LAUSR

ABSTRACT The role of renewable energy sources is increasing in recent times. Among the various renewable energy sources, small hydropower is considered the most promising energy source. For proper operation of the power plant, the annual generation and operational cost are the two main aspects. In order to maintain the economy of operation, it is necessary to minimize the operation cost with improved performance. In the present study, the operation cost data collected from such a plant have been analysed to develop correlation for run-of-river small hydropower schemes, considering installed capacity and head as cost-influencing parameters. The validation of the developed correlations has also been carried out, and it has been found that the correlation developed for operation cost can be used to determine the operation cost at the planning stage.