Himalayan Small Hydropower Summit (October 12-13, 2006), Dehradun

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES FOR SMALL HYDROPOWER DEVELOPMENT: THE INDIAN INITIATIVE
ARUN KUMAR H.K. VERMA Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, Department of Electrical Engineering Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee Roorkee ABSTRACT Global growth of electricity generation with renewed interest in developing hydropower has been highlighted. Necessity of standards and guidelines, specially due to absence of availability of expertise for hydropower development, has been brought out. The issues and concerns in developing special standards, guidelines and manuals for small hydropower (SHP) has been identified and the efforts of Government of India in this direction have been explained. The initiative to prepare about 20 standards for SHP projects is reported. INTRODUCTION The world production of electricity is expected to double over the next twenty four years as per International Energy Outlook 2004[1]. Most of the additional hydroelectric plant capacity will result from new large-scale projects in Asia, Russian Federation and South America. Considering the long-term investment in hydroelectricity, new or rehabilitated projects are seeking utmost performance and durability, specially in the regulatory regime. The importance of hydroelectricity as a favored development factor was stressed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development at Johannesburg held in September 2002[2] and at the Third World Water Forum held at Kyoto in March 2003[3]. During the International Conference for Renewable Energies in Bonn (June 2004), Ministers and Representatives from 154 countries identified hydropower as one of the renewable energies to be substantially increased with a sense of urgency[4]. The World Bank itself recently stated that the Bank must reengage, as a matter of moral principle, with issues of water resource development in the developing world[5]. Himalayan region provides an excellent opportunity for developing largely unexploited hydro potential. Large hydropower provides an excellent electricity base to country but takes longer, whereas small hydro provides a reasonable development of electricity comfort to widely dispersed population and takes shorter period. The broad estimates of potential available from SHP projects (projects with installed capacity upto 25 MW) in India alone has been assessed at 15,000 MW. Identification of potential sites and systematic detailed survey and investigation of all identified potential sites is a primary, important and critical component for SHP development. A total of 4096 potential sites have so far been identified with an aggregate estimated capacity of 10,072 MW for SHP projects. However, there is need to identify new potential sites and also conduct detailed investigations for the already identified ones.

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NEED OF STANDARDS & GUIDES Use of the standards is wholly voluntary at the moment. The existence of a standard does not imply that there are no other ways to produce, test, measure, purchase, market or provide other goods and services related to the scope of the standard. Furthermore, the viewpoint expressed at the time a standard is approved and issued is subject to the changes that may accrue from developments in the state of the art or may be considered desirable on the basis of the comments coming from users of the standards. Any Standard is subjected to review at least once every five years leading to either revision or reaffirmation. It is usually expected that all equipment supplied and works should be executed as per standards and their specifications should conform to the latest editions of applicable standards together with any amendment(s) to date. The provisions of State and local statutes, rules and codes as applicable are also to be adhered to. There is a series of standards, guidelines and manuals available in the country issued by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd (REC), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Board of Irrigation & Power (CBIP), International Electromechanical Commission (IEC), International Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and others. But most of them were designed keeping in view the large water/ hydropower projects. Small Hydropower is to be made cost effective and a long term investment opportunity while ensuring quality and reliability of the power station, and accordingly there is an urgent need to develop and make available the standards and guidelines. Private sector is coming in a big way. Minimal (reduced) staff is the requirement of the day. Extensive use of numerical simulation of the performance of hydraulic machinery is remarkable these days, but shortage of qualified specialists and hydropower engineers is getting aggravated. New staff whose number will have to grow again in the light of 50,000 MW hydro initiative is to rely upon up-to-date standards, guidelines and technical reports[6]. Standard equipment, coupled with uniform works and construction practices, can bring about significant economy, reliability and pace in small hydropower development. Standardisation leads to uniformity in design, manufacture, and construction as well as reduction in inventory. It also leads to safer and better operation and easier maintenance. In India, with the active participation and uniform adoption by government and private users, the standardized equipment and construction practices for development works are being adopted. However, such a practice for the generating equipment and construction of civil works for small hydropower projects may not be practiced due to non-availability of specific standards. Some standards for hydropower are available, but these have been drawn for large water resource development and do not address the specific needs and parameters of small hydropower. Standards required specifically for SHP development are proposed here.

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ISSUES AND CONCERNS Certain issues and concerns that must be addressed while preparing standards and guidelines for SHP are given below: 1. For large-scale projects, even minor performance improvements are worth consideration in development and testing. For up-rating, most of the investment is justified by a performance improvement alone and this improvement must be predicted and verified with accuracy. The effectiveness of incentives for performance achievement can be seen at several places. Standards need to incorporate the newly available measuring tools duly validated. Special standards need to be prepared to provide comprehensive rules for smaller units and new developers, who are not equipped with the means required for larger units. Silt erosion is not covered by any standard till date and remains an obstacle to productivity in certain regions of Asia and South America; Himalayan region requires special focus in the standards in this regard. Decisions and contractual relationship between plant operators, engineers, contractors and suppliers need to be considered. Design and manufacturing requirements might have to become more stringent. At the same time, manufacturing is being dispersed and relocated, sometimes far away from expertise centers. Subcontractors with no particular expertise are being used, sometimes for some parts of the design itself. Traditional specialized suppliers, formerly involved in the turbine technology, are being replaced by newcomers. Standards and guides on SHP can alleviate some of the problems, which this combination of new technological needs and dispersion of expertise creates. The developments need to be carefully dovetailed with environmental considerations. Careful environmental studies can generally make hydroelectric projects as one of the best compromises between a massive energy demand and minimal impacts. Both large and small projects, with careful consideration of environmental constraints, are now receiving a better public acceptance than what was happening a decade ago. Indeed, they are a very valuable contribution to the reduction of greenhouse effect. Consequently, hydroelectricity is viewed as an excellent development opportunity for the Himalayan region. The new standards/guides on SHP must address the environmental concerns.

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3. 4.

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IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED Recently, Government of India, who subsidises small hydropower installations in different ways, has made it mandatory for all small hydropower producers to get performance testing and evaluation done on their stations after commissioning, with the aim of ensuring the projected generation and guaranteed efficiency of the equipment. The performance of a newly commissioned hydropower station should be tested to confirm that its parts and systems performing their assigned functions correctly and efficiently as per the contract between the owner and the supplier/contractor and relevant standards[7]. The testing needs professional skills and expertise of very high order, which are generally not available in-house to the power station owner. On the other hand, in the absence of any performance evaluation by a
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third agency, the manufacturer or contractor with lesser resources but better quality is put to disadvantage. Only a thorough and independent testing of performance can ensure a fair competition between the manufacturers/contractors, and eventually raise the quality and efficiency of the power stations in the country. Such tests/performance reports are to be conducted/prepared by the Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC), IIT Roorkee as per a circular of MNES, Govt. of India issued in 2003[8]. During the course of testing of the equipment, it has been found that in most of the projects, the civil works and equipment do not follow any uniform rules or practices and lack in several aspects. There are several issues listed below which require immediate attention in the interest a rapid and smooth growth of SHP: (a) Environment Impact Assessment Pre-project During project execution Post project Development of Manuals/Guidelines for Design of grid SHP station (low as well as high/medium head) Design of off-grid SHP station Operation and maintenance Renovation and modernization Interconnection with grid Distribution and collection of revenue Maintenance of lines Development of Model Documents Technical specifications (Civil, E&M, T&D, Turnkey) for canal project i. ROR project ii. Rural area project Evaluation methodology and report Model agreement with contractors and suppliers Model investigations/PRFs/DPRs/Master plan Quality Assurance Documents/methodology for project execution Part commissioning Strengthening of Data Base New sites Discharge Performance

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

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PREPARATION OF STANDARDS & GUIDELINES FOR SHP The proposal of AHEC to prepare the standards, guidelines and manuals for SHP development has been accepted by MNES, GoI with commitment to finance the activity. Standards/Guidelines Identified Twenty standards/guidelines for SHP development listed below will be under this initiative: (a) General Small hydropower definitions, list and scope of different available Indian and international standards, list and scope of new standards/guidelines, glossary of terms. Guidelines for planning the projects on existing faculty like fall, dam, barrages Planning: site selection, investigations, surveys, documentation. Project hydrology, installed capacity Reports: reconnaissance, pre-feasibility, feasibility, detailed project report, asbuilt report, cost estimation Economic and financial evaluation, tariff calculation Contract for execution and supplies of works: types, scope, Project management Environmental impact assessment Civil Works Types, layouts, scope-shp stations SHP project design-hydraulic SHP project design-structure Operation and maintenance of the works Electro Mechanical Works Guidelines for selection of SHP generating equipment Specifications for procurement of SHP generating equipment Specifications for procurement of auxiliaries Specifications for procurement of power evacuation works Specifications for connection to the grid at various levels Operation and maintenance of power plant Modernisation and renovation of SHP stations

(b)

(c)

Methodology for Preparing Standards It is proposed to adopt following methodology to prepare the standards listed above. Forming the working groups, including hiring/appointing the in-house/outsourced manpower, for preparing the basic document in different areas Forming the expert panels
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Organizing one or more consultative workshops Hosting on web site Finalising and approval for adoption by stakeholders

Specifications for Village Small Hydropower The technical specifications for the Electromechanical Works, Civil Works and Transmission & Distribution Works for the categories in the small hydro capacity/categories for rural electrification purpose are available in recently issued Micro Hydro Quality Standards Sept. 2005 by AHEC, IIT Roorkee[9]. AVAILABLE STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES A few International and national standards as well as guidelines are available for testing of the various parts of hydropower stations. More important ones are listed below in two groups: For Small Hydropower The standards/guidelines developed specifically for small hydropower are listed below: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. IEC- 61116(1992): Electro-mechanical Equipment Guide for Small Hydroelectric Installations. IEC- 62111(1999): Specification for Use of Renewable Energies in Rural Decentralised Electrification. IEC-62006(2006): Hydraulic Machines Acceptance Tests of Small Hydroelectric Installations (draft). IEEE Std 1020 (1988): Guide for Control of Small Hydroelectric Power Plants. IS-12800 (Part-I to III) 1991: Guidelines for Selection of Turbine and Preliminary Dimensions of Surface Hydro Station. CBIP Publication No. 175: Small Hydropower Stations Standardisation, Central Board of Irrigation and Power, New Delhi, 1985. Guidelines for Development of Small Hydro-electric Schemes, Central Electricity Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, 1982.

For Hydropower The standards/guidelines available for hydropower in general are listed below: 1. 2. 3. IEC- 60041(1991): Field Acceptance Tests to Determine the Hydraulic Performance of Hydraulic Turbines, Storage Pumps and Pump Turbines. IS- 14197(1994)/IEC- 61793(1965): Code of Model Acceptance Tests for Hydraulic Turbines. IS- 4889(1968): Method of Determination of Efficiency of Rotating Electrical Machines.

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4. 5. 6.

ASME PTC (18-2002): Hydraulic Turbines and Pump Turbines: Performance Test Codes. IEEE - 421A(1978) IEEE Guide for Identification, Testing and Evaluation of the Dynamic Performance of Excitation Systems. IEC - 308 (1970) International Code for Testing of Speed of Governing Systems for Hydraulic Turbines.

CONCLUSIONS There is an urgent need of developing and adopting standards, guidelines and manuals for small hydropower. Active participation of the domain experts and users in preparation of such standards can only ensure that these documents will take care of the concerns of all stakeholders and the SHP industry will get the desired benefits. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Energy Outlook, International Energy Agency, 2004 Report on World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, United Nations, Sept. 2002. Third Water Forum, Kyoto, March 2003. International Conference for Renewable Energies, Political Declaration, Bonn, June 2004. www.worldbank.org Strategic Policy Statement, International Electricity Commission Technology Committee 4(Turbine), May 2005. Verma, H.K., Performance Testing of SHP Stations: Scope, Tests and Methodology, Proceedings of Workshop on Performance Testing of SHP Stations, Roorkee, Oct. 7-9, 2004. MNES, Govt. of India, Circular for SHP Development, July 2003. Micro Hydro Quality Standards, AHEC, Sept. 2005.

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