Reduction of the development cost for SHPP utilizing a container-type mini hydropower plants

摘要

SHP (Small Hydropower Plant) Turija is a multipurpose infrastructure project (energy production, drinking water supply and irrigation) in Macedonia, which was originally designed as a conventional SHP. This design envisaged development of a SHP with installed capacity of only 150 kW and estimated annual energy generation of about 900 MWh, additionally providing about 200 l/s of drinking water for the nearby municipality of Strumica, and water quantities for irrigation purposes. ududThe feasibility study done for this project clearly demonstrated that if the project is implemented conventionally the development cost will be too large and that it would never be economically feasible. The developer of the project also had limits of the maximum available financing resources that he could raise for this project.ududThe final conclusions were that it is possible to make the project attractive and financially viable if and only if a complete redesign is undertaken adhere to the following constraints:udud•Minimizing the amount of civil works,ud•Having minor design modifications to the already existing structures that would results with insignificant changes on energy production/drinking/irrigation requirements,ud•Design relatively simple equipment that could work under various working conditions with net head difference from 30 to 60 m.ud•In order to reduce the equipment cost, procurement of the equipment outside Europe is allowed as long as appropriate quality requirements are maintained. ududThe re-design was performed and with replacement of the intended powerhouse with a container, the major civil and excavations works were eliminated. Moreover, as a result of the re-design the environmental impact was also reduced significantly. In addition, the impact on the surrounding users and structures, a constrain which previously was very important, now was significantly reduced and/or eliminated. The necessary construction area was reduced three times, and much of the standard equipment of the powerhouse (such as hoists) was eliminated. Finally, in same time a suitable Francis model turbine was found to fit better to the site conditions. ududThe procurement of the equipment nevertheless was rather challenging. Not many companies are interested to give offers for equipment of such small installed capacities, and if they are interested, their offers are with unreasonably high prices. Furthermore, it was requested by the producer that the SHP should be delivered and assembled in a standard shipping container. With big efforts, a renowned Chinese company was able to deliver the specified equipment within available budget. The complete construction time was fixed at 8 months (while with the conventional design, at least 12 months were necessary).ududFinally, the estimated cost of 500 k€ (based on the offers) for the construction of the SHP in conventional manner, was reduced to about 150 k€ by using the container type of SHP. The project was successfully commissioned in mid-December 2012, a half-month ahead of the schedule. ududThis paper presents the most important details of the re-design of the power plant, the achievements and the savings that were made with this innovative concept.ud