PAL Involvement in Micro Hydro Power (MHP) Projects
Introduction
Micro Hydro Power is the system providing power to the smaller community in rural districts where the topographic feature of the district or village is suitable for the construction of such structure.
The system has mostly been implemented in mountains areas in Afghanistan
- Topographic feature and preconditions of the districts are suitable to the criteria for the construction of the system
- Sufficient spring and/or stream water is available for the construction of the system throughout the year
- The local community requested and appreciate the system
- The people are prepared to contribute in the implementation and construction of the project as well as the maintenance of the system
- Small branches of the canal can run a small turbine for a small community and therefore, many stations can be constructed for several groups of the community.
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National Solidarity Program (NSP) has so fare funded many of such projects sized below 25 kw in Afghanistan
As result of the criteria mentioned above, in Afghanistan
Planning for the implementation of the MHP system
In order to properly plan the MHP project, the following procedures is followed:
- Identification of the target district
- Conduction of a feasibility study and in case of a positive outcome
- Planning of the MHP structures and requirements
- Carry out a social and technical survey and designing the system accordingly
- Coordination of the construction of the MHP system with the other concerned department, funding and implementing partners.
Feasibility Study
Precondition to any decision to start the construction of a project is to investigate if topographic position of a village is suitable for the MHP project or not. During the feasibility study the factors below are considered:
- Availability, source and minimum and maximum discharges of the water that is intended to be used in running the turbine
- Visually check of the topographic position of the canal or any water courses that the system is implemented on, this will give the team a picture of possible Head (H) required for the system construction
- Identifying the user group (Target group) that the system is going to be implemented for
- Determine if the public land for the civil structure is available, or requires to be donated by one of the user families.
- Identification of the local resources (materials and labor)
- Assessment of the access to the site
- Risk assessment that list the problem that might be encountered during the system construction.
- To visit and list the current system already constructed by other agencies in the same and surrounding villages
- Identifying the local beneficiaries contribution in project construction, and for the system maintenance
PAL engineers surveying Ludlam MHP
Main component of the MHP construction
The followings are the three main components in course of the construction of an MHP system:
A. Civil works consisting of:
a) Intake, in order to raise the water level and divert to the feeder canal
b) Canal, may necessary to deepen and/or widen to increase its capacity, or might necessary to build the new canal.
c) Settlement basin
d) Fore bay
e) spillway
f) Penstock
g) Power house
This is very important to identify the size and quantities of the civil activities since the conduction of the civil works of MHP projects in most cases increase the project cost. The construction of the fore bay, settlement basin, spillways, power house and penstock is the parts needed to set up in any case, while construction of the canal and intake depend upon to the given conditions of the project site and might be or not necessarily to be set up by. On the one hand the mentioned last two structures are mostly very expensive and increase considerably the project costs even for the smaller size of the MHP, on the other hand they are of significance for maintaining the required discharge of water.
B. Hydro Mechanical Work consisting of the following:
a) Turbine
b) Speed ratio
c) Governor (turbine speed regulator)
Different types of the turbines for the MHP construction are manufactured. The most common turbine in Afghanistan
The turbines standard efficiency factor varies for different types. The efficiency factor ranged from 65-95% for different types of turbine and depends on the manufacturing quality.
Currently the turbines are manufactured in Kabul , Jalalabad and abroad (eg. in Pakistan
C. Electrical work is consisting of:
a) Alternator
b) Fuse box and Switch box
c) Transmission line
d) House wiring and users
PAL in MHPs planning and construction
While the purpose of the MHPs construction in NSP programs is to provide access to light and rarely to run the small electronic devices, PAL attempts to find the suitable sites for the construction of more power full, bigger sized MHP that are appropriate to serve also small enterprises, to be established by the male and female groups of the target villages.
The Ludlam MHP in Noorgal district may serve as a good example. There PAL is currently constructing a 65 kw MHP project. The mentioned project is consisting of intake construction, construction of 230 meter canal, new alignment for the discharge range 300-800 l/sec and all other necessary structures.
380 Households benefit of the PAL funded mentioned project, and supplying 144 watt/per family, while the minimum watt per family is 65 watt.
PAL has already targeted to construct 4-5 MHPs in Kunar province. The first one out of that these is the Bargam MHP in Ghaziabad district has already been started by the PAL implementing partner, but because of security reason is suspended for the time being. The Bargam MHP will be supplying 29 kw power to the 300 Household in the mentioned village
The PAL next MHP project was already studied in Kundagal village, district Alingar in Laghman is thought to be started in early September 2008. The feasibility of the mentioned project shows that will be supplying 41 kw power to the 400 household in the Kunadal valley
DISCLAIMER
This article has been produced with the assistance of the European Union and the GTZ IS. The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union or the GTZ IS.
The Project for Alternative Livelihoods in Eastern Afghanistan (PAL) is located at Jalalabad and funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by GTZ IS
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