The techno-economic analysis of small hydropower plants installed parameters for three different mountain watercourses

Abstract

In the last decade, hydrological data measurements, acquisitions and analyses of various Montenegrin mountain watercourses were carried out comprehensively. The data were analyzed respecting the hitherto known approaches in determining the small hydropower plant (SHPP) installed parameters. The SHPP installed parameter Ki is the ratio of the design flow and averaged perennial flow obtained from the flow duration curve at the planned water intake location. Due to the specifics of the rivers, it was not possible to define the installed parameters easily and clearly. For this reason, an improved multidisciplinary approach was conducted, which would lead to clearer general guidelines for quality and efficient determination of the SHPPs installed parameter respecting environmental requirements for each of them. The range of SHPP installed parameters is determined according to the technical and economic criteria. In this paper, the conclusions for three different SHPPs are presented comparing the calculated results and in-situ ones.