Current Activities

Annex II: Small-Scale Hydropower (2000 - Present)

Advances in fully automated hydropower installations and reductions in manufacturing costs have made small scale hydropower increasingly attractive. The task force on Small Scale Hydropower (Annex II) is active in several areas. 

• Assessment tools & methodologies, financing, economic risk & sensitivity analysis and more 
• Website with international database of small-hydro data
• Analysis of government policies & experiences, what works & what doesn’t

Website

The task force on Small-Scale Hydropower (Annex II) runs a very successful web-site, International Small–Hydro Atlas, which has approximately 100,000 hits per month.

This is an international database which facilitates the development of new small hydro projects of more than 50 kW and less than 10MW installed capacity. It provides assessment tools and methodologies for potential and developed sites, GIS searching capabilities, country profiles, international contacts for small hydro, planning resources and more.

Workshops

The Annex conducts workshops at hydro conferences, and supports seminars and training programmes with organisations such as ESHA, UNIDO, IN-SHP, NRCan. Notice of these workshops is posted on the website.

Reports

In Phase 1, Annex representatives from nine countries (Canada, China, Finland, France, Japan, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) worked cooperatively to produce four reports:

• Assessment Methods for Small-hydro Projects (2000) 964kb

A critical review of international computer-based assessment tools and methodologies for reconnaissance, power analysis, pre-feasibility analysis, site evaluation, investigation and design of small hydro projects.

• Assessment of Further Opportunities for R&D - Summary Report (2000) 99kb

In October 1998 the Small-Hydro programme of the IEA Hydropower Agreement organised a Workshop in Nice, France. The purpose of the Workshop was to assess further opportunities for international small-hydro R&D. The report includes a synthesis of the proceedings of the workshop, a listing of some of the papers presented and a summary of recommendations for future R&D.

• Financing of Small-hydro Projects (2000) 113kb

This report describes methods for financing small-scale hydropower projects. Five main topics are covered: the general aspects of financing of small hydropower projects, including the key players in the financing process; alternative financing strategies including a discussion of the different routes of financing, and factors affecting the choice of strategy; a brief discussion of financing conditions; the key points in successful financing; and possible improvements to the financing situation.

• Economic Risk and Sensitivity Analyses for Small Scale Hydropower Projects (2000) 269kb

Before a developer / investor decides to realise a hydropower-project, it is essential to have a total overview of the economy of the project. This includes not only the expected costs and benefits, but also the sensitivity i.e. the corresponding economical risk and uncertainty. By presenting different methods of calculating and illustrating the risks and uncertainty, the report aims to make a useful contribution to the economic evaluation of hydropower projects, and to contribute to the dialogue between developers, investors and financing institutions.

More information

For more information on the Small-Scale Hydropower Annex, please contact:
Kearon Bennett
Operating Agent and Secretary Annex II
President Ottawa Engineering Limited
Priscilla Street, Ottawa, CANADA
Tel: +1 6138208234
Email: kbennett@oel-hydrosys.ca