ESTIR

September 2002
Small Hydropower

Scientific and Technological References

Energy Technology Indicators

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Area: ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Sector: Hydropower (incl. Small)

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A. State of the art

Advances in Research

Achieved (facts)

Target

By (year)

Performance indicators

Efficiency (best reported) (turbine Cp max)

Load factor (low high average)
Energy recovery factor (Average Cp over year)

92 %
.
40 - 60 % related to 8760h/year
80-82%
..

..
..

Technological and scientific development

Water is diverted through a pipe (penstock) into a turbine from where it discharges usually through a draft tube
or diffuser back into the river at lower level.
Hydropower plants
10 15.000 MW
Small hydro plants
1 - 10 MW
Mini hydro plants
100 - 1000 kW
Micro Power plants
< 100 kW
Impulse turbines (Pelton)
Mechanically guaranteed efficiency
88 - 94%
Cross flow
70 - 80%
Reaction turbines (notably Francis and Keplan)
Mechanically guaranteed efficiency
80 - 90%
Micro turbines (efficiency):
75 - 85%
Technology related available indicators (for demo and commercial units)
Commercial produced rated power:
0.030 to 25 MW
Typical falls:
3 - 600 m
Time at Max. power needed to compensate for manufacturing : months
Performance indicators (for demo and commercial units)
Efficiency (commonly reported) (electric power)
75 - 80%
Economic life time
15 - 20 years
Design life time
Control & Monitoring
10 years
Mechanical equipment
max. 30 years
Electrical equipment
max. 20 years
Civil works
max. 50 years
Technical availability : best reported
max. 95%
Common
80 - 90%

Economic indicators (for demo and commercial units)

Electricity production at (kWh manufacturing cost):

Typical turn-key investment costs
for small hydro 1 MW 10 MW
for small hydro 500 1000 kW (mini hydro)
for small hydro 100-500 kW (mini hydro)
for micro hydro <100 kW
Typical turn-key investment costs (for small hydro):

0,05 0,15 /kWh

0,02-0,08 /kWh

2010

600 2000 /kW

1300 4500 /kW
1500 6000 /kW
1500 6000 /kW
1500 6000 /kW

. /kW
1000-3000 /kW
900-3500 /kW
900-3500 /kW
900-4000 /kW

2010
2010
2010
2010
2010

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September 2002

Small Hydropower
Typical operating and maintenance ratio1
3 - 5%
Typical pay-back time on investment
10 - 25 years (based on 5% for 20 years)
Typical time frame between order and industrial operation (without permits)
12 - 24 months
idem (with permits)
24 - 120 months
Decommissioning cost
150 - 350 /kW
Typical externalities (based on EXTERNE study)
0.03 1.0 c/kWh
Typical land requirements
depends on the type and size of the power plants
Market size and industry related indicators

Total EU installed capacity:

>12.621 MW
Total world-wide installed capacity:
Actual installation rate (EU/World-wide):
Average turbine size:
Manufacturing capacity (approx.)
Manufacturing capacity (approx.)
Target 2005:
Target 2020:

ESHA target 1-2 GW in small hydro

ESHA target . GW in small hydro

Social indicators
Production employment
Total employment
Probability of event (accident) based on LCA
Severity of consequences of event
Human risk (probability of event x severity of event)
Environmental and other specific indicators
Systems overall recyclability
Cost of systems recyclability
Manufacture process:
Waste produced
Recyclability of waste
Manufacture related toxicity involved
Cost of recyclability
Operation process :
recyclability of wastes produced
involved toxicity of wastes
Cost of recyclability
Fish friendlier turbine shaping
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and >14.000 MW in Europe (autumn of 2001)

37.000 MW corresponding to TWh/a
100 MW/a
1000 MW/a (worldwide)
kW in 2001 (est.)
.units per year
.. MW/a

.. jobs/a
10.000 jobs/a
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..

. %
. /kW
. %
. %
.
. /kW
.
.
. /kW

Kyoto: Small hydro alone is expected to lead to . % less CO2 by 2010.

B. Headline indicators

draft - to be agreed

Technical or scientific bottlenecks or impediments

electricity production: limited by constraints to exploitation of extremely low heads

typical turn-key investment costs: limited by electromechanical equipment costs and related maintenance
costs
efficiency of simplified turbines: limited by lack in fluid-dynamic experience of the small manufacturers
durability: limited by erosion problem (high head) and inadequacy in the mechanical design.
delivery time: to be reduced to 8-10 months (10 percent less than 12 as average)
efficiency assessment: to state standard simplified test to get a good reliability at low costs (related to the
investment cost of a Small Hydro installation)
desilting: to avoid erosion problems the desilting structure efficiency must be improved, promoting a
research to find a set of small, simple, low cost and efficient desilting structures.

ie the ratio between the average O&M annual expenses -including provisions for big repairs- and excluding
fuel costs to the initial investment cost

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September 2002
Small Hydropower

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Headline indicators
actual
Electricity production:
0,05 0,15 /kWh
Specific energy output per installed capacity . kWh/kW/a
Specific energy output per height fall
.kWh/m/a

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C. Further R&D work focus (national and/or FP6)

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D. Monitoring

target
limited by
0,020,08 sites availability
. kWh/kW/a
.kWh/m/a

by
2010
2010
2010

Technology Development:
- develop cost effective and ultra low-head SHP systems
- definitive evaluation of the real environmental effects and impact of SHP compared with fossil fuelled and
nuclear power plants
- development of standard specifications at the European and at the international level for design and
installation packages for export to developing countries
- refurbishment of old sites: >10.000 obsolete or abandoned hydro plants with over 3GW potential
- use of variable speed turbines at low heads
- use of submersible turbo-generators and syphon turbines
- use of new materials
- computer optimisation of small systems
- development of low fish-mortality turbines
- systemisation
- head enhancement
- improved electrical and control systems:
- use of permanent magnet generators
-use of electronic and telemetry
-compact multi-pole generators
- avoiding the use of cofferdams during installation
- improvements in ancillary Equipment
- simplification and improvement of trashracks
- improvement of water intakes
- improved techniques to avoid interference or damage to fish
- aeration
- development of multipurpose schemes (waste, drainage, potable, irrigation water)
- development of multi RES power plant for isolated area (islands) or not (for instance wind and hydro
turbines)
- efficiency assessment: investigate for standard, simplified tests able to get a good reliability at low cost
(related to the investment cost of a Small Hydro installation)
- avoid the erosion problems improving the desilting efficiency of structures, by means of a research program
having the goal to find standard, at least in the design, desilting structures, which would be compact, simple,
low impact, low cost and efficient.

World Installed capacity : 678 GW produced over 22 % of the worlds electricity 2564 TWh/a
(1998).
Western Europe : 134 GW produced 19% of EU electricity, 520 TWh/a, avoiding 70 mio tons
of CO2/a
Non-technology related bottlenecks/Actions that could facilitate market penetration:
-

authorisations and administrative procedures

environmental impact
identification and promotion of acceptable solutions to environmental objections, especially concerning
residual flow levels and fish protection
visual impact
sites availability
resource assessment in target markets
awareness campaigns targeting decision makers, users, contractors, utilities, regulators and the public

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September 2002
Small Hydropower

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Small Hydro Power Installed capacity

N of plants
Capacity MW Planned MW
I
1510
2229
236
FR
1350
2018
7
ES
> 982
1652
70
D
6000
1514
100
S
1615
1050
40
A
1700
866
100
FIN
204
320
N/A
P
74
286
N/A
UK
110
162
4
B
38
96
0
GR
10
50
88
NL
14
40
15
L
13
39
0
IRL
34
33
5
DK

11
0
Total
> 13654
> 10366* MW 665 MW
*source: ESHA, EurObservER 2001, including latest figures

North America
Latin America
Western Europe
E.Europe & the CIS
Middle East/N. Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Pacific
China
Rest of Asia
Totals

Target

by

2230

2010

350

2010

> 16.800 MW by 2015

1995
4.861
1.992
8.822
2.801
81
324
124
6.963
614
26.582 MW

2020
6.150 - 12.900
5.750 - 6.550
12.580 - 21.690
3.990 - 4.200
230 266
935 - 1.065
170 300
20.100 - 22.900
1.770 - 2.020
51.700 -71.900 MW

China : Three Gorges plant: 18.000 MW by 2009 while another 20.000 MW of SHP to build by 2009.
Total world-wide

> 37.000 MW

> 55.000 MW by 2010

shared cost research / development ratios (?)

Job creation: 10.000 jobs within last 10 year

Price small hydro electricity

Overall small hydro share in EU :

0.025 0.05 /kWh (targets 2005)

19 % of EU electricity consumption (data of 1998)

CO2 emission reduction :

3.200 t/a/MW
SO2 emission reduction
20 t/a/MW
Replacement of fossil fuels :
280 t/a/MW
1MW installed typically produces electricity for 1000 families

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September 2002
Small Hydropower

LITERATURE

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BlueAGE, 2000, Final Report, Strategic study for the development of Small Hydro
Power in the European Union, ALTENER programme
EUREC Agency 1996, The Future for renewable energy, Prospects and Directions,
London: James & James
EUREC Agency, 2002, The future for renewable energy 2, Prospects and Directions,
London: James & James
European Commission, DG TREN, ELVIRE Evaluation guide for renewable energy
projects in Europe, FEDARENE
European Commission, DG TREN, Laymans guidebook on: How to develop a small
hydro site, Part 1, ESHA
European Commission, DG TREN, 1998, Export markets for European renewable
energy technologies, Luxembourg, OPOCE
European Commission, DG TREN, 2000, General Information: Environmental
Impacts, From the use of renewable energy technologies, Greece, Elfores
European Commission, DG TREN, 1999, Overview 1995-1998:Renewable Energy
Systems, New solutions in Energy Supply, Luxembourg, OPOCE
European Commission, DG TREN, The impact of renewables on employment and
economic growth, ALTENER programme
European Commission, EUROSTAT, Renewable energy sources statistics in the
European Union, Data 1989-1998
European Commission, 1999, ExternE: Externalities of Energy, Brussels
European Commission, 1997, White Paper on Renewable Energies, Brussels
ESHA, based on information provided by ESHA, 2002
Hydropower, Energy and the Environment, IEA, Stockholm Sweden, 14-16 June
1993, Vattenfall AB, Conference Proceedings
IEA, 1997, Indicators of Energy Use and Efficiency, Paris
Integration of renewable Energy sources and distributed generation in energy
systems, 25&26 September 2001, Conference proceedings
J. Bard, N. Froslo, L. Papetti, V. Denis, European Strategy Document for Research
Technological Development and Demonstration in Small Hydropower, March 2002, (not
yet published).
ObservER, EurObservER 2002, European Barometer of Renewable Energy Sources,
2nd Report, 2002.
Renewable Energy Newsletter, October 1999, Issue 3/99
Renewable Energy World, Vol 4, N 5, Sep-Oct 2001, James & James
World Atlas and Industry Guide, 1998, International Journal of Hydropower and
Dams

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The valuable contribution of the following people is greatly and graciously acknowledged
Christine Lyns

ESHA

BE

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