POWER PLANT ENGINEERING

HYDROELECTRIC POWER PLANT DESIGN

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements in Power Plant Engineering

Worsoe, Patrick John S.

5-ME

Submitted to: Engr. Mario Regino Norbe

 Abstract

The energy demand of the Philippines is exponentially growing. It is estimated that by

2040, the Philippines will need an additional 43.8GW of power. To supply that energy demand,

this paper looks at the possibility of hydroelectric power to meet the Philippines growing energy

demand. Instead of relying on imported energy resources like oil and gas, we can use the natural

resources that is already available for generating power. Hydroelectric power is considered clean

energy, meaning it does not harm the environment unlike conventional power like oil and gas

power plants. Clean renewable energy is an attractive option of power as the global market is

making renewable energy cheaper and more accessible to investors. This makes it important for

Filipino engineering students to study different types of power plants, renewable or conventional

in order to know the technical, economical aspects and government policy that revolve around

designing and maintaining power plants in the Philippines. This paper explores a 4MW run off

river hydroelectric power plant to be built in Talakag, Bukidnon at the Cagayan de Oro river and

assumes that the power plant proposed in this study will only power the Talakag region hence

grid connections and cost will be ignored. This study focuses on the technical calculations, rough

estimated initial costs and the economic feasibility of the run of river plant.

Introduction
 The Philippines is an emerging economy and its economy has greatly shifted from

agriculture to industry.In terms of energy use, conventional fossil fuels (oil and gas) are the main

source for its primary energy demands. According to the 2011 primary energy consumption of

the Philippines, 31% of the consumption was met by oil, 20% by coal, 22% by geothermal, 12%

by biomass, 6% by hydro and 1% by other renewable energy like wind, solar and biofuel.As a

developing country, the Philippine energy demand is exponentially increasing by about 5.7%

every year. It is expected that by 2040, the additional capacity needed by the Philippines will be

at 43.8GW. Renewable energy plays a large role in the energy mix or diversity and supply

needed by the Philippines.

The Government of Philippines has introduced various policies to foster renewable

energy . Some of the policies are income tax holiday up to 7 years, duty-free import of

equipment for renewable energy technologies and so on. In 2012, the government launched the

new feed-in tariff (FIT) which are payments to energy producers for creating renewable energy.

There are three different types of hydroelectric power plants. These are impoundment,

run of river and pumped storage. Impoundment facilities uses a dam to store river water in a

reservoir and would normally have high effective head. Run of river facilities uses a weir and

intake to divert a portion of a river to the penstock and has low to medium effective head. Pump

storage works like a battery in a way that it pumps water uphill to a higher reservoir from a

second lower reservoir. During periods of high electrical demand, the water is released back to

the lower reservoir and turns the turbine releasing energy.

This study explores the possibility of a run of river type hydroelectric power plant on

the Cagayan de Oro river at Talakag, Bukidnon powering only the province of Talakag and not

considering the Mindanao main grid or any grid cost. The Cagayan de Oro river is chosen
because the elevation and hydrometry data was available for this river. These data gives this

study the possibility to plan a rough design a run of river hydroelectric power plant in Cagayan

de Oro river.

Design Considerations of the 4MW Run of River Hydro Plant

Plant Capacity

To know what is the capacity of the run

of river facility, the number of households in

Talakag and their monthly consumption in kwh

are needed. These datas are available from the

Philippine Statistics Authority and BUSECO

(Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative).

 Projecting the household growth from the assumed start of operations in 2021 to 2046

gives us 39076 households in 2046.

 Using the monthly consumption of 56kwh per month per household and assuming a 20%

growth in consumption per month, the projected demand of Talakag,Bukidnon at 2046 is

3.65MW.
 Pro

ject

ed

Lo

ads

roje

cted

energy demand growth starting from 2015 will be at 52.26% and 234.65% by 2021 and 2046

respectively. Talakag experiences peak loads during the months of November to February. Other

important factors that affect plant operations are listed below

2021 2046

Peak Load 1.66 MW 3.83 MW

Reserve Load 2.34 MW 0.17 MW

Annual Capacity Factor 33.67% 77.50%

Load Factor 81.00% 81.00%

Plant Factor 33.71% 77.58%

Utilization Factor 41.61% 95.77%

Cagayan De Oro Hydrometry

 The Cagayan de Oro Hydrometry was done by UP Diliman and the Department of

Science and Technology for flood forecasting and flood hazard mapping of the Cagayan de Oro

river basin. Their data shows that the minimum volumetric flow of the river is 80m3/s and

reaches a maximum of 125m3/s.

 For the velocity of the river, an experiment was done by Mindanao University of Science

and Technology. This study used the Cala-Cala section because it is upstream and closer to our

planned site. This study used the river velocity 0.7174 m/s for our calculations.

Elev

atio

Dat

This data was taken from Google Earth. The elevation at the intake and headrace is 675m

above sea level. The elevation at the tailrace is 645m above sea level. This gives us a gross head

of 30m. We can also determine the penstock length and headrace length through Google Earth

which are 136.34m and 677m respectively.

Generator, Turbine, Water Power and Specific Speed

The Generator needs to supply exactly 4 MW of power. Knowing the generator

efficiency from manufacturer which is 95.6%, we can get the turbine power needed from the

formula:

Pturbine = 4000 kw / eGenerator

Pturbine = 4,186.08 kw

Using the turbine power and the turbine efficiency provided by the manufacturer (91%),

we can get the water power needed for the penstock using the formula:

Pwater = P turbine / eturbine

Pwater = 4600 kw

To predict the performance of the turbine, we need to compute for the specific speed (N =

450rpm).

Ns = 0.2623N(√𝑘𝑘)/ h5/4

Ns = 122.89

From the table below, the turbine we need to use based on the specific speed computed is

a kaplan turbine.
Penstock Design

The water velocity that will be used for the penstock is 4 times the river velocity, which

is 2.87m/s. The volumetric flow rate of water inside the penstock that will be used is 17.55 m3/s.

Using these variables we can get the penstock diameter with the formulas:

Apenstock = (17.55 m3/s) / (2.87 m/s)

Apenstock = 6.12 m2

Dpenstock = √6.12 ∗ 4/ 𝑘

Dpenstock = 2.79m

Using the Darcy friction head loss coefficient formula, we can now get the head loss

through the penstock.

Hf = 𝑘𝑘𝑘2 /2𝑘𝑘

Hf = (.16)(136.34𝑘)(2.87𝑘/𝑘)2 /2(9.81𝑘/𝑘2 )(2.79𝑘)

Hf = 3.281m

Using the gross head of 30m and the friction head loss of 3.281m, it is now possible to

get the effective head.

He = Hg - Hf

He = 30m - 3.281m

He = 26.72m

Calculating for the penstock efficiency using the gross head and effective head:

epenstock = He / Hg

epenstock = 89.06%
 Material JIS SS400 Carbon Steel

Length 136.34m

Diameter 2.79m

Angle 1.35 deg.

Velocity of water 2.87m/s

Volumetric flow 17.55 m3/s

Friction Head Loss 3.28m

Effective Head 26.72m

Penstock Efficiency 89.06%

Weir and Intake Design and Dimensions

The intake must be designed to divert 22.55m3/s of water from the Cagayan de Oro river

to fill up the forebay, which acts as the pondage or storage of water for the penstock.

The weir must be able to discharge, according to the hydrometry data, a maximum of of

102.45 m3/s. This value was taken by subtracting the maximum river discharge of 125m3/s to the

diverted water of 22.55m3/s.

The weir dimension can be calculated by using the formula:

If we assume W = 3h, we can calculate the height and width of the weir which is 3.34m

and 10m respectively.

Forebay Design and Dimensions

 Length 50m

Width 50m

Height 10m

Thickness (length and width) 5m

Max Volume of forebay 25000m3

Weight of water in forebay 24,925,000kg

Q in headrace 22.55m3/s

Q in penstock 17.55m3/s

Q of spillway 4.45m3/s

Area of spillway 10.45m2

To make sure that the safe compressive strength done on the forebay is less than the safe

load of 218 tons/m2, we need to get the area of one side of the forebay

Aforebay = Length * Thickness

Aforebay = 250m2

Using the area of the forebay and the maximum weight of water stored in the forebay, we

can now get the compressive force done on the sides of the forebay

Fcompressive = kgwater / Aforebay

Fcompressive = 24925000𝑘𝑘 ∗ 1𝑘𝑘𝑘/1000𝑘𝑘 /250𝑘2

Fcompressive = 99.7 tons/m2

Since 99.7 tons/m2 is less than the required maximum safe compressive force of 218

tons/m2, the dimensions of the forebay is considered safe.

A spillway is needed in the forebay in order to discharge excess water coming from the

headrace. To compute the area needed for the spillway, we need to get the discharge difference
between the headrace and penstock and the velocity of the water from the intake which is equal

to the velocity of the Cagayan de Oro river.

Aspillway = (Qheadrace - Qpenstock) / Vriver

Aspillway = (22.55m3/s - 17.55 m3/s) / 0.7174m/s

Aspillway = 10.45m2

The time it takes to fill up the forebay before discharge on the spillway occurs is:

Tforebay = Volumeforebay / (Qheadrace - Qpenstock)

Tforebay = 25000m3 / (22.55m3/s - 17.55 m3/s) / 3600

Tforebay = 1.39 hours

Machine Foundation for

Turbine and Generator

The weight of the generator

and turbine is estimated to be at 18000

kg. To determine the weight of the

foundation, is it assumed that

Wfoundation = 3*Wmachine or 54000 kg.

The volume of the foundation, using

the density of concrete to be 2403

kg/m3, is calculated using the

following formula:

Vf = Wf / 𝜌

Vf = 22.47 m3
 The turbine diameter according the the manufacturer is 3.5m. We can assume that the

bedplate width or diameter is 3.6m. Using the bedplate width, we can get the upper width of the

foundation (a) using a clearance of 300mm.

a = w +2c

a = 4.2m

Getting the lower width of the foundation (b), we assume that the width is equal to the

length of the foundation. We shall also assume a factor of safety of 5 and a soil bearing capacity

of 3000 lbs/ft2.

b = √𝑘(𝑘 𝑘 )/(𝑘 𝑘)

b = 4.67m

Using the upper and lower width of the foundation, we can now get the depth of the

machine foundation.

h = 2Vf / (a+b)b

h = 1.08m

To determine the weight of foundation per ton, we divide the weight of foundation to the

volume of foundation.

Weight of foundation per ton = Wf / Vf /1000

Weight of foundation per ton = 2.403 tons/m3

To determine the compressive force done on the foundation, we use the formula;

Fcompressive = [(𝑘 ∗ ℎ) + (0.5 ∗ ℎ ∗ (𝑘 − 𝑘))]/1000

Fcompressive = 11.23 tons/m2

 2.403 tons/m3 and 11.23 tons/m2 are below the maximum safe weight and compressive

forces of 2.66 tons/m3 and 218.73 tons/m2 respectively. The weight of steel bar reinforcements is

equivalent to 1% of foundation weight or 560kg

Below is the data needed for the cement mix of concrete and the amount of materials

needed for construction.

Mixture Cement (sacks) Sand (m3) Stone (m3)

1:3:5 140 11.68 19.33

Selected Turbine & Generator Specifications

Generator

● ELECTWAY 2600 VERTICAL TYPE

● 450 rpm

● 16 poles

● 4000 kw capacity

● 60 Hz

● 95.6% efficiency

TURBINE

● Jiangsu ZDY120-LH-180 Axial Type

● 13.1 to 33.6 m3/s

● 333.3 - 500 rpm

● 2234-10498 kw capacity

● Transmission - Directly Coupling

 ● With Governer

● 91% efficiency

Material & Construction Cost

The material cost is taken from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate.

Using different costs from different projects, they projected the average cost of different

equipment using power capacity, volumetric flow and other important factors.

Material Cost (Php)

Turbine w/ Controller 47,434,000.00

Generator 19,230,000.00

Penstock 30,970,260.82

Headrace 19,084,136.01

Forebay 6,105,000.00

Turbine Base 579,711,58

Building 26,622,945

Intake 12,916,150

Trashrack 1,025,600

Trashrack Cleaner 2,564,000

Transformer 18,460,800

Control System 49,998,000

 Switchgear 64,100,000

TOTAL MATERIAL COST 307,566,019.67

Land Cost (Php)

17.1 hectares 10,260,673.08

Road & Bridge Work

Road (316m) 4,740,000.00

Bridge (80m) 76,447,325.60

Materials & Components 307,566,019.67

Land 10,260,673.08

Road & Bridge Works 81,187,325.60

ESTIMATED INITIAL COST 399,014,018.35

Operation and Maintenance Cost

 The annual O&M cost of the plant is based on 2% to 6% of the estimated initial cost

according to the IRENA cost analysis. This study will assume 4% of the initial cost will be the

annual cost of O&M, which is 15.96 Million Php.

Estimated Return of Investment

To identify the estimated return of investment and plant profit and revenue, we must

assume these factors.

● O&M Annual cost of Php 15,960,560.73

● Feed in Tariff of 5.90Php/kwh

● Feed in Tariff regression rate of 0.5% after 2 years

● Capacity factor of 0.8

● Annual Maintenance increase of 1%

● Discount rate of 10%

Using these factors, it is estimated that the initial investment will be paid after 6 years of

operation (2024), Maximum ROI will be achieved after 19 years of plant operation at 126.10%.

At year 19, it is expected that the total return of investment will be at Php 503,167,910.14.

The plant will be profitable until the 19th year of operation. This is because of the

combination of rising maintenance cost, feed in tariff regression and the 10% discount rate
Sources & References

● https://www.doe.gov.ph/sites/default/files/pdf/announcements/acd_15_phil_energy_plan

_2017-2040.pdf

● https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610217323263

● http://www.fitariffs.co.uk/fits/

● https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/types-hydropower-plants

● https://dream.upd.edu.ph/assets/Publications/UP-DREAM-River-Reports/FMC/DREAM-

Flood-Forecasting-and-Flood-Hazard-Mapping-for-Cagayan-de-Oro-River-Basin.pdf

● http://cdo.ustp.edu.ph/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/5.-IECT0915.pdf

● https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1876610214007395

● https://www.iea.org/policiesandmeasures/pams/philippines/name-43253-en.php

● https://www.irena.org/documentdownloads/publications/re_technologies_cost_analysis-

hydropower.pdf

● http://www.codecogs.com/library/engineering/fluid_mechanics/machines/turbines/specifi

c-speed-and-unit-conditions.php
● https://qd-greef.en.made-in-china.com/product/pXHQKLYuRfUG/China-50Hz-60Hz-

Permanent-Magnet-Generator-for-Hydro-Wind-Turbine.html

● http://www.electway.net/product/Horizontal_type_generator.html