Analysis for cost estimation of low head run-of-river small hydropower schemes

Among all the renewable energy sources, small hydropower is considered to be one of the most promising. To take investment decision for the development of small hydropower projects, technical feasibility and financial viability are considered to be the foremost requirements. In the present study, an attempt has been made to develop correlations for cost of the run-of-river small hydropower projects under low head considering head and capacity as cost-influencing parameters. The cost of the projects has been determined by considering the quantity and the prevailing market price of each item for all the components of the projects. To verify the validity of the analytical results, the cost of projects determined based on developed correlations is compared with the cost of recently developed projects. It has been found that the developed correlation for cost may be used reasonably for cost estimates at the planning stage of development of such projects.