sectoral economic costs and benefits of ghg mitigation - IPCC

Garba G. Dieudonne
SMALL-SCALL HYDROPOWER
Characteristics
Size:
1-20 MW
Features: Operating Efficiency: 85-88%. Capacity factors vary from 20-90%
depending on the variability in streamflow. To produce 200 watts. Areas
with a low head will need long runs of large-diameter pipe. Also,
distances of over a few hundred feet may require construction of
expensive cabling.
Cost:
$1,000-3,000/kw. Costs vary widely with site-specific factors such as
stream-flow, geological characteristics, and extent of existing civil
structures at the site. Major costs are associated with site preparation and
equipment purchase.
Current usage: As of 1993, 20% of global electricity was generated by hydro; smallscale
hydro plants of 10 MW or less account for 4% of total hydro
generation.
Potential usage: The continents of Africa, Asia and South America have the potential for
1.4 million MW, four times as much capacity as is currently built in
North America. Less than 10% of the world’s (total large and small)
technically usable hydropower potential is being used today.
Issues Associated with Implementing Action
• Availability of resources is site specific and may not be located close to demand centers.
Climate Change Impact
Conditions for Emissions Mitigation:
• Hydropower produces no GHG emissions. Environmental impact may occur due to landuse
or siting issues.
Emission estimate:
Cost-effectiveness:
Secondary effects:
Produces no greenhouse gas emissions.
$25-38/ton of net CO 2 avoided
Produces no air pollutants.
MAINTAIN OR INCREASE PRODUCTION OF EXISTING HYDROPOWER
Characteristics
Size: Upgrading to date has increased efficiency by 1-20%. (20%
improvement was from a 1905-vintage machine). Adding generation
capacity has increased the size to as much as 165% of original design
capacity.
Features:
Operating efficiency is typically from 85-90%. Capacity factors vary
from 20-90% depending on the variability in stream-flow.
Cost:
Current usage:
Potential usage:
Not available because it is too site-specific.
As of 1993, 20% of global electricity was generated by hydro; it is
estimated that increasing efficiency by 1% in the U.S. alone would result
in an additional 3.3 billion kWh from hydropower.
In the U.S., there is the potential for an additional 21.3 GW through
increasing efficiency or generation of existing hydropower (existing U.S.
capacity, including pumped storage, is almost 92 GW).
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