Dhakal, R., Nepal, A., Acharya, A., Kumal, B., Aryal, T., Williamson, S., ...

Devkota, L. (2017). Technical and economic prospects for the site

implementation of a gravitational water vortex power plant in Nepal. In 2016
IEEE International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and
Applications (ICRERA 2016): Proceedings of a meeting held 20-23
November 2016, Birmingham, United Kingdom. (pp. 1001-1006). Institute
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 Technical and Economic Prospects for the Site
Implementation of a Gravitational Water Vortex
Power Plant In Nepal
R. Dhakal, A. Nepal, A. Acharya, B. Kumal,T. Aryal S. J. Williamson
Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Engineering
Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University University of Bristol
Kantipur Engineering College, Tribhuvan University Bristol, UK
Lalitpur, Nepal [email protected]
[email protected]

L. Devkota
K. Khanal Budhigandaki Hydro Power Development Committee
Department of Mechanical Engineering Kathmandu, Nepal
School of Engineering, Kathmandu University
Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal

Abstract—Micro hydropower is a very promising renewable difficult to develop. In Nepal, the hilly areas have good head of
energy source for off-grid energy generation in remote areas water, therefore choosing and installation of turbine is easier.
where the resource exists. This study focuses on integrating an But still there are certain areas that cannot be electrified
innovative new design of micro hydropower system called the because of difficulty in developing national supply grid and
Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant into existing water erection of diversion structures [5]. One solution to this
infrastructure. Three types of existing water infrastructure are problem is the installation of low head turbines that are
considered applicable for hydropower integration: irrigation economically viable and environmentally acceptable.
canals, reservoirs and weirs. The theoretical designs for the civil
works for the low-head gravitational water vortex power plant The Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant (GWVPP) is a
integrated into these structures are given and the costs of new technology in which potential energy of water is converted
construction are estimated. A scalable system of 1.6kW is also to kinetic energy by a rotation tank (basin) and this kinetic
designed and integrated in an existing irrigation canal for the energy of water is extracted by a turbine in the center of vortex.
technical performance evaluation and validate the theoretical These systems can operate on heads as low as 0.7m. The
economical study. The study concludes that the performance of construction costs are relatively small because of its simpler
turbine is mostly suitable for rural electrification and to integrate construction with no need of dam structure and the use of
in cost-effective way, the civil works and installation cost should locally available materials. This makes them suitable on rivers
be greatly reduced.
across the Nepal, at thousands of locations [6]. The installation
Keywords— low head turbine, cost, micro hydropower
of GWVPP can act as an exemplar project that can have huge
integration environmental benefit with no negative environmental impact.
Moreover, GWVPP is safe for fish due to the low turbine speed
I. INTRODUCTION and improves water quality by oxygenation [7]. Thus, for a
developing country, like Nepal, this technology has a great
Micro hydropower plants are small scale hydropower plants
potential to overcome the increasing electricity demand.
whose capacity ranging from 5 kW to 100 kW [1], with pico
hydropower considered to be below 5 kW capacity [2]. Recently research has been conducted into the design
Generally, micro hydropower systems do not need large dams optimization of the basin and the turbine. The optimization of
or reservoirs, water from a river is partially diverted through an geometrical parameters that governs the design of basin
intake canal to a forebay tank, and then fed via penstock to a structure of GWVPP was undertaken in Nepal, concluding that
lower elevation. The water turbine sheltered in a power house, a conical basin structure was most efficient [8-10]. The
transforms the energy of the water flow into electrical energy, research performed by Mulligan et al [11] evaluated the size of
with power generation efficiencies able to reach up to 90% [3]. basin diameter and outlet tube diameter. They found that to
maximize the power output in cylindrical basin, the range of
Micro and pico hydropower are the most cost-effective
outlet tube diameter to basin diameter lies within 14%-18%.
form of generating electricity in off-grid remote areas [4]. But
Wanchat et al [12, 13] indicated the important parameters
the development of this kind of energy is very low due to the
which can determine the water free vortex kinetic energy and
cost of implementation, with the civil works often being 30%
vortex configuration are height of water, the orifice diameter,
of the total cost. The cost and environmental impacts of
condition of inlet and basin configuration.
constructing a dam make traditional hydropower projects
 Current research is solely focused on optimization of basin
structure and turbine conducting experimental and
computational studies. However, no research has been
published in suitable site selection for the GWVPP system and
its performance on the site. Therefore this paper describes the
economic and technical prospective of the site installation of
GWVPP, to select suitable site for desired performance and
accessing the site prospective through theoretical case studies
and validating the selected case study by experimental testing.
II. PROSPECTIVE IN NEPAL
(a)
Nepal is a small landlocked Himalayan country between
India and China. It has the second richest in hydropower
resource in the world after Brazil [14], consisting of 6 000
rivers with total length of around 45 000 km and an annual
discharge of 174 billion cubic meters, with the northern
Himalayan range acting as a perennial source [15]. Nepal has
about 43 GW of economically exploitable resources, with 83
GW of potential but only 785 MW have been developed so far.
The energy sources in Nepal can be broadly classified into
two categories: traditional and commercial. Traditional sources (b)
mainly comprise biomass such as firewood or agricultural Figure 1: (a) Sources of traditional and commercial energy in Nepal (b)
waste and account for more than 85 % of the total energy Sources of energy for lighting and cooking in Nepal [6].
supply in Nepal [16].Commercial sources include kerosene,
diesel, petroleum and electricity from either grid or local TABLE I. NEPAL RET INSTALLATION DATA (AS OF JULY 15, 2012) [19]
resources, which are commercially available for residential and
industrial consumers. Commercial sources can be renewable Renewable Energy Installed Total
using solar, wind, micro hydropower, or biofuels to generate Technology (kW/No.)
electricity or a mechanical output. The transition to renewable Mini-Hydropower 16 338 / 42
resources is imperative to restrict the impact on the climate.
Fig. 1 (a) shows the breakdown of different energy sources in Mini-Hydropower 24 605 / 1287
the traditional and commercial categories, whilst Fig. 1 (b) Pico-Hydropower 3 703 / 1634
shows the breakdown of energy sources used for lighting and
Improved Water Mills - / 9015
cooking.
Biogas Systems - /241,920
The Government of Nepal has provided grid electricity to
Solar Home Systems - /185,000
56% of the population in the country, and 9% with electricity
from off-grid renewable energy technologies (RETs) [16]. In Wind Turbines - /<100
rural areas, however, only 49 % of the population has access to
electricity [17]. Nepal is currently going through a severe Improving energy access in Nepal is being pursued via grid
energy crisis, with supply unable to meet the demand. Due to extension by the state owned utility, the Nepal Electricity
civil war and political instability in the last 20 years, many Authority, and via smaller distributed off-grid renewable
hydropower projects have not been able to be realized. The energy technologies, administered through the Alternative
lack of sufficient electricity generation power supplies has Energy Promotion Centre. Table 1 shows the number of
forced the authorities impose regular load shedding, where the installed hydro projects less than 1 MW in Nepal, as well as
grid is cut from a large area. These can last up to 20 hours a other renewable technologies.
day.
The installed cost of micro and pico hydropower systems in
Micro hydropower is a particularly appropriate source for Nepal varies depending on the location. There are several
rural electrification in Nepal, as it possesses suitable terrain and factors that affect the cost of an installation including: civil
water resources. Development organizations identified this 30 works required at the intake and for the canal, the length and
years ago, and set up institutions to develop the skills and type of penstock, the complexity of the turbine design, the
personnel with appropriate experience to support such projects distance to the distribution area and number of connected
[18]. In Nepal the most common means of rural electrification households. Fig. 2 shows the variation in the cost per kilowatt
include extension of central grid and the use of distributed of 39 different micro hydro installations in Nepal with different
renewable energy technologies including solar home systems, capacities. There is very little change in the cost per kilowatt as
and small scale hydropower technology. The implementation the system capacity changes, indicating that as the size
of these technologies depends on a number of criteria, such as increases, the fixed costs also increase.
the available resources, the distance from the grid, the
dispersion of the population and size of demand.
Figure 2: Cost per kilowatt of installed capacity for 39 different micro Fig. 3. Pilot site, in Gokarna, Kathmandu, Nepal.
hydropower projects in Nepal, 2011 [20,21].
standard generator to produce 50 or 60 Hz output frequency
A study on two micro hydropower schemes in Nepal will require a step-up in speed through either a gearbox or belt
showed that for very similar mechanical schemes with drive system. Table 2 details the costs of this pilot site, which
comparable distribution areas, the civil works can have a very means $2725/kW, which is cheaper than the average
significant impact in the overall cost of the scheme and that installation shown in Fig. 2.
integrating the civil works into existing water infrastructure or
features may help to reduce the cost of the overall system [21].
III. IMPLEMENTATION TESTING OF GRAVITATIONAL WATER
VORTEX POWER PLANT
After testing the GWVPP in the lab [10], a pilot
implementation project was undertaken in Gokarna, Central
Nepal. At this site, a river passes through capital city
Kathmandu with a minimum flow rate of 0.4 m³/s. There is
already an irrigation canal weir in place, Fig. 3, which was
previously used for the paddy fields in the area, which is built
to support a maximum flow rate of 2 m³/s. At the canal, a head
of 1.5 m is available.
The laboratory turbine was scaled using hydrodynamic
scaling laws [25], this system can be designed to meet any Figure 4: Measured efficiency vs. rotational turbine speed for experimental
changes in environmental conditions for head or flow rate. A scale GWVPP system.
pilot system has been designed to produce 1.6 kW for an
off-grid community nearby the pilot site. The turbine is able to TABLE II. DETAIL COSTS FOR SITE INSTALLATION
use all the available head and a flow rate of 0.2 m³/s. For this
Item Rate
design, a basin diameter of 2000 mm was chosen with a canal
width of 1000 mm, and the predicted maximum operating 3mm Sheet Steel $1100
efficiency speed is 95 rpm. To maintain a constant rotational Angle Steel (70x70mm) $250
speed at the maximum output power point, and ensure an AC
Ø50mm Steel $120
output of 50 Hz / 230 V, an electronic load controller (ELC) is
used [2]. U-Channel $80

The construction of a GWVPP does not require any Electrical System $750
specialist tools or equipment, the workshop will only require to Labour $650
bend and weld sheet metal. Therefore, this turbine is ideal for 10 mm Metal Plate $ 60
developing countries with more basic workshop facilities
available. Transportation $900
Miscelaneaous $450
As can be seen in Fig. 4, the efficiency is very dependent
on the speed of rotation. Therefore, when coupled with an Total $4360
electrical load, this load will have to be maintained at a
constant value to ensure that no non-linear effects occur,
causing a collapse of the turbine speed and output which is
achieved by the ELC. The speed of rotation for this turbine is
very slow at its maximum efficiency point, therefore matching
it to a
 TABLE III. DIMENSIONS FOR STANDARD DESIGN OIF GWVPP USED IN
COST ANALYSIS

Basin diameter 2000 mm

Canal width 1000 mm
Canal Height 800 mm
Cone Angle 67°
Height of Basin 1500 mm
Outlet Tube Diameter 450 mm
Notch Angle 170°

Figure 6. Standard design of GWVPP for 0.2 m³/s flow and 1.5 m head.

B. Irrigation Canal Site

A photo of a typical irrigation canal in Nepal is shown in
Fig. 7. For the installation of the GWVPP, a sluice gate is built
into the intake of the turbine to control the flow of water in
Figure 5. Pilot project using conical basin structure, with integration in
turbine. The basin structure and canal is bolted onto a concrete
irrigation canal weir, intake canal, basin structure and runner. section of the irrigation canal, where an inlet is cut into the side
of the channel. The outlet water is fed to a nearby river or
IV. SITE IMPLEMENTATION OF GRAVITATIONAL WATER irrigation canal at a lower level through outlet tube. A small
VORTEX POWER PLANT sheet metal outer covering is given to the generator and
gearbox to protect the equipment from environmental effects.
The GWVPP can be installed in existing water structures,
as shown with the pilot installation. There are three main types To implement this design, minimal civil works need to be
of water infrastructure in Nepal: irrigation canals, reservoirs, carried out, only the cutting of the irrigation canal wall to
and weirs. The implementation of a 1.6 kW GWVPP with 1.5 create the basin inlet. The structure can then be bolted to the
m head and rated flow rate of 0.2 m³/s is considered in each of canal, assuming it is strong enough. The installation time is
these types of site. assumed to be 4 person days.
A. Standard GWVPP design
The design shown in Fig. 6 is the standard design of
gravitational water vortex power plant used in the following
site implementation analysis, with principal dimensions for the
turbine system shown in Table 3.

Figure 7. Irrigation canal example.

 TABLE IV. MATERIAL COSTS FOR EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION SITES
[25].

Item Rate
3mm Sheet Steel $1.10/kg
Cement $0.30/kg
Sand $0.006/kg
Gravel/Aggregate Locally sourced
Angle Steel (70x70mm) $12/3m length

Figure 8. Example reservoir site with installed GWVPP. Ø50mm Steel $1.00/kg
U-Channel $1.20/m
C. Reservoir Site
Labor $8/day
An example reservoir site is illustrated in Fig. 8. It is
assumed that the reservoir is able to provide a flow rate greater
than 0.4 m³/s and has a head of 1.5 m. A weir is located on one
TABLE V. MATERIAL COSTS FOR EXAMPLE IMPLEMENTATION SITES.
side of the reservoir, with a river continuing from the reservoir.
Irrigation
A gate is installed next to the weir, with a 1 m by 0.8 m Item Reservoir Weir
Canal
metallic canal attached to basin of turbine. The basin structure 3mm Sheet Steel 550 550 550
is located next to the metallic canal. The water is fed back to
river through outlet tube at bottom of basin structure. This Electrical System 750 750 750
design uses 0.7 m³ of concrete, therefore 1.1 tons of stone, 0.6 Cement - 90 -
tons of sand and 0.3 tons of cement is required. The Sand - 50 -
powerhouse is identical to the irrigation canal design. The
stone is assumed to be locally sourced. As this installation will Gravel/Aggregate - 120 -
be more complex, the labor time is assumed to be 20 person Angle Steel 75 60 159
days. Ø50mm Steel 50 50 50
D. Weir Site U-Channel 60 60 60
This evaluation considers a site with a sharp crested weir, Labor* 160 288 160
as shown in Fig. 8. The slat weir is constructed from a number
TOTAL $1635 $2018 $1729
of planks set into slots in the channel, which means they can be
*including unit build labor
easily lifted in and out of the water course to change the weir
height. We assume that the weir has a head of 1.5 m and a The costs in Table 5 show that irrigation canal is much less
minimum flow rate of 0.4 m³/s. in comparison to reservoir and weir due to reduction of labor
The design shown in Fig. 9 uses no concrete. Instead, the cost and civil construction material to make the intake canal.
turbine is supported from the weir by a steel structure, made up The labor costs make up the largest proportion of the civil
from mild steel of 20 m total length, 50 mm cross-section. As works construction costs in the irrigation canal and reservoir
there is little civil works the installation time is estimated at 4 installations, as they require a lot of manual labor to build the
person days. structures. However, with the simple design of the weir, then
this is reduced dramatically making it much more cost
V. DISCUSSION effective. Therefore, another way to reduce costs further is to
make the installation process as simple and short as possible.
The costs of each of the designs proposed in Section VI are
assessed using the material prices shown in Table 4. These If the low-head gravitational water vortex turbine unit did
costs are shown in Table 5, with the breakdown for each not use the existing infrastructure, such as the irrigation canal,
material at the different sites. and required a 50 m intake canal to be built this adds another
$1250 not including labor costs, which is another 57 % on top
of the original build costs. Comparing the cost with the average
cost of sites shown in Fig. 2, the proposed implementations are
over 66% cheaper at $1021/kW compared with over $3000/kW
for the previously installed turbines.
VI. CONCLUSION
The Gravitational Water Vortex Power Plant is an
emerging technology in context of low head hydropower,
providing a suitable option for rural electrification. The
Figure 9. Example weir site with installed GWVPP.
GVWPP can be scaled using hydrodynamic similarity with
effective performance, offering an opportunity for power
generation in the remote villages where it is difficult and
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