History
Micro hydro plants were installed in Nepal since the 1960s with locally developed turbines to replace diesel engines mainly for agro-processing. Agriculture Development Bank of Nepal started to provide loan facility to village entrepreneurs to set paddy mill, oil expeller or grinder. By the 1980s, a number of turbine mills were fitted with small dynamo to generate electricity to power few nearby houses. In the 90s, Nepal government started providing a subsidy of NPR 70,000 per kw for scheme above 3 kW and NPR 55,000 for peltric set up to 3 kW. A transport subsidy of NPR 21000 per kw is also provided depending on the location of the plant. The maximum subsidy is set at NPR 150,000 per kw. The subsidy is reimbursed by the Alternative Energy Promotion Center. The construction cost is around $2860 per kW of electricity. Besides Alternative Energy Promotion Center, various institutes are involved in the development of micro-hydro. Major ones are: * Alternative Energy Promotion Center: the apex body of the government to promote and formulate policies related to micro hydro. Any subsidy should be applied via this body. * Energy Sector Assistance Programme: a partnership between the Alternative Energy Promotion Center and the Government of Denmark viaTechnology
The micro hydropower plants are mostly primitive types using locally manufactured turbines.Turbines
The mostly used turbines are Pelton and Cross-flow types. Most of the MHP turbines are manufactured locally. The first turbine manufactured at the Balaju Yantra Shala Pvt. Ltd. (established 1960) was a 5 kW propeller turbine for the first MHP of Nepal in 1962. Kathmandu Metal Industries Pvt. Ltd., Nepal YantraShala Energy, Nepal Hydro & Electric Pvt. Ltd., Nepal Machine and Steel Structure, and Thapa Engineering Industries Pvt. Ltd. followed in the manufacturing of turbines in Nepal. They even started manufacturing and providing installation and maintenance services to foreign clients.Grid Connection
Micro hydro projects are mostly run in isolation. In 2015, the Nepal Electricity Authority and the Alternative Energy Promotion Center agreed to grid interconnection. The authority was initially reluctant for connection concerned with the technical robustness and safety of such an arrangement. but gradually started to connect micro-hydro to its grid. Syaurebhumi MHP (23 kW) was the first project to interconnect with the national grid on 11 January 2018 delivering 178,245 units of electricity annually. This MHP is located in the Sikre village of Nuwakot district. Leguwa Khola MHP (40 kW capacity) in Dhankutta district and Chimal MHP (capacity 90 kW) in Taplejung district were also connected to the grid.Research and Development
Various research and development works are also being carried out. The development of cross-flow turbines, Peltric Set are some examples. To popularize electrical cooking, about 500 numbers of low wattage cooker (300/400w) also known as ''Bijuli Dekchi'' were manufactured in Nepal, but due to low demand, its production has ceased. Nepal Hydro and Electric inPerformance
Design are done with flat efficiency of 50% without considering the type of turbine. The measured efficiency of the turbine are between 45% and 80%.Social Impact
Guidelines and manual
A list of manual for identification, design and operation of micro-hydro in Nepal are listed below:List of notable micro hydropower projects
Gallery
An example of micro hydro project in Nepal.External links
References
{{reflist, ref {{Cite journal, issn = 1513-718X, volume = 3, issue = 2, last1 = Karki, first1 = Ajoy, last2 = Shrestha, first2 = Bhola, title = Micro-Hydro Power in Nepal: Access to Electricity for Isolated Rural Population in the Hills and Mountains, journal = International Energy Journal, accessdate = 2020-09-16, date = 2007-10-08, url = http://www.rericjournal.ait.ac.th/index.php/reric/article/view/244 {{Cite conference, publisher = IEEE, isbn = 978-1-4577-1871-7, conference = 2012 IEEE Third International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies (ICSET), pages = 265–269, last1 = Khadka, first1 = Shyam Sundar, last2 = Maskey, first2 = Ramesh Kumar, title = Performance study of Micro-hydropower system in Nepal, date = 2012 {{Cite web, title = Grid Interconnection of Micro-hydro Projects (MHPs) in Nepal, url=https://energypedia.info/wiki/Grid_Interconnection_of_Micro-hydro_Projects_(MHPs)_in_Nepal#cite_note-.5B10.5D_Jiwan_Kumar_Mallik_Renewable_Energy_for_Rural_Livelihood_.28RERL.29.2C_Nepal._Contact_.40_jiwan.mallik.40apec.gov.np_or_jiwanmallik.40gmail.com:-5 {{Cite journal, doi = 10.1088/1742-6596/1266/1/012007, issn = 1742-6596, volume = 1266, pages = 012007, last1 = Ghimire, first1 = A., last2 = Dahal, first2 = D. R., last3 = Pokharel, first3 = N., last4 = Chitrakar, first4 = S., last5 = Thapa, first5 = B. S., last6 = Thapa, first6 = B., title = Opportunities and Challenges of introducing Francis Turbine in Nepalese Micro Hydropower Projects, journal = Journal of Physics: Conference Series, date = June 2019, issue = 1, bibcode = 2019JPhCS1266a2007G, doi-access = free {{Cite journal, doi = 10.1016/j.rser.2011.07.022, issn = 1364-0321, volume = 15, issue = 8, pages = 4107–4117, last1 = K.c., first1 = Surendra, last2 = Khanal, first2 = Samir Kumar, last3 = Shrestha, first3 = Prachand, last4 = Lamsal, first4 = Buddhi, title = Current status of renewable energy in Nepal: Opportunities and challenges, journal = Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, accessdate = 2020-08-01, date = 2011-10-01, url = http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032111002619 {{cite journal , last1=Gewali , first1=Mohan B. , last2=Bhandari , first2=Ramchandra , title=Renewable energy technologies in Nepal , date=2005 {{Cite journal, pages = 25, last1 = Maher, first1 = Phil, last2 = Smith, first2 = Nigel, title = Power Pack: a new design for pico hydro, date = 1999 {{Cite web, title = Impact of Practice-to-Policy Dialogue: Nepal's First Grid Interconnected Micro Hydro Project, work = Hydro Empowerment Network, accessdate = 2020-09-17, url = http://www.hpnet.org/1/post/2018/02/impact-of-practice-to-policy-dialogue-nepals-first-grid-interconnected-micro-hydro-project.html Hydropower Renewable energy in Nepal