Winner: EcoInnovation for the Mohari Village Micro-hydro Project in Nepal
This entry was a project for Swiss Charity RIDS to provide a hydro solution in a very remote Nepalese village at 10,000ft (3,000m) above sea level who have never had substantive electric power before..
RIDS have been working out a new design approach to hydro power projects in the area, based on learning from the shortcomings of the previous projects. Most previous systems in Nepal use larger AC-direct turbines that typically exploit low head and high flow sites.
This system used 6 x PowerSpout PLT HP 300V turbines as they are an ideal solution for modern rural electrification projects on a modular approach using multiple turbines, and battery storage to optimise energy usage and provide for peak AC loads.
Michael Lawley of EcoInnovation (makers of PowerSpout turbines) travelled to Nepal to oversee the installation and commissioning of the turbines.
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Runner-up: Vector Powersmart for the Niue Renewable Energy Project
Vector Powersmart (formerly known as PowerSmart) has completed many projects in the South Pacific since 2012, however none of these projects have involved the level of difficulty of this project with the need to integrate existing and new renewable energy infrastructure while working on a live network. This brought a number of challenges, but the result is that now 28.6% of Niue’s energy needs (measured since May 2019) are being met by renewable generation, saving approximately 130,000L of diesel‚ setting Niue up well to achieve its goal of 80% renewable energy by 2025.
What was done?
There were four parts of the project;
Essentially it is the central brain talking with the original diesel generators, original and new solar arrays and the BESS to manage Niue’s electricity network. All of this had to be done while working on a live network.
Results:
Through the addition of an EMS, BESS and more solar to the network Niue can often operate without any diesel generators running for up to 10 hours at a time - on average the generators are switched off for 5-7 hours per day. Over the last 5 months the total integrated system has resulted in 28.6% of Niue’s electricity coming from solar renewable sources, saving over 130,000 litres of diesel.
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