China s Small Hydropower in Rural Energy Development Li Zhiwu National Research Institute for Rural Electrification, China Hangzhou regional (Asia & Pacific) Center for Small Hydropower 2012.8.1
As one of the multi-lateral technical cooperation projects, HRC was set up in 1981, under the sponsorship of Chinese government and UNDP, HRC is a organization engaged in the SHP research, training, information and consultation in the Asia-pacific region as well as worldwide. Domestically, HRC is called National Research Institute for Rural Electrification.
84 SHP Hydrology Training Workshop
2008 TCDC Training Workshop on SHP
Contents 1 Definition of Small Hydropower 2 SHP Development in China 3 China's SHP Technical Features Incentive 4 Policies 5 Barriers & Outlook
Ⅰ. Definition of Small Hydropower The definition of small hydropower differs from country to country, more consensus is that small hydropower is divided into three categories: micro ( < 100kW ) mini ( 101 ~ 1000 kw ) small ( 1001 ~ 10000 kw). Country/International Organization Classification(kW) (Micro) (Mini) (Small) International Conferences on small hydropower <100 101-500 501-10000 Thailand <200 201-6000 6001-15000 China <100 101-500 501-50000 Turkey <100 101-1000 1001-5000 U.S. <500 501-2000 <15000 India <100 <2000 <15000 Malaysia <25 25-500 <5000 Nepal <50 <500 <5000 Panama <100 101-1000 1001-10000 France <500 501-2000 2001-8000
Ⅰ. Definition of Small Hydropower In China, small hydropower refers to hydropower stations with the installed capacity of 50MW and below, as well as small hydropower supplied local power grids. It is associated with the development of national economy in harmony, especially with the development of rural economics and rural electricity demand. 1950s: <500kW 1960s: <3000kW Late1960s: <12000kW 1980s: <25000kW 1990s: <50000kW
Ⅱ. SHP Development in China By the end of 2011: No. of SHP stations in operation 45,145 Total installed capacity 62,030 MW Annual generation 174,745 GWh SHP supplying area covered: 1/2 of nation s territory 300 + m rural population 1/3 of counties Percentage of rural household accessible to electricity 99.6%
Position of SHP in hydro- and electric power sector: % of SHP capacity in hydropower sector 30% ( 5-6% for the whole world; 10% for European countries; 1-3% for most developing countries) % of SHP energy in electric power sector 6% ( 1% for the whole world; <1% for most developing countries)
SHP-based local grids cover 800 counties 540,000 km of 10kV,35kV and 110kV transmission lines in these counties total SHP assets exceeds USD 32 billion personnel engaged in the SHP sector ---- 658,000 of whom, 150,000 are technical staff
Three Channels of energy supply for rural electrification: Extension of the state grids Diesel energy or thermal power Local decentralized renewable energy SHP, Solar, Wind, biomass In China, elec. demand in hilly rural area mainly relied on SHP 653 primary R.E. counties set up (1985-2000) 409 HP-based R.E. counties set up (2001-2005) 432 HP-based R.E. counties set up (2006-2010)
Various channels for raising funds Funding channel (1) State investment (2) Bank loan (3) Self-raised funds (local government) (4) Electricity support electricity program (5) power construction (6) Foreign funds and others Total Capital Amount (billion Yuan) 0.9 6.5 4.2 0.5 0.4 2.0 14.5 Proportion of the total investment (%) 5.9 45.0 29.1 3.3 2.7 14.0 100
III. China's Small Hydropower Technical Features 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ecological Protection SHP Standard System SHP Supplied Local Grids SHP Planning System Serialized SHP Equipment A Variety of Types
1 A Variety of Types China has almost all types of small hydropower stations listed in a textbook. Design head: from less 2 meters up to 1000 meters; Dam type: including earth, stone masonry dam, concrete dam, rock fill dam, concrete face rock fill dam, rock core wall dam, rubber dam and so on. Water intake and water diversion system: including open channel, aqueduct, all kinds of pressure, non-pressure piping, tunnel etc. Powerhouses: various types, including ground, underground, circular, elliptic and so on. Overall layout: including the diversion type, the dam type, river bed type etc.. Power station elevation: some stations have elevation of 4700 m built in Tibet.
1 A Variety of Types High head 4700m elevation in Tibet. SHP Station Low head (3.5m)
1 A Variety of Types Containerized hydropower station Completely done in manufacturer, trucked to the site Less Time and Cost on site SHP Station
1 A Variety of Types Concrete Arch Dam Stone Masonry Arch Dam Dam type
1 A Variety of Types Concrete Arch Dam Stone Masonry Arch Dam Concrete surface rock fill dam Dam type
1 Rubber Dam A Variety of Types Concrete Arch Dam Stone Masonry Arch Dam Dam type Automatic Shutter Dam
2 Serialized SHP Equipment China has more than 100 small hydropower equipment manufacturers. They adopt unified design and drawings, as well as standardized spare parts. Small hydropower equipment standardization and serialization plays an important role in promoting high-speed and large-scale development of small hydropower in China.
Turbine 2 Serialized SHP Equipment Small hydro turbines have a total of 26 models in series, 83 kinds of products, applicable in the head range of 2 ~ 1000 meters. Main turbine types are axial flow, propeller, shaft axial flow, bulb, Francis, Pelton, Turgo, cross flow and micro integrated units.
Turbine 2 Serialized SHP Equipment Francis turbine: The most popular type, widely applied; Head of 20-700m, speed of 500-1500rpm and installed capacity up to 1000MW; Simpler structure, reliable operation and high efficiency (up to 94%); Smaller unit dimensions and lower cost, (compared).
Turbine 2 Serialized SHP Equipment Axial-flow turbine: Propeller (fixed blades) and Kaplan (double regulation). Water head of 2-50m for Propeller, Water head of 2-80m for Kaplan; Suitable for lower head and larger flow; Poor cavitations and low mechanical strength, if compared with Francis turbine; Efficiency is over 94%; Max. unit capacity in China: 200MW.
2 Serialized SHP Equipment Tubular turbine: Water head of 2-35m, for extra low head and larger flow rate; Four types: Bulb type, shaft-extension, pit-tubular, fully Tubular type; Neither spiral case nor draft tube; Fixed blades and adjustable blades; Fluent water flow, high efficiency, low civil works cost; Max. unit capacity of Bulb turbine in China: 40MW. Turbine
2 Serialized SHP Equipment Impulse turbine: For high head (300-1700m) and small flow rate; Pelton, Turgo and cross-flow; Horizontal or vertical arrangement; Runner jets more than 6 (single jet, multi jets-2, 3, 4,6, 8); The highest head of Pelton unit in China:Tianhu hydropower station with a head of 1074m; Turbine
2 Serialized SHP Equipment Hydro generators have 2 standard series, 16 kinds of models, and more than 280 products. In addition, governors, excitation equipment and others of equipment for small hydropower station all have standard series. Generator switchgear
3 (1) Rural Electrification Planning SHP Planning System Beginning in 1982, China carried out small hydropowerbased rural electrification pilot counties, as of in 2000, it has covered the construction of 653 electrification counties. Based on constant experience and practice, a set of suitable rural electrification planning method has been established. Many valuable experiences have been summarized into national or industrial standards, such as small hydropower supply area rural electrification planning regulations, rural hydropower supply area power development planning guidelines, etc.
3 SHP Planning System (2) SHP River Basin Development Planning SHP cascade development planning Cascade exploitation aims at making full use of water head of a river; enabling the construction of a low dam at the upper reaches of a river which regulates the water for all the downstream hydro stations; exploitation can be developed in several phase. St.6 St.5 St.4 St. 3 St.2 St.1 Zhejiang Panxi SHP cascades
3 SHP cross river basin development planning SHP Planning System Cross-basin water diversion is a kind of effective pattern of small hydropower development technology. In a suitable terrain and geological conditions, water diversion from neighboring basin can increase the amount of power generation. But cross-basin water diversion may cause the change of ecological environment, which must be considered, so it is not suggested to be spread in a blind way.
4 SHP Supplied Local Grids Different from other developing countries, China attached great importance to building up power supply area for SHP. The county-level grids and trans-county grids were formed in some places, with capacity generally ranging from about 30 to 80MW. Over 1500 counties have constructed small hydropower and built up different scales of local grids.
5 SHP Standard System A relatively complete standard system of SHP has been formed. So far, 35 standards have been issued and about 20 standards are being compiled. To promote the development of SHP in the world, our government is planning to translate some of them into English.
6 Ecological Protection SHP development on the whole has more benefit than fraud, but we can not ignore its impact on river ecological system, especially the diversion type SHPs, if poorly planned, would cause environmental problems such as river flow dehydration. In recent years, China has begun research on the ecological flow in the river, explored the establishment of green hydropower mechanism to hold up the concept of protection in the development, development in the protection SHP replacing firewood Dehydrated River Section
SHP Replacing Firewood Finance input by gov. Central & local Dev. of SHP < 50MW Cheap electricity Substituting fuel 0.19yuan/kW h (0.45) Firewood, coal Conservation of forest & vegetation Grain for Green program Nature reserve Water and soil loss controlling area 33
SHP Replacing Firewood General Status Pilot project Expanded pilot project Promotion project (plan) Time 2003-2004 2006-2008 2009-2015 Projects NO. 26 81 1022 Province 5 21 24 Installed capacity 58MW 150MW 1706MW Benefit population 200,000 636,000 5777,000 Protected forest 1 040km 2 1353km 2 15933km 2 Total investment 0.28 b 1.03b 14.13b central gov. 0.129b 0.3b 5.7b 34
Benefits Health effects Indoor pollution before Clean kitchen after SHP Replacing Firewood 35
Road before Road after SHP Replacing Firewood
Ⅳ. Incentive Polices 1.Policies on dev. Focusing on local capability (including enterprises or individuals) withassistance from central government. Core of SHP policies: 3-selfs, stuck those who invested in SHP stations would get the benefits from the station. 2.Policies on investment Furthering the policy of elec. Support elec. All the profit from SHP stations could be exempted from tax and used for investment in SHP. Significant role in 20 years.
3.Policies on tax Sales tax only 5% of the profit from a SHP station before 1994; Value-added tax 6% since 1994 (17% for large hydro) 4.Policies on mobilization Every farmer had to contribute 8-10 working days/year in dev. SHP in some counties. The work contributed could be converted into inv. in kind in the form of shares.
5. Policies on loan Low-interest loans from central and local gov.(10 years) Special finance, such as for replacing firewood by elec. program. 6. Other preferential policies Reasonable allocation of water res. budget for SHP projects that combine flood control, irrigation and water conservation. Compensation for the headwater reservoir in cascade dev.
Ⅴ. Barriers & Outlook 5.1 Internal flaws small scale, not competitive with large plants capital investment: SHP vs. large one 8,000~10,000 vs. 5,000~7,000 Yuan/kW high seasonal variation Low firm power Low utilization hr: 2817 hrs (in 2011)
5.2 External problems Difficulty of integration to the grid; Unfair treatment of off-take electricity quantity; Unreasonable selling price to the grid; ave. selling price of SHP: 0.226-0.45 Yuan/kWh 20% lower than other power sources Constraints of public welfare character.
5.3 Measures for overcoming the barriers For internal factors, the flaws have to be improved by SHP sector itself, including planning, design, construction, O&M. For external factors, attention has to be paid by decisionmaking levels of the gov.
Environmental policies be coordinated during stipulation of SHP policies to ensure the merging of SHP policy with relevant sectors Both planning and market are indispensible measures for allocation of resources. Gov.-enabled and market-based approach has to be studied and worked out.
Strengthening compulsory administrative policies: quota system and other relevant regulations Environment factors be taken into consideration in price determination mechanism, protection of market price for SHP Tax policy
Policy guidance for financing SHP Multi-polarization, multiple-sources and multi-direction of invest. in raising capital for SHP thro. opening up of the market. (invest. from both society, foreign funds and private enterprises)
5.4 Outlook for SHP Development in China Targets by 2020: Total rural hydropower capacity: 75,000MW; 100% people electrified in rural hydropower supplied area. 10 million farmers household use electricity from SHP to replace firewood, consumption of electricity per household per year no less than 1500 kwh.
Further improvement of technical standard system for rural hydropower; Primarily completion of renovation plan for rural hydropower stations; Non-attended (with a few guards stations) should exceed 90% of the whole.
Conclusion Small hydropower is the rural renewable energy with the most mature technology, the longest development history, and the most rewarding benefits. China s SHP technology has its unique characteristics. We would like to share our experience with other East Asian countries, to promote the development of SHP.
Thank You! Li Zhiwu zwli@hrcshp.org