Guide on How to Develop a Small Hydropower Plant (Part1 )

This Guide is an updated and adapted version of the publication "Layman’s Guidebook on How to Develop a Small Hydro Site", published by ESHA - the European Small Hydropower Association – in 1998 in the frame of the European Commission DG-TREN (Directorate General for Transport and Energy) ALTENER programme.

This guide is divided into nine chapters and covers the basic concepts, meaning of definitions and technological issues to be addressed.

Chapter 1 – Introduces basic concepts, such as the definition of small hydropower, types of schemes, ways of exploiting the water resource available and gives a general overview of the guide’s contents,

Chapters 2 through to 9 – describe the essential steps to be followed to evaluate a proposed scheme before deciding whether to proceed to a detailed feasibility study.