Standards and Performance Testing for Small Hydropower Development

Standard equipment, uniform works and construction practices bring significant economy, reliability and pace in small hydropower development. Standardisation leads to uniformity in design, manufacturer, and construction as well as to reduction in inventory. It also leads to safe and better operation and maintenance. In India, with the active participation and uniform adoption by government and private users, the standardized equipment and construction practices for development work are being adopted. However specifically for small hydropower development, such practice for generating equipment and construction of civil works many time not practiced due to non-availability of specific standards. Some of the standards are available but these have been drawn for large water resources development and do not give specific details for small hydro. Standards required for SHP development have been proposed here.

Performance testing of hydropower stations is becoming a necessity in view of global competition and long-term benefits. In view of large-scale private sector participation, especially in small hydropower development, quality assurance through comprehensive testing of the station performance and technical support by independent organization at affordable prices becomes more important. The paper describes the standards and different types of tests conducted for performance evaluation, relevant standards and their usefulness and put forward some recommendations.