Small Hydropower Projects Present Great Potential for Developing Countries

Projects in the field of small hydroelectric power (SHP) present a potentially large source of energy, but one that is hugely untapped. This is primarily attributed to the factor that the cost towards building the sites works out more than the total cost of huge plants, with regard to the generated power.

Sunil Singal is a Senior Scientific Officer working in IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Roorkee, India who has developed a method for assessing the installation as well as operating expenses of small hydroelectric projects that are called as the dam toe SHP schemes.

In a hydro-electric plant that is dam-based, a dam is built for storing seasonal water for generating power. But there are also dams that exist for drinking water production, irrigation and flood mitigation. In these types of dams, when water flows under pressure from dam outlets, there remains a power generation possibility due to the difference in water level of the dam, both upstream and downstream. This methodology could be utilized by developers towards planning investments in such schemes.