Micro-Hydropower Plant - Energy Solution Used in Rural Areas, Mozambique

Expanding electricity access and energy in rural area in center of Mozambique is a challenge. Micro-hydropower plant is one of the solutions to provide electricity. However, selecting the power plant size and the turbine type in designing hydropower system is critical. Giving specific site characteristics of head and flow to find specific turbine is necessary to select appropriate turbine. The main objective of this paper is to develop a methodology to select the best turbine that can be used in the micro-hydropower plant at Chimenza river - Manica in Mozambique. Flow duration curve and exceedance probability equation was successfully used to characterize the water flow of the river. The accurate measurement of the head and flow discharge will determine the best type of power plant size and turbine type. According to the result, the optimum flow was 0.29 m3/s combined with head. The appropriate turbine for this scheme is Pelton type with efficiency of 0.85% and the power capacity will be 157.2 kW.