PRE-FEASIBILITY STUDY OF INDRAWATI-III RUN-OFF RIVER HYDROPOWER PROJECT
Date
2023-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IOE Pulchowk Campus
Abstract
The study entitled “A Pre-feasibility Study of Indrawati III ROR Hydropower Project” is part
of the partial fulfillment of a Bachelor’s Degree of Civil Engineering. The Study focused on finding
the technical and financial viability of power generation from Indrawati River located in
Sindhupalchowk district in the Central Region of Nepal.
The Flow records and rainfall data of the nearby gauging stations and rainfall stations were obtained
from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. The data are used to determine the flood
discharge and average flow of the Indrawati River at the project Site. Using GIS software, the
catchment area of the intake site of Indrawati was calculated, which is equal to 431.34 km2
. The
rainfall and discharge data obtained from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology was
analyzed and the flood discharge was derived using various methods. The flooding discharge is found
871.46 m3
/s for 100 years return period. Based on the design discharge with Q40 (of 40% of discharge
exceedance flow), the installed capacity is found to be 8.02 MW. Three Francis turbines are used for
the power generation. Using tunnel optimization techniques, the minimum diameter of the headrace
tunnel is found 3.3 m. Three nos. of penstocks pipes were proposed to connect the turbines. And
penstock optimization techniques were applied to find the economical penstock diameter, which is
2m of each. The total annual energy production was found to be 47.686 GWh. Owing to the PPA
provided by NEA, electricity will be sold at Rs. 4.8 per unit during wet season and Rs. 8.4 per unit
during dry season. Based on this, the total annual revenue will be NRs 249 million.
The design life of the project is taken as 40 years. The preliminary cost estimation of the hydropower
project is done for the economic analysis using Benefit Cost ratio (BCR) and IRR methods. Financial
analysis shows the BCR is about 2.02 and IRR equal to 20.59% with discount period of 10 years.
This suggests the economic viability of project. Hence, the project is recommended to further
(feasibility) study and detail analysis as well as EIA is recommended as the capacity of the project
exceeds 5MW.
Description
Hydropower specifically refers to any mechanical or electrical power that can be produced as a result
of the energy head connected with moving or motionless water. According to the thesis of Dr. Hari
Man Shrestha (M.Sc., hydropower engineering), Nepal has a theoretical hydropower capacity of
83,000 megawatts (MW), and its economically viable hydropower potential is 42,000 megawatts
(MW). However, as of 2021, Nepal's installed hydroelectric capacity was only approximately 1,200
MW, or roughly 2% of the country's theoretical potential. But as per the latest statistics the installed
capacity of the country is approximately 2500 MW where 100-500 MW of the power is being added
on annual basis
Keywords
Indrawati III ROR Hydropower Project