attending practitioners raised many practical issues from their experience, which will help us to improve our trainings with relevant subjects. 

Training 1: Operators of Indonesian small hydro plants (July 8 - 12, 2019)

In July, HYCOM facilitated a training for 12 participants by PLN (Indonesia's government-owned utility) and KfW (a German state-owned development bank) “Sustainable Hydro Power Program”. This program was hosted at PUSDIKLAT (a training centre of PLN) involving 3 trainers from Germany. The training involved activities at the HYCOM centre, which made use of the hydro laboratory equipment, as well as visits to hydropower sites near Bandung (750 kW, 2MW up to 1000 MW).
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Trainees on a field visit to a mini-hydro project, examining the electro-mechanical equipment. Credit: A. Nugraha
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Trainees at HYCOM centre in Bandung, Indonesia. Credit: A. Nugraha
Training 2: Operators of Sarawak, Malaysia mini hydro plant (Sept. 29 - Oct. 4, 2019)
A training event was held for 9 operators and engineers from the power utility of Sarawak, Malaysia. The training was conducted by PT Entec using the HYCOM laboratory equipment and visiting MHP equipment manufacturers, as well as visiting one hydropower plant near Bandung to study the maintenance system. (The plant, a 250 kW standalone MHP in a tea plantation, has been operational for 17 years using equipment made in Bandung.)
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Malaysia-Indonesia training and exchange event at HYCOM centre. Credit: A. Nugraha
EXPOSURE VISIT:  Ethiopia Practitioners (Aug. 30 - 31, 2019)
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As early as 2008, an exchange of MHP know-how and turbine manufacturer training was held in Indonesia, conducted by PT Entec Indonesia and financed by GIZ. Participants from Ethiopia and Indonesia came together to learn general MHP know-how, and they received a license training for the T15- 300 cross flow turbine used in hundreds of MHP projects worldwide.

The achievements of this training were that three T15 cross flow turbine sites and some propeller low head were installed in Ethiopia and local manufacturers had “new ideas“ to improve their low cost turbines up to 25 kW.
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Indonesia-Ethiopia Exchange Event, 2008. Credit: PT Entec Indonesia
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Indonesia-Ethiopia Exchange Event, 2008. Credit: PT Entec Indonesia
This past August, PT Entec conducted another exchange event with participants from Ethiopia. From August 30th to 31st 2019, a delegation of EnDev Ethiopia visited Indonesia for an exposure visit. GIZ is presently planning the implementation 9 micro hydro sites in the frame of the EnDev project. The delegation (consisting of 3 GIZ/EnDev staff and 3 government officials) visited the HYCOM training centre, which is established at P4TK-BMTI, a training institution for vocational teachers in Indonesia. P4TK-BMTI is presently taking care of renewable energy (hydro, PV, biomass, wind) on the vocational school level. The delegation expressed interest to cooperate with this institution for vocational training in future.

We see a good opportunity for HPNET to support a south-south technology transfer linking the experiences of the network with the African micro hydro market.

Guest blog post written by Mr. Gerhard Fischer (Director of PT Entec Indonesia and HYCOM, and HPNET Board of Advisors Member) and Mr. Ardi Nugraha (Senior Manager of PT Entec Indonesia and HYCOM, and HPNET Board of Representatives Member for Indonesia).

They can be reached at 
office@entec.co.id 
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