Category: Research

FROM STAND-ALONE SYSTEM TO DISTRIBUTED GENERATION: GRID INTERCONNECTIVITY IN NEPAL

8/10/2020

In January of 2018, the Syaurebhumi 23 kW micro hydro system was connected to the national grid in Nuwakot, Nepal, making it the first grid interconnected micro hydro project (MHP) in the country. This pilot project emerged from a government policy for grid interconnection of MHPs of less than 100kW capacity; the policy attempted to respond to the widespread abandonment of MHPs, which was occurring as the national grid expanded into previously off-grid service areas.

NEW PAPER: Micro Hydropower in Nepal: A Journey from Stand-alone System to Distributed Generation

The publication is an excellent example of multi-stakeholder collaboration -- between government, utility, private sector, academia and international development actors. Contributions came from individuals at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC), Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA), ECN part of TNO and Preesu Electronics P. Ltd.. The authors are all HPNET members who have contributed to our Grid Interconnection Work Stream. Through the data provided in the publication the authors wish to bring greater attention to load control and protection technology -- specifically for interconnected micro/mini hydropower (<1MW), which is often overshadowed by technology developments in large hydro or solar PV controller technology.

Multi-Actor Participation for Successful Grid Interconnectivity

The multi-actor collaboration that brought this paper to fruition echoes the broader, integrated approach to energy planning in Nepal, which has played a vital role in the country’s grid interconnection success thus far. For grid interconnection to become a successful reality, there must be collaborative participation from local and national governments, minigrid developers (including local communities), utilities, donors and researchers.

A fragmented approach, lacking multi-actor participation, often hinders progress toward successful policy for grid interconnectivity. Taking note from Nepal’s approach, an integrated, multi-stakeholder approach could further advance grid interconnection efforts in Myanmar, Pakistan, Indonesia and other countries across S/SE Asia.

Click here to access the paper on Energypedia.

Abstract:

Nepal is known for its successful rural electrification efforts through community owned and managed standalone micro hydropower projects (MHP) that have helped transform its rural economy. Unfortunately, as soon as the national grid reaches a micro hydro catchment area, things start falling apart. For various reasons, people’s preference is the grid and eventually switch over from MHP which then lies idle and ultimately abandoned. A recent survey carried out by the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) shows that about 8% of the MHPs in Province 1 have shut down. The number of abandoned plant would be much larger if MHPs of less than 10kW capacity are also considered. Thus, the Government of Nepal came-up with the policy for grid interconnection of MHPs of less than 100kW capacity. This opportunity of transforming a standalone system to grid connected system has several advantages for both the utility grid and the MHP, the grid gets power injection near the load centers whereas MHP earns additional revenue. The technological difference between grid interconnection of MHP and other hydropower projects shall be discussed in detail in the Nepalese context. A MATLAB simulation analysis is presented to demonstrate the technical viability of the interconnection in the 11kV feeder line. Moreover, financial and economic analysis of the grid interconnected systems is also discussed. This paper also focuses on how droop features of Electronic Load Controller (ELC) could have managed the proportional load sharing among the MHP plants if such ELC with droop features were available.

Authors:

Jiwan Kumar Mallik, AEPC/RERL - [email protected]

Satish Gautam, AEPC/RERL - [email protected]

Surendra Mathema, Preesu Electronics P. Ltd. - [email protected]

Binod Koirala, ECN part of TNO, Netherland - [email protected]

Hitendra Dev Shakya, Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) - [email protected]

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LOCAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: TURGO TURBINE IN NEPAL

7/1/2020

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Introduction

Nepal is a country full of mountains and hills. Access to the electricity grid has always been a difficult task due to difficult terrains and cost involved. Thanks to its abundant water resources, support from development partners and government policy, micro hydropower technology was introduced nearly fifty years ago in Nepal. Today more than 30,000 hydro stations with an installed capacity less than 999 kW have been installed in the country generating more than 30 MW of electricity, which provides electricity access to more than 300,000 households. Most of them were implemented under a unique model of rural electrification where the rural communities were put in charge of constructing, owning and managing hydropower plants with the government of Nepal and many I/NGOs providing subsidy and technical support.

Nepal is considered as one of the best examples in the field of micro hydropower development. This sector is able to draw global attention. Today, Nepal can share its best practices, and lessons learnt on how capacity can be built in rural communities without access to electricity to own, build and run their own mini-grid systems. Through this, Nepal has developed an excellent working experience in micro hydropower plants which contributes to the national economy and community livelihoods. However, development of the technology has not moved forward since its introduction.

A brief on MHP manufacturing in Nepal

Today, more than 80% of installed turbines in Nepal are either Crossflow or Pelton. Both the technologies were introduced in Nepal in the early 1970's. The Crossflow turbine was first manufactured in Balaju Yantra Shala Pvt. Ltd. The Pelton turbine was introduced by Butwal Technical Institute. These two companies were the pioneering companies working in the promotion of micro hydro in Nepal where the Swiss and German aid programs were crucial in the development of the sector in Nepal. BYS and BTI were not only manufacturing the technology but also training people to develop in country capabilities. The trained human resources later started opening their own manufacturing facility in different locations in Nepal. They started product supply, installation, and maintenance services to abroad. We have been reaping benefits of the approaches that we learned in the early 70's, but there were few attempts to introduce new technology in Nepal and support Nepali manufacturers to develop new turbine designs locally. Further, decades of manufacturing of the same types of turbines has saturated the turbine market and some of the manufacturers wish to diversify their capacity but have not been able to do that on their own.

Technology transfer through a unique model

Research at the University of Bristol showed that the Turgo turbine would be a suitable design for Nepali contexts, fitting between the Pelton and Crossflow offerings and able to deal with the high silt content in Nepali rivers. Nepal Yantra Shala Energy (NYSE), a micro hydro manufacturing company in Kathmandu with an experience of more than 50 years in MHP had already observed the need for Turgo turbines in their manufacturing list. However, they were unsure how to progress the idea. They had purchased one small sized Turgo turbine set and kept it in their workshop. PEEDA has been working in the field of energy access, capacity development and research for 20 years. Turbine Testing Lab at Kathmandu University provides the facilities to test turbines across a range of power outputs. These 4 institutions joined forces to form a team to develop Nepal's capacity to manufacture the Turgo turbine locally. The year 2018/19 was spent working on the design, manufacturing and testing of the Turgo turbine at a Pico scale.

Experimental testing rig. Credit: PEEDA.

Advantages of the Turgo Turbine

Water enters through top of the turbine runner and exits through bottom, leading to less interference between incoming and exiting water flow.
Allows a larger flow for same size runner or a smaller runner for same power output.
Able to operate over wide range of heads and flows efficiently.
The Turgo fills the gap where the head is too high for Crossflow turbine, requiring the runner to be narrow, and where the head is too low for Pelton turbine, requiring a physically large runner rotating slowly.

Turbine application chart. Credit: PEEDA.

The unit has been installed in Naubise, Dhading which is about 22 km from Kathmandu Valley. This unit is available for anyone interested to see it in operation.

To introduce a new micro hydropower technology to Nepal, it was important to understand the capability of micro hydro companies and the manufacturing processes that are available. This information can be used to ensure that the design of all components for a new type of turbine is appropriate for manufacture in the context of Nepal. A thorough study was conducted of the Nepali manufacturing companies which are based in Kathmandu and Butwal, central Nepal. Our study showed that manufacturers in Nepal tend to have access to the same equipment and materials, meaning that the processes for fabricating Turgo turbines tends to be very similar. However, as casting is an external process, the interface between the micro hydro companies and casting companies is a potential risk to the quality and accuracy of the Turgo cups.

Next Steps

The next steps for the project are to increase the technology readiness level of the Turgo turbine in Nepal. This will enable manufacturers to be equipped with all of the necessary information to design, manufacture and install Turgo turbines. A joint effort of all the partners, including HPNET, will be facilitated to improve technology readiness. There are two parts to this future research:

Workshop on Turgo Design and Manufacture

This workshop will provide the information needed for key stakeholders to be able to identify potential sites for the Turgo turbine, size and design the turbine system, manufacture the Turgo runner, and install and test the system. Both theoretical and practical support will be delivered in the workshop to ensure that a good understanding of the turbine is developed in the Nepalese micro hydropower manufacturing community.

Open-Source Repository of Turgo Turbine System Design and Webinar

The scalable tools and drawings for the Turgo turbine will be placed in an open and free web-based repository, enabling access for any stakeholder that is interested in the Turgo turbine. This will allow micro-hydropower manufacturers, in Nepal and worldwide, access to the necessary details to construct a complete Turgo turbine system. Alongside the drawings, guides will be developed to enable the knowledge generated from both projects to be shared with the audience, for example key constraints in casting Turgo cups, jigs required to assemble the runner, and how to select an appropriate site for the turbine.
The project team will also install a micro hydropower scale Turgo turbine at a site to demonstrate its potential for the future. With these plans in place, we hope the future for the Turgo turbine in Nepal is bright!

Turgo project near Kathmandu. Credit: PEEDA.

This article was written by guest blogger and HPNET Board of Representatives Member, Biraj Gautam, who is the Research Team Leader of the project and Chief Executive Officer at People, Energy and Environment Development Association (PEEDA) in Kathmandu, Nepal.

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NEPAL: FIELD RESEARCH ON WOMEN AND MICRO HYDRO

11/15/2019

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Involving women in micro-hydro projects (MHPs) is important, not only for empowering the women via access to energy, but also for the sustainability of the MHP, as it taps into one of the core beneficiaries -- women, who were previously left out.

In collaboration with HPNET and the UNDP Renewable Energy for Rural Livelihoods (RERL) project at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) in Nepal, my research looked at a MHP where gender mainstreaming was done around 22 years ago and analyzed the impact of gender mainstreaming on the MHP. The findings included that women’s involvement in the MHP could be restricted by prevalent gender roles, as well as by the technical design or malpractice. The findings also revealed that encouraging women-led productive use of electricity should be accompanied by other infrastructure such as access to markets, finance, roads, etc.

Stay tuned for a report where the findings will be presented in detail.

I would like to thank HPNET for helping to identify the appropriate case study and also forming the necessary contacts. HPNET has also been helpful in shaping this study by providing continuous feedback.

By HPNET member Ranisha Basnet
[email protected]

Ranisha is currently pursuing her master’s degree in “Renewable energy engineering management” at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, Germany.

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the flow

FROM STAND-ALONE SYSTEM TO DISTRIBUTED GENERATION: GRID INTERCONNECTIVITY IN NEPAL

LOCAL CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER: TURGO TURBINE IN NEPAL

NEPAL: FIELD RESEARCH ON WOMEN AND MICRO HYDRO

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