Run-Of-River (ROR) Hydropower Projects

Chain OF Turbines

Scope of Project:

1. Introduction: Run-Of-River (ROR) hydropower projects are designed to harness the energy of flowing bodies of water directly without building large water reservoirs. They are becoming more popular for production of electric power as compared to the traditional approach of building dams. This owes to factors such as excessive cost, long construction time, environmental damage and social impact etc., associated with building dams. However, ROR hydropower projects still need extensive civil works as they involve construction on the banks and the bed of rivers or canals. Based on a novel design, the currently proposed project, therefore, aims to design and develop an ROR hydropower system using multiple floating turbines connected in series.

2. The proposed concept can drastically reduce the lifecycle cost and many of the challenges associated with the current methods of hydropower production. For example, in comparison, it requires minimal Civil Works and a much shorter gestation time. Its modular design makes it highly scalable, adaptable and transportable. It can produce power both from small streams and from large canals or rivers. Its simple design is well suited for mass production. The versatility of the solution potentially makes it highly commercially viable and sustainable.

3. The project will go through multiple phases from a concept to a market ready product as described below. Its projected cost in the phase of mass production is around $1.5/W. On the other hand, the average cost of the installed capacity of hydropower projects, both in Pakistan and around the world is more than $2/W in general according to numerous international statistical studies. The cost of the proposed project is expected to decrease substantially with further improvements as it goes through its various stages. The finances required for ‘Phase 1’ of the project are detailed below. Cost estimation of the remaining phases will be carried out in future based on the outcomes of Phase 1.

Design and Development Phases

4. Phase 1: The goal of the first phase is to design and develop a functional prototype of the ‘Chain Of Turbines’ ROR hydro power generation system with a capacity of 0.2kW suitable for Khanpur Dam Canal or a similar stream of water as a pilot project and proof of concept.

5. Phase 2: Review of Phase 1, engineering design for batch production, theoretical analysis, computational analysis, manufacturing of the Prototype 2, testing of prototypes on multiple sites.

6. Phase 3: Review of phase 2, batch production. testing, analysis, redesign. Provisioning of final design and feasibility report with engineering details for mass production.

7. Phase 4: Industrial mass production