60. Pico Practice

The Nottingham Trend University in the UK has won a US$200,000 award to fund a major research investigation into the production of water power in rural areas of developing countries. Over much of the developing world there are remote communities that have no access to electricity. Supplying grid electricity to these communities is uneconomic because of the need for long distribution cables and low power demand. Very small hydroelectric power schemes, with outputs of less than 5kW, can provide an alternative to grid electricity. These schemes, known as pico hydro, have been shown to be cost-effective, par ticularly where standardised equipment is available (Maher et al., 1999). In Nepal, for example, more than 800 high head pico hydro systems have been installed in recent years, using batch-produced Pelton turbine units with induction generators (CADEC, 2002). These are suitable for sites where the available head is more than 30 m. They are used mainly to supply electric lighting in the evenings, and benefit more than 50,000 people. Pelton turbines are now being manufactured on a small scale in at least ten developing countries, but not every rural community has access to such a site. There are many low head hydro areas with less than a 10 m head, but the ability to harness this potential is hampered by the lack of an appropriate turbine design.