Study of Hydroelectric Power Plant Potential of

Mahakam River Basin East Kalimantan Indonesia

Yuliana Susilowati Pudji Irasari

Research Center for Geotechnology
Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Bandung, Indonesia
yuli006@lipi.go.id
Research Center for Electrical Power
and Mechatronic
Indonesian Institute of Sciences
Bandung, Indonesia
pudji.irasari@lipi.go.id

Abstract— East Kalimantan Province will host the future capital

city of Indonesia that will be built on the border of Kutai
Kartanegara and North Penajam Paser regencies. Its
construction is projected to start in 2020, and conclude in 2024.
Developing a new city without prioritising environmental
protection would risk creating the same problems plaguing
Jakarta. Jakarta’s air is polluted not only by a poorly planned
transportation sector, but also from the many coal-fired power
plants around Jakarta. The new capital is designed as a smart
and green city. It will be support by the renewable energy, not
relies on coal power as Jakarta. It is very important to study the
potential resources of renewable energy in East Kalimantan.
The aim of this research is to study the possibility to develop
micro-hydro power plant in seven location along Mahakam
River to substitute the existing PLN's diesel generators. The
power estimation that can be generated by the hydro power in
the seven location exceeds the peak load of each PLN's diesel
generators. It means that all of existing PLN's diesel generators
can be substituted by the micro-hydro electric power plant. It
gives a figure that the potential of Mahakam river is feasible for
hydropower generation from the potential point of view.
Keywords— hydroelectric power plant, low head micro hydro,
watershed management.
I. INTRODUCTION
East Kalimantan Province will host the future capital city
of Indonesia that will be built on the border of Kutai
Kartanegara and North Penajam Paser regencies. Its
construction is projected to start in 2020, and conclude in
2024. Developing a new city without prioritising
environmental protection would risk creating the same
problems plaguing Jakarta. Jakarta’s air is polluted not only
by a poorly planned transportation sector, but also from the
many coal-fired power plants around Jakarta. The new capital
is designed as a smart and green city. It will be support by the
renewable energy, not relies on coal power as Jakarta. It is
very important to study the potential resources of renewable
energy in East Kalimantan.
Mahakam River, the largest river in East Kalimantan, with
a catchment area of approximately 77,100 km2 is one of the
promising resources for the hydro power plant. Unfortunately,
until now most of the PLN’s generators in East Kalimantan
area is still use the diesel generators with the high operational
cost and not connected to the PLN's grid. A lack of access to
electricity has been identified as one of the most significant
factors hindering rural people of East Kalimantan, from
escaping poverty. Micro Hydro power plants (with power
capacities below 100 kW) are one of the preferred options for
providing electricity to villages especially that are not
connected to the PLN’s grid.
The aim of this research is to study the possibility to
develop micro-hydro power plant in seven location along
Mahakam River to substitute the existing PLN's diesel
generators. The power estimation that can be generated by the
hydro power in the seven location exceeds the peak load of
each PLN's diesel generators. It means that all of existing
PLN's diesel generators can be substituted by the micro-hydro
electric power plant. It gives a figure that the potential of
Mahakam river is feasible for hydropower generation from the
potential point of view.
II. MAHAKAM RIVER BASIN
Mahakam River flows 980 km from the district of Long
Apari in the highlands of Borneo, to its mouth at the Makassar
Strait. The city of Samarinda, the provincial capital of East
Kalimantan, lies along the river 48 km (30 mi) from the river
mouth.
The Mahakam River is the largest river in East
Kalimantan, Indonesia, with a catchment area of
approximately 77,100 km2. The river originates in Cemaru
from where it flows south-eastwards, meeting the River
Kedang Pahu at the city of Muara Pahu. From there, the river
flows eastward through the Mahakam lakes region, which is a
flat tropical lowland area surrounded by peat land. Thirty
shallow lakes are situated in this area, which are connected to
the Mahakam through small channels. Downstream of the
connection with the Semayang and Melintang lakes, the
Mahakam meets three other main tributaries - the rivers
Belayan, Kedang Kepala, and Kedang Rantau - and flows
south-eastwards through the Mahakam delta distributaries, to
the Makassar Strait.
The sattelite remote sensing data (Figure 1) and landuse of
Mahakam Watershed (Figure 2) shows that the Upstream of
Mahakam River is cover by rain forest. Unfortunatelly the
Midle Stream and the Down Stream of Mahakam River is
cover by outcrop and abandon area. The existing landuse is
the key parameter for the water flow. The study of potential
hydropower of Mahakam River is base on the existing water
flow which is related to the existing landuse in the watershed.
Terrain map (Figure 3) and elevation map (Figure 4) of
Mahakam Watershed shows that Mahakam watershed is
mostly the plateu. Seven locations of existing PLN's diesel
generator is characterized by the low head and large flow river
system. The characteristic of Mahakam River with the low
head and large flow will be suitable for the Low Head Micro-
Hydro Technology. It has been identified several Low Head
Micro-Hydro Technology that can be used in Mahakam River
Flow to generate the electricity supply for the society.

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE


Fig. 1. Remote Sensing Satellite of Mahakam River Basin
and location of Existing Diesel Generators.
Fig. 2. Terrain Map of Mahakam Chachement Area and
Location of Existing Diesel Generators
Fig. 3. Elevation Map of Mahakam Chachement Area and
Location of Existing Diesel Generatos
Fig. 4. Land Use Map of Mahakam River Basin.
Seven location of the existing PLN's diesel generators is
located in the upstream and midle stream of Mahakam River.
The water flow of this point is supplied by the upstream of the
Mahakam watershed wich is covered by the heavy forest and
produces the large flow.
Upstream part of Mahakam river basin (Upstream of Long
Iram), the river is flowing in tertiary rocks. Between Long
Iram and Muara Kaman (middle Mahakam area) the river is
flowing in quaternary alluvium, while in the downstream area
between Muara Kaman and the coast including the Mahakam
delta, tertiary rocks are again present.
The presence of the large delta is explained by the
formation and rejuvenation of the hilly region near Samarinda.
The Mahakam catchment is around the equator. According to
Köppen climate classification, this area belongs to type Af
(tropical rainforest) that has a minimum temperature ≥18 °C
and precipitation of the driest month in normal year ≥60 mm.
The sustainability of hydropower generation at this point
is depend on the continuity of the minimum debit of the water
flow. The watershed management and the continuity of
minimum debit of Mahakam River will be the key factor of
the hydropower sustainability. In term of the hydro power
sustainability, the integrated spatial planning and forest
conservation will be the important factor.
III. HYDROPOWER SCHEMES
The main components of a typical hydropower plant
include a dam, reservoir, penstocks (pipe), a powerhouse and
an electrical power substation. Conventional hydropower
plants use one way water flow to generate electricity. There
are three main types of hydroelectric scheme that can be
applied to the Mahakam River, i.e. Run of the river, Diversion
or Canal, and Storage [2]. Run-of-river hydropower diverts
some of a river’s flow to power electricity-producing turbines,
returning the water downstream of the turbines (Fig. 5)
Intake extracts desired water from the river by
constructing a weir and alters variable stream flow to the
controlled water delivery system required to generate power.
An intake should have as less maintenance and repair as
possible and possibility to remove piled up sediment. The
conveyance flow the water from intake to the power house. It
could be made from pipe, called penstock, or an open canal.
Penstocks give more flexible construction as they can be
above ground or buried. Power house is a building in which
the turbine, electric generator and electrical panel are placed.
Water flowing to the turbine is converted to the rotational
energy of the shaft connected directly or indirectly to the
generator shaft. Furthermore, generator converts it to electric
power to be distributed to the consumers.
Fig. 5. Layout of a typical run-of river SHP project
 A diversion or canal system diverts water from its original
river or stream towards the turbine through the use of a long
penstock or an open feeder canal, called a leat. The flow in the
river or stream channel is altered considerably. Whereas a
storage scheme utilizes impoundment of water upstream of the
power plant using a dam or the use of an existing lake or loch,
which allows the complete control over the flow of water
downstream. The two last schemes are not suitable for
Mahakam River applicaton.
Hydropower Plant Classification can be divided by the
following ranges: low head (3 to 20 m), medium head (20 to
60 m), and high head which needs more 60 m head. Higher
water heads correspond to higher efficiency of hydraulic
turbines, even in some cases the efficiency could come close
to 90 percent. The characteristics of the Mahakam River is
low head and large debit. There are several type of low head
turbin such as; Hydrokinetic turbines, An Archimedes screw,
A Kaplan turbine, In a crossflow turbine.
Hydrokinetic turbines work on the same principle as wind
turbines, where kinetic energy of the streaming fluid is utilized
to rotate an electromechanical energy converter and
subsequently generate electricity. Nevertheless, the generated
power of a hydrokinetic turbine is approximately 800 times
higher than that of a wind turbine. This is due to the high
density of water, that is 1000 kg/m3 and the wind is 1.223
kg/m3. River turbines with augmentation channels (to elevate
the total volumetric water flow and subsequent power output)
could be designed for effective water velocities of 1.75–2.25
m/s or even higher, depending on site resources. The
waterwheel is the oldest hydropower system component and
still available at this time. However it is not very practical for
generating electricity due to its slow speed and bulky
structure.
An Archimedes screw consists of an inner cylindrical
shaft, around which one or more helical surfaces (flights) are
wrapped orthogonal to the cylinder surface (Figure ). Water
flows into the top of the screw, causing it to turn. Available
data show that the efficiency of screw turbines are in the range
of 60% - 80%.
A Kaplan turbine is a propeller-type water turbine with
adjustable blades inside a tube. It is an axial-flow turbine,
which means that the flow direction does not change as it
crosses the rotor. There are several types of Kaplan turbine
namely Kaplan gear turbine, Horizontal axis bulb or pit
Kaplan turbine, Horizontal axis “S” type Kaplan turbine and
Vertical axis small Kaplan turbine with elbow draft tube.
In a crossflow turbine, water, coming from a river or a
pipe, is conveyed toward the impeller, housed in a special
production chamber by a duct element with a rectangular
section. A distributor may be present to partialize the
duct section according to the actual discharge value. The
impeller has the shape of an empty wheel, consisting of two
circular plates linked by a series of blades, shaped so that the
jet is directed towards the center of the wheel and then again
crossing other blades before exiting. The jet then passes
through the impeller and this is the origin of the name “cross-
flow”. The impeller is connected to an asynchronous
generator for the electricity production[9]. Constructions of
the most types of low head turbines described above are
depicted in Fig. 6.
Typical efficiencies of different turbine types are shown in
Fig. 7. An important point to note is that the Pelton, Crossflow
and Kaplan turbines retain very high efficiencies when
running below design flow; in contrast the efficiency of the
Francis turbine falls away sharply if run at below half its
normal flow, and fixed pitch propeller turbines perform very
poorly except above 80% of full flow.
Plants functioning with Pelton turbines are economically
advantageous even with powers less than 5 kW, with Francis
turbines the minimum powers are around 50 kW, whereas the
minimum powers that are economically interesting for Kaplan
type turbines are greater than about 100 kW. This means that,
where it is possible to create low power plants with average
specific energies and low flow rates, it is not possible to use
Francis or Kaplan turbines in sites with the small head and low
average flow rates.
The drawback of low head hydropower is the requirement
of larger size of the turbine to carry more flow. Whereas when
it comes to very low head sites (below 3.2 m), the complex
civil structures is required. A statistical and mathematical
survey developed by MJ2 Technology on hundreds of low
head sites shows that there is a direct link between head
reduction and concrete volume rise. Considering a constant
output, if the head drops from 3.2 m to 1.4 m, the
corresponding concrete volume required is multiplied by 5,
while the runner diameter of the turbine is doubled. Kosnik
[3] gives an estimation that to be cost-competitive with fossil
fuels, renewables need to be closer to $2,000 per kW.
One of the main criteria for selecting the suitable types of
turbine for hydropower plant applications in the Mahakam
River is that the technology and manufacturing have been
mastered in Indonesia. PT. Heksa Prakarsa Teknik, CV.
Lusika and CV. Cihanjuang Inti Teknik, the hydropower
system manufacturers located in Bandung has been reviewed
as a supplier of hydropower system manufacturers. They
produce the same types of hydro turbine those are propeller,
crossflow and pelton with the range of capacity of 500 W –
500 kW. Referring to the data, hydro power potential
assessment is done based on the low head hydro turbines
instead of hydrokinetic turbines.
Fig. 6. Low head turbines: (a) Hydrokinetic turbine (Helical),
(b) Screw turbine, (c) Vertical Siphon Kaplan, (d) Bulb
turbine, (e) Crossflow, (f) MJ2 Technologies [10]
 Low head hydro turbines utilize mostly the potential
component having high pressure and relatively small water
ducts to flow the water into the turbine installed in the dam
body. The pressure is then converted into mechanical shaft
power which can be used to drive an electric generator. The
output power of the hydro system is given by:

(Watt) (1)
(2)
where = water density = 998 kg/m3, g = gravitation =
9.81 m/s2, Q = debit = m3/s, H = net head (m), = system
efficiency (assumed to be 0.7), v = flow rate (m/s) and A =
Figure 7. Part-flow efficiencies cross-sectional area of the flow (m2)
Another variable should be determined is the channel
width Wcan. Here, its value is assumed to be 15 m. The
IV. RESULT AND DISCUSSION hydropower estimation is shown in Table 1.
The estimated hydro power potential is to find out the
sufficiency of the generated electrical power to substitute the
existing diesel generators along the Mahakam River. The Table 1. Hydropower Estimation
DATA OF THE RIVER
calculation conducted based on the river depth during dry PEAK
FLO H(min) H(ave) H(net) Acan Q P
NO LOCATION
season or when the water recedes. To ensure the sustainability LOA WIDT
H
DEPT
H
W
RAT
(m) (m) (m) (m) (m3) (kW)
D(
of water, the channel depth is taken at the lower minimum kW )
(m) (m) E
(m/s)
value of the river. When the river flow is dammed, the water 1 ULD Muara Muntai 580 40 5 - 10 0.5 5 7.5 5.5 113 56 1514
level will rise according to the height of the weir. In this study, 2 ULD Penyinggahan 165 40 5 - 10 0.5 5 7.5 5.5 113 56 1514

the increase in water level is approached from the average 3 ULD Tanjung Isuy 205 40 5 - 10 0.5 5 7.5 5.5 113 56 1514
4 ULD Muara Pahu 279 40 5 - 10 0.5 5 7.5 5.5 113 56 1514
river depth during dry season H(ave), (Figure 8). 5 ULD Long Iram 420 40 5 - 10 0.75 5 7.5 5.5 113 84 2272
6 ULD Kelumpang 34 20 5 - 10 0.67 5 7.5 5.5 113 75 2029
H(net) is measured from the water level to the turbine 7 ULD Datah Bilang 136 25 5 - 10 0.52 5 7.5 5.5 113 59 1575

shaft. For hydropower estimation, it is assumed that the space

between the turbine shaft to the bottom of the channel (y) is 2
meter for sludge and turbine diameter consideration. Cross
section of the channel with the approximate position of the
turbine is shown in Figure 9.
Figure 8. Determining H(net) for hydropower estimation
Figure 9. Cross section of the channel with the approximate
position of the turbine
The generated hydro power for each analyzed location
exceeds the peak load of each diesel generator. In practical,
the dimension of channel may be made as needed. Therefore,
the estimated powers are not the fix values. In general, Table
1 gives a figure that the potential of the Mahakam river is
feasible for hydropower generation from the potential point of
view.
V. CONCLUSSIONS
Seven existing diesel generators wich is operated along the
Mahakam River has been studied to be substitute by the
micro-hydro electric power plant. The estimation of the
generated hydro power for each analyzed location exceeds the
peak load of each exixting diesel generator. It means that all
of existing diesel generators can be substitute by the micro-
hydro electric power plant. It gives a figure that the potential
of the Mahakam river is feasible for hydropower generation
from the potential point of view.
In this study, one of the main criteria for selecting the
suitable types of turbine for hydropower plant applications in
the Mahakam River is that the technology and manufacturing
have been mastered in Indonesia. PT. Heksa Prakarsa Teknik,
CV. Lusika and CV. Cihanjuang Inti Teknik, the hydropower
system manufacturers located in Bandung has been reviewed
as a supplier of hydropower system manufacturers. They
produce the same types of hydro turbine those are propeller,
crossflow and pelton with the range of capacity of 500 W –
500 kW. Referring to the data, hydro power potential
assessment is done based on the low head hydro turbines
instead of hydrokinetic turbines.
 The sustainability of hydropower generation along the
Mahakam river depens on the continuity of the water flow.
That’s why, the spatial planning and watershed management
of Mahakam River will be the key factor of the hydropower
sustainability. The objective of the spatial planning is to have
the developed area, with the community organizes itself for
management and maintenance of the micro-hydro power plant
and protects the intake forest for sustainability of the water
supply in term of the sustainability of hydro electric power
plant.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
We are grateful to Dr. Bambang Edhi Leksono and Ir. Eko
Harsono for their contribution in discussing and providing the
secondary data and water resources analysis.

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