Small and Micro Hydropower Plants Innovative Design and Engineering

Small and Micro Hydropower Plants: Innovative Design and Engineering is a guidebook for reliable and sustainable solutions relating to the design of small scale hydroelectric systems. It presents the most recent knowledge on all aspects of small hydropower engineering, thus forming a comprehensive collection of modern and innovative technologies and practices. Different types of weir and water intakes are discussed, along with hydrology aspects like discharge estimation and measurement. The book explores the latest advances in turbine, gear boxes, belt drives, generators and remote control, critically assessing and comparing their viability for commercial application.

Finally, the book considers social aspects like community negotiation, environmental aspects like ecological flow, fish bypassing and climate change impacts. Engineering researchers, advanced graduate students and practitioners working in small and micro hydropower will find this book to be a valuable resource on designing and improving these systems.

• Presents the latest advances on small and micro hydropower, including the most recently available technologies, engineering concepts, control systems, impact assessment methodologies, economics and policy aspects
• Examines real-life design and global implementation cases
• Discusses factors for the sustainability of hydropower plants, such as the impact of climate change and community mediation

Bernhard Pelikan is a lecturer and researcher in the Institute of Water Management, Hydrology and Hydraulic Engineering of the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna. He is also a legal advisor for hydropower exploitation and flood protection, lecturer at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, University of Applied Sciences Vienna and at TGM Vienna. For over three decades he has been the CEO of an engineering and consulting company focusing on small hydropower development. He currently owns, manages and run an Austrian small hydropower plant along with a partner.