GCSE Geography | Case Study: Nepal Micro-hydro Plants (Resource Management - Energy 7)

Nepal, in the Himalayas in Asia, is a low-income country with a population of 30.2 million. It has a relatively low demand for energy as most people live a traditional existence, however in recent years the country has seen economic growth and people are seeking a better quality of life. Wood is the biggest source of fuel which has led to significant deforestation as people cut down trees to use for heating and cooking, which they supplement with plants and animal manure.

The Nepalese government want to increase energy security in the country and ensure access for the whole population but this is challenging as it has no fossil fuel reserves, and the fact it is mountainous and landlocked makes it difficult to import energy sources. Currently there are some parts of the country with access to electricity, through a limited electric grid. However, this is extremely unreliable and suffers frequent blackouts that often last half the day.

Micro-hydro power

In the 1960s the World Bank helped Nepal to install micro-hydro plants to use in farming - these plants used turbines instead of diesel engines, and fuelled paddy mills that processed to rice to be sold in the market. The plants were funded by small loans from the Agricultural Bank of Nepal. In the 1980s many of these paddy mills were fitted with a small dynamo to generate electricity to power a few nearby houses. In 2000, the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre was formed to look after micro-hydropower in Nepal and defines micro-hydro power as those plants that generate 10-100 kW of power.

More than 1,000 micro-hydro plants have been built across Nepal. These micro-hydro plants are mainly off-grid isolated plants serving local villages, where they are set up and run by local communities, using basic technology and locally built turbines. They are seen as sustainable and have increased the energy supply locally, increasing energy availability for agriculture, industry, retail and homes. Darbang is a tiny isolated village, north-west of the capital of Kathmandu, and is one of five villages receiving energy from the 51 kW Ruma Khola plant (built in 2009). As a result of the micro-hydro plant several new industries have opened up in Darbang, including a noodle factory, furniture workshops, and some commercial farms. These have created many job opportunities and have boosted the local economy. In addition, the plant supplies electricity to 700 households in the region.

These sustainable small-scale schemes are providing clean renewable energy to rural communities across Nepal. They are very simple 'run-of-the-river' schemes that divert water from streams or rivers, rather than using dams and reservoirs. This has two main benefits - the lack of dams and reservoirs means that these systems are a cheap way to generate power, and they don't cause widespread social and environmental impacts like large hydroelectric (HEP) schemes do.

The diverted water then goes into a tank where the water settles, so damaging sediment can be removed before it is piped to a turbine, which then drives a generator, providing electricity to local communities.

Sustainable energy generation

The Nepal micro-hydro plants are an example of a sustainable strategy to increase energy supply. Sustainable solutions have the following features in common...

Small scale - sustainable solutions to increasing energy supply are usually small-scale - they improve the quality of life for individual communities, rather than whole regions or countries. They are easy to manage and relatively cheap.

Appropriate technology - these are small projects using basic machinery that are cheap and easy to maintain. This is better than using complex machinery that require specialist skills to operate and maintain.

Community management - sustainable energy projects need to be managed by the local community, rather than relying on other people - for example, local people build and maintain them, so it they breakdown they know how to carry out repairs.

Local decision making - local people decide what they need to improve their energy supply, where they will build their project, how big it is, etc - this is an important part of sustainable solutions - it’s not just telling the people involved what they need - therefore there is more by-in and projects are likely to be more effective.

Non-governmental organisation - NGOs have no government funding and rely on donations, and work across LICs and NEEs to improve access to safe and reliable energy supplies. NGOs are important here as they give local communities the support and skills they need to get their sustainable projects up and running.