Small hydropower — design, construction, operation

Hydropower without flooding land.

Design, construction and operation of small hydropower plants (SHP): modular low‑head solutions — with no reservoir and no land acquisition.

See the four technologies Discuss a site

HeadUp to 5 m

Payback3–6 years

Construction costUp to −40%

Global Energy Consultants, Inc. Scroll 42.0981° N / 88.2829° W — West Dundee, IL

// Headline figures Modular low-head schemes

−40%

Construction cost
of the plant, up to

3–6 yrs

Payback period
10–15 years conventionally

5 m

Head at the modular
overflow weir, up to

0 ha

Land taken out of use
for a reservoir

These figures follow from the modular solutions and depend on the conditions of the particular site and watercourse.

// The key difference

Hydropower that stays inside the river channel

Three properties carry the whole approach: a modular overflow weir working at low head, generating units that need no dam, and land that is never taken out of use.

// 01 — Impoundment

Head of up to 5 m

The modular overflow weir works at low head — the backwater stays within the river channel.

5 m Maximum head

// 02 — Generating

No dam required

In‑stream, vortex and containerised units; a diversion or bypass channel.

0 Powerhouse buildings

// 03 — Land

Land stays in use

With no reservoir there is no land acquisition and no resettlement.

0 ha Taken for a reservoir

// What a reservoir costs you Scope comparison

A reservoir is a scope item, not a side effect.

Conventional impoundment stores water above the natural channel. That single decision opens its own scope: land to acquire across the flooded area, people to resettle, an embankment or concrete dam to build as the impoundment front, and a separate sectional spillway with hydromechanical equipment to operate it.

A modular overflow weir working at up to 5 m of head holds the backwater inside the channel. None of those items are opened, because there is nothing above the channel to hold.

Fig. 01 — Proposed: in-channel weirHead ≤ 5 m

The backwater stays inside the banks the river already occupies. No land is taken, and nobody is resettled.

Fig. 02 — Conventional: reservoirAbove the channel

The head is bought by raising water over the surrounding land. The reservoir has to be acquired, cleared and, where people live, resettled.

Scope, line by line

Conventional scheme — what the scope contains In-channel weir — what the scope contains

01ConventionalA reservoir held above the natural channelIn-channel weirBackwater held inside the river channel, head up to 5 m

02ConventionalLand acquisition across the flooded areaIn-channel weirNo land acquisition

03ConventionalResettlement of the population affectedIn-channel weirNo resettlement

04ConventionalEmbankment dam or concrete dam as the impoundment frontIn-channel weirOne modular overflow weir, serving as impoundment front and spillway at once

05ConventionalSectional spillway of conventional profile, with hydromechanical equipmentIn-channel weirNo separate spillway structure

06ConventionalFlat service, bulkhead or radial gates — with the service gantries and winches to work themIn-channel weirNo hydromechanical equipment

07ConventionalPowerhouse with a building and erection baysIn-channel weirTurbine-generator block without a building, passing floods over itself

08ConventionalFish passage facilities, plus fish protection screens at the intakeIn-channel weirFish passage facilities — still required

Row 08 does not go away. Fish passage facilities cannot be dispensed with, and their cost can reach 50% of the total project cost. The comparison table on the technology page carries that as a +50% line rather than leaving it out.

The weir is not automatically cheaper than a dam as a structure: against a conventional impoundment front the comparison carries it at +10% / −10%, depending on the site. What it removes is everything the reservoir brings with it.

60–100%

Of the cost of a conventional scheme, depending on conditions

See the full solution comparison

// Outcome of the approach Key effects

−40% of construction cost, 80% of the work done in a factory

Four figures follow from the modular solutions. Each of them moves because a structure has been removed at the design stage, not because a supplier has been squeezed.

04 figures

−40%

Of construction cost, up to

80%

Of works carried out in the factory

1 year

Design duration, at most

3–6 years

Payback period

These figures follow from the modular solutions and depend on the conditions of the particular site and watercourse. For conventional solutions the payback period is 10–15 years.

// Strengths and limitations Stated before you ask

Three strengths and two limitations

Efficiency depends on the watercourse, and fish passage cannot be dispensed with. Both belong in the first conversation about a site, not the last one.

Strengths

From the design stage, structures that add to the cost of design, construction and operation are removed rather than optimised.

Fewer items of equipment, and less variety among them, shortens design and construction time and lowers operating costs.

Operation of the scheme, or of a cascade, can be fully automated: a large reduction in staff, up to unmanned operation on site.

Limitations

Efficiency, and therefore the capacity generated, depends heavily on watercourse conditions — from 40% to 95%.

Fish passage facilities cannot be dispensed with. Their cost can reach 50% of the total project cost.

// Contact Response within 2 business days

Discuss a specific site and watercourse

Send the list of sites, the hydrological data and the target capacity, and the reply comes back with an assessment of what the site can carry.

// Head office — USA 510 Market Loop, Ste 204
West Dundee, IL 60118, USA +1 (847) 322-6302

// Moscow office Moscow-City Business Center
12 Presnenskaya Embankment, office 505
Moscow, 123112, Russia +7 919 877-18-79

One contact form serves both business lines: choose “Small hydropower” as the type of request and send the three inputs — the list of sites, the hydrological data and the target capacity.

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