Small Hydropower Economics: Head & Flow, Power Output, Flow Duration Curves, Annual Energy, Residual Flows, Feed-In Revenue and Payback
Assess a small run-of-river hydro scheme by the numbers. You will compute power from head, flow and efficiency, subtract pipe losses, use a flow duration curve to pick the design flow, keep a fictional residual flow in the river, estimate annual energy and capacity factor, add fictional tariffs and costs and find the payback and IRR in dry and wet years, with every cell checked as you go.
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About this course
In this course you assess a fictional small run-of-river hydro scheme in a spreadsheet. You calculate gross and net head and turn flows into kilowatts with P = ρ·g·Q·H·η, read pipe losses from a loss table and apply a square rule for every flow. You rank sample days into a flow duration curve and read Q50 and Q95, keep a residual flow in the river and cap the turbine flow. Then you add up annual energy from flow bins, find the capacity factor, compare a fixed tariff with market prices, build a 25-year cash flow and finish with payback, NPV, IRR and a scenario chart.
Lessons
- Power from Head and Flow: P = ρ·g·Q·H·η in Kilowatts Pro
- Head Losses: Pipe Sizes, Loss Tables and the Net Head per Flow Pro
- The Flow Duration Curve: Ranking Daily Flows and Reading Q50 and Q95 Pro
- Design Flow and Residual Flow: How Much Water the Turbine May Use Pro
- Annual Energy: Flow Bins, Part-Load Efficiency and the Capacity Factor Pro
- Revenue: Fixed Feed-In Tariff vs Market Prices, Own Use and the Capture Price Pro
- Costs: Capex per kW, O&M, Insurance and a Lifetime Cash-Flow Row Pro
- Capstone: Payback, NPV and IRR in Dry, Average and Wet Years with a Chart Pro