Design of a Reliable and Low-Cost Stand-Alone Micro Hydropower Station

K. Kusakana and J.L. Munda (South Africa)

Keywords

Micro-hydropower, renewable energy, rural power supply, modelling and simulation

Abstract

In this paper the conceptual design and modelling of a simple stand-alone micro hydropower station is presented. The plant is run-off-river, rugged, reliable and cost effective; suitable for supplying power to low-income households in rural areas. It is composed of a squirrel cage induction machine running as generator and directly coupled to a Kaplan water turbine. Power converters (rectifier-inverter) can be used to control the variable frequency and voltage outputs of the generator due to variation of water flow. Finally some simulations using Matlab software are performed to highlight the behaviour of the output power supplied to consumers when the water flow is varying.

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