Chapter 8 deals with technical and economic appraisal of the MMH and various attempts for cost reduction to make the MMH viable alternative have been discussed. The appropriate technology should be used has laid down a necessity method to arrive at appropriate technology for this. Report mentions that value engineering and value analysis technology are the alternative for judging the appropriateness of technologies unit wise and equipment wise as eliminates the hidden cost after comparing the various alternatives in a metrix system. Therefore, some marks could also be assigned for the social related advantages and they also become accountable for feasibility of a MMH power stations. We have also tried to analyze one MW mini hydro plant and CBS has been done on the basis of construction of unit wise plan for kW generation capacity as made may various load factors and price of energy to be Rs.1/- in one case and Rs.1.60/- in another case. This CBA does not care of various social impacts which are addressed to the development of MMH power stations. However the net present value area indicative of the feasibility of a project, this may not be necessarily the binding principle for desisting about a Mini-micro Hydel Power Stations, overriding principle would find out ways and means. Therefore, we briefly describe the advantages of generation by MMH power stations below:
If properly used in a good site, small scale hydroelectric generation has many advantages over most of the conventional means of electrical generation like.
Cost – Hydro Plants usually cost more to build than plants that make electricity by burning coal, oil, or natural gas. But once they are built, cost to run them is free, while thermal generating plants must pay for their fuel. The hydro plants are also inflation-proof, while the cost of fuel for other plants has increased enormously. Hydro plants also last longer than most other kinds of generating plants.
Rapid construction – Smaller projects such as mini-hydro plants can be built more quickly if properly planned providing electricity long before large hydro plant or most kinds of fule-burning generators. This means faster development, less interest paid on construction loans, and quicker benefits to the country. There is also much less risk of long delays in construction with cost over runs, and a reduced risk of ordering an expensive plant far in advance, then binding out that it isn’t needed after all.
Local self-sufficiency-As a renewable resource, hydropower does not depend on imported oil, coal, or uranium; and it is much less dependent on foreign experts and technology than other kind of electric generation. mini-hydro plants can promote self-sufficiency within a country-if necessary, a town, a cooperative, or an industry can build its own electric plant, without waiting for a national electrification, project, and without depending on fuel supplied which may be unreliable and expensive to get.
Appropriate technology-Compared to other means of generating electricity Mini-hydro is labour intensive and suited to operation by local people. Although the initial cost of the plant can quite high, a good part of this cost comes from on-site construction, which cn provide jobs and training to local resident. Most other kinds of generating plants require much more skilled labour, which must be imported at great expense from long distances.
Beneficial side-Effects-Small-hydro-electric development is often accompanied by other beneficial developments such as irrigation, water-supply and sanitation, fishing and fish faming. The value of the electric power generated can often make the difference between a practical, profitable project and one which is too expensive.
This Chapter also covers how the hidden cost which is to be eliminated and using some of case studies carried out earlier by other authors obtained from HPMC record. Various appropriate technologies using local materials and reasonable site works have also been described.
Finally report also mentiones that a computer program should be developed so as to aid development of an optimal design package for Micro Hydro System. Package should contain use of local data and have user friendly feature and should be able to give various alternatives of designs appropriate to the site conditions. Back
