Is a communIty based
micro-hydro ELEctrification SchEmE suItable for your viLLagE?
pubLiShEd by practicaL action
Is a communIty based mIcro-hydro electrIfIcatIon scheme suItable for your vIllage?
ISBN 978-955-9417-47-7
© Practical action 5, lionel edirisinghe mawatha colombo 5, sri lanka tel fax e-mail Website : : : : +94-11-2829412 +94-11-2856188 srilanka@practicalaction.org.lk www.practicalaction.org www.janathakshan.net dgIs netherlands gram vikas Practical action P.g. ajith Kumara namiz musafer, tushani Kalugalagedera hingulwela dissanayake dinesh Pradeep, minidu abeysekera
funded by : acknowledgment : Publisher : complied by : edited by : drawings : layout :
FOREWORD
the threats of global warming and climate change have drawn the world’s attention to renewable sources of energy. dwindling fossil resources, such as petroleum oils and coal, and the over dependence on imported fuels has prompted countries to look for internal resources to meet escalating energy demands. micro-hydro is one of the technologies that use the locally available water resources to generate electricity. Practical action has promoted a number of renewable energy options over the last few decades, to help meet the energy needs of the poor, with micro-hydro being one of the earliest. Working on micro-hydro village electrification schemes over the last 25 years, community based renewable energy technology has proven to be an appropriate energy solution for remote rural villages which are not connected to the main electricity grid. Community based micro-hydro village electrification schemes use the water of the streams that generally pass through the villages to generate power to meet the community’s basic electricity needs. the communities are involved in these schemes from the very initial stages. owned by the community, the micro-hydro electricity schemes are operated and maintained by the community. however, without a basic knowledge it is hard for any person to assess whether a village could have a potential to generate electricity from a micro-hydro scheme to meet their electricity needs. some fundamental aspects have to be considered and basic calculations have to be made. this booklet helps a lay person to understand and gain an idea as to whether their village has a potential to meet its own electricity needs through a community based micro-hydro village electrification scheme.
your electricity
NEEDs
you need electricity to brighten your household, to listen to the radio and to watch television. A micro-hydro electricity generator can fulfil such needs in a village. not only that, this electricity could be used to boil water, iron clothes, to work rice mills and rubber mills, and to charge batteries. you can also use hydro power directly for machinery purposes.
Having no electricity is a big loss for us sir.
A small hydroelectricity scheme will give you the electricity you need .
The electricity you get from a micro-hydro electricity scheme can be used to Light few bulbs, run small electrical items like tvs, and engage in same income, generating activities.
though small, a hydroelectricity generator would be quite expensive. It has to be properly maintained. If a hydroelectricity generator is provided to your village and if it does not provide its service properly, it would be a waste of money, time and effort.
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In some cases micro-hydro electricity schemes may not be suitable for some villages.
People can start a project of this kind at their own cost, or with some external assistance. though these micro-hydro power projects are suitable for some villages, for some the solution to the electricity problem would not be the same. this booklet has been produced to help you to recognise that difference. It tells you how you could build a suitable hydroelectricity project for your village, the ways you could take part in this at village level, and the help you could receive in order to do this. you could receive further information on the technology and community based approaches used from the booklet “Community Based Micro-Hydro Village Electrification Schemes – Technology & Approach” published by Practical action.
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Comments
Nyarangi said:
said:Neil said:
neilnoble said:You can also find information in the Money Matters section of the iRET toolkit which can be downloaded from http://practicalaction.org/iret-1 or you can request a DVD at iret@practicalaction.org.uk.
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