Prefeasibility studies for Mini Hydro Power Generation on Kintampo Falls

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2014-08-27
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Energy demand is increasing worldwide amid rising fuel cost and environmental pollution. Small Hydro Power has emerged as alternative source of energy that can be easily harnessed with minimal environmental impact. Since 1980, several studies have been conducted in Ghana on potential sites for Small hydro power schemes. This thesis assesses the prospects of developing Randal Falls or Kintampo Falls into a mini hydropower scheme for power generation. Randal Falls has the potential for producing electricity by using hydro turbo – generator. Area rainfall method using rainfall and temperature data of the catchment area was used to estimate the flow rate and the available head measured using a GPS receiver. The results of the work reported here indicate that the proposed site has a gross head of 50.93 m and a designed flow of 0.32 m3/s which is available 95% throughout the year. Crossflow turbine was selected as the preferred turbine with specific speed of 62, runner diameter of 380 mm and runner length of 140 mm. An 8 poles induction motor was selected as the generator with estimated size of 134 KVA and rotational speed of 750 rpm. The estimated power produced was 114 KW. RETScreen module was used to analyze the financial viability of the project. Annual energy production estimated from the module was 880 MWh and the anticipated revenue to be generated is $90,830.The initial cost of the project estimated by RETScreen was $395,000. From the module, the simple payback of the project was 4.9 years.
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A thesis submitted to the Graduate School, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science, 2014
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