Operation and Maintenance of

Micro Hydro Plants

Efficient and continuous running through the
life of the scheme is essential in order to
repay large capital investments.
For this, planned maintenance to minimize
breakdowns and skilled operation is
required.
Lack of planned O and M will involve big
financial burden and may cause micro hydro
scheme unviable.
 O and M Responsibilities
Designers:
Should have O and M in mind through out the design
process.
Should have an understanding of skilled levels, motivation,
availability and cost of O and M staff in order that
appropriate designs are used.
Must know the user of the scheme well in advance and
write the O and M schedule for them specifying the task of
resident O and M staff, local workshops, manufacturers etc.
Must choose appropriate equipment which can be repaired
easily by local workshops.
Must arrange and supervise proper training courses for O
and staff and write the training manuals.
Installers:
Will have supervised specifications to work to in case of
large scheme.
Will be responsible for detailed design and quality control
in case of smaller scheme.
Should be present during a quality check stage and during
commissioning and testing stage and should be bound by
contract to make good any inadequacies.
Should provide full O and M documentation associated
with special equipment.
Should conduct formal training courses for operators in
presence of design engineer.
Users:
Responsible for O and M duty and recruitment of O and M
staff.
Should implement O and M schedule and make sure that
spare parts are replaced and stocked in time.
Should recruit and pay the wages to O and M staff.
Should implement the training schedule specified by the
design engineer.
Should make sure that the recommendation of the design
engineer are followed by the local workshop in case of
complex repairs.
More complex repairs should be referred to the manufactures
( eg. Repair of the runner)
 O and M Documents
Operation manuals
Component manuals
Installers manual
Maintenance schedule
Repair manuals
Log books
Training manuals
 Micro hydro fault diagnosis
(pg. 335-344)
Faults, causes and remedy related to:
Turbines
Alternators
Governors, Electronic load controller
Switch boards etc
 Testing and Commissioning of Micro
hydro schemes (pg 345-348)
Last stage of micro hydro installation
Pressure for contractors and purchasers for desired performance
tests
Performance tests to be carried out and recorded carefully by
trained personnel with regard to the following:
Head works
Electromechanical Equipment
Alternators
Loading machines on load
Taking readings
Setting up trips
 Some issues of Micro hydro
Reliability
As operated as isolated plants, failure may cause total
interruption of supply.
Mini grid or Grid connectivity
Impact of grid connections needs to be carefully studied.
Funding
Can be viable only through grants, soft loans or subsidy.
Subsidy mechanism
Proper mechanism should be devised to make the owners
responsible for its best use.
End use selection
Appropriate end use only can pay off the scheme in time