The economic and industrial growth of a country is mainly dependent on the sustainable and reliable supply of electric power. With the depletion of fossil fuels and serious Environmental concerns, the transition towards clean and sustainable energy technologies has become necessary. Micro-hydropower (MHP) schemes can be a good option to meet the energy demands of remote communities in developing countries, particularly in mountainous areas with good water supplies. Physical (i.e. head and flow) and economic requirements are essential for MHP scheme feasibility, but social, environmental and political factors can also be critical for the performance and longevity of the scheme after its installation.
Micro-hydropower understood as the generation between 5 and 100 kW, can be a cost-effective solution for the production of energy for small isolated communities. Positive environmental benefits, as well as socio-economic advantages of community-owned MHP schemes, are widely recognized. MHP has also been adopted as a means to foster rural development with the help of the “free energy from water”. Furthermore, communities built around streams in mountain areas often meet the necessary requirements of water head and flow. These well-documented reasons to adopt MHPs have lead developers to install schemes, but often with insufficient consideration for the performance and longevity of the scheme after its installation. Some of the social indicators show measures of the impact of electrification. All of the public facilities (the elementary school, mosque, and village hall) in both of the locations are serviced by electricity from the MHPPs, but neither project supplies lamps. Streetlights have been found to reduce the feeling of insecurity when walking the streets after dark and are appreciated, in particular, by women
This could easily be improved if the lights were fixed, but no client claims responsibility for the maintenance of the lights due to it being a public good. The availability of an electrical service that can provide better illumination is expected to help the quality of residents‟ education. Lighting permits home study, increases security, and enables the use of educational media and communications in schools, including information and communication technologies. More than 80% of respondents who had family members who attended school felt there were benefits for children's learning activities. There are no credit facilities currently available. The availability of micro-credit will help villagers be able to access electricity to pay a connection fee or to generate their business. However, it is unlikely to be available in the near future because any lending institutions would consider these people high-risk clients. The environmental dimension can be interpreted from the local to the global level. In the context of global impact, electricity is generated 100% from renewable sources, so there is zero
Social & Environmental Analysis of KPK Micro Hydro Projects and Its Future Prospects. emission of carbon dioxide. Off-grid micro-hydro energy systems that will be installed will directly displace diesel fuel oil (DFO) used in diesel power generation. In this regard, the CO2 emission factor is 0.975 tons CO2/MWh [6] will be reduced. The local impact, meanwhile, showed that all households use electricity for lighting. The preferences of residents also showed that 100% of respondents would prefer electrical energy for lighting due to it being brighter, more practical, less expensive, and not damaging to the aesthetics of the house. The share of electrified households where electricity has replaced other energy sources for cooking rice is approximately 50%. Electrification has not resulted in a significant shift from wood fuel to electricity for cooking in electrified households of KPK, regardless of the power and their habits.
More than 90% of the customers of the MHPPs used to have firewood as fuel for cooking. Firewood became the main fuel due to its abundant availability and it not requiring a fee. Using firewood for cooking is still common for households in KPK, as indicated in the 2010 national socioeconomic survey, which showed that some 50% continue to depend primarily on firewood. Rural households continue to prefer firewood because firewood is readily available in the local environment at little or no cost, except for the time spent collecting it.
However, the use of wood needs to be examined from the perspective of forest preservation as a catchment area. The use of electricity to replace kerosene for lighting and firewood for cooking can reduce CO2.In this dimension, we add another factor, „extreme weather Condition‟. The lesson learned was that MHPPs are often not operating due to natural disasters, such as landslides and floods. Sustainability of an MHPP is determined by the support of the potential of existing natural resources, especially the availability of river water as the primary Energy source for the MHPP. Energy & Power Department through Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) is doing different projects to provide electricity to the national grid and to some areas through off-grid solutions.
