Socio-economic impact at village Bohragaon. from. the installation of 115 kw Nishi Khola-II micro hydro project

Transcription

1 A Socio-economic impact at village Bohragaon from the installation of 115 kw Nishi Khola-II micro hydro project

2 Introduction: The beautiful Nishi is the part of Bohragaun village located in North-West part of Baglung District of Nepal. It is 90 km far from district centre with population of more than 5000 resides in 1042 houses. Nishi village is located at ongoing work of highway to open track along the Kali Gandaki valley to connect Baglung directly with the southern border towns. Upon completion of these road projects Nishi village will be at the crossroads of the Madhya Pahadi highway. The nearest market is Burtibang which is 1 hour drive by jeep and approximately 3-4 hours walk-byfoot. Majority of the population is involved in agriculture, however the major source of income of the area is come from people employed in oversees and in Indian Army. Village receive approx 1000 ml of annual rainfall and monsoon season start in June which lasts upto September. It has swiftly flowing perennial mountain river and fertile land. The area is multicultural and multiracial community. Majority of the population belongs to ethnic communities of Brahmin, Magar, Chhettri and Dalits. Smaller groups of Newar, Gurung and Thakali also live here. Majority of people practice Hinduism while few percentage follow Buddhism and few number of people also belongs to Islam. As the demand of energy has gone high and people are facing the scarcity of energy then they realize to utilize the river which is flowing through the side by their village. After realizing the fact a village energy committee was formed by representation of entire villagers, including all parties, group and sex. The concept of power plant first came around 4 years back, and committee sent a request to regional corresponding centre. Once the village energy committee realizes the potential of hydro power in the village area, they do inform to regional development centre to conduct a survey to estimate the demand of electricity required for the village and how much energy could be generated through the specified river. Dhaulagiri Community Regional Development Centre (DCRDC) is the authorized office for the area which is engaged in many development activities. After initial acceptance of project from regional centre, it was sent to Alternative Energy Promotion Centre (AEPC) under the Energy Sector Assistance Programme (ESAP). Finally in the year 2011, project was sanctioned from AEPC and implementation responsibility had been given to Butwal based company Oshin Power Pvt. Ltd.

3 rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Project design Technical considerations Nishi, Bohragaon, Dist-Baglung, Nepal Power generation: 113 kw Design flow: 580 lt/sec Gross head: 32 meter Turbine: Cross flow standard T15 Alternator: 225 KVA Power control: Electronic load controller T&D line: 230/400 & V Beneficiary: 1042 houses Figure: 115 kw MHP, Nishi Khola-II Socio-economic impact Life was hard for the women and men in rural Nishi II and the need of access to modern clean energy was acute, 65 percent of Nishi s people lived many years without access to grid electricity. Earlier, in most of households, families spend huge amount of their income on purchasing kerosene for lighting and diesel for milling of grain. And the very strange news is that, in village price of kerosene is equal or more than diesel price at present time it was Rs Therefore, average expenditure on purchase of kerosene oil for lighting was Rs. 360/HH as normally each family consumes 3 liter/month. A rough calculation shows that monthly saving of money, only by replacement of kerosene in each family is Rs 280. In total to the village, when we add all connected households then this figure is Rs 2,91,760/month.

4 Calculation Earlier expenditure on kerosene = Rs. 360 per month (@ Rs 120/lit, it is also be known that kerosene lamps illuminate home only for 3 hrs per day then only 3lt could fulfill their demand). Present expenditure on electricity = Rs. 80 per month (by paying Rs. 80 consumers are getting 12hrs of secured supply of electricity upto usage of 10 kwh per month). Therefore, saving can be determined by subtraction of earlier expenditure to present expenditure. i.e. Saving = Rs. 360 Rs. 80 Total monthly saving = Rs. 280/HH Similarly we can find the total saving for village by multiplying the unit household expenditure by number of total connected household. Then, total monthly saving for village = Rs Hence, total monthly saving for village by replacement of kerosene oil = Rs. 2,91,760 The figure does not limit only for a month, for per annum this could be Rs. 35,01,120 The above calculation shows huge potential of economic development of beneficiary people of Nishi Khola-II project. It has been observed that micro hydro has helped local people to improve their living standard and the social status in the society; in fact it had also increased economic condition, as they provided enormous service to the village level. Now, it can easily be seen when they settling down to evening news on their color, few have been connected to world by internet facility on computer via mobile phone. There are numbers of application come to energy committee for establishment of small enterprises like grinding mill, food processing unit, huller machine and saw mill etc. People are engaged in different work for promoting their source of income such as agriculture produce and other locally available natural resources etc. The lighting facilities have helped them to increase their working hours to combat health hazards else would have faced from kerosene wick lamp to assist their children in study affairs to improve. However with access to 12hours power villagers are now able to save money and time both also given opportunity to local service provider in the villages with more employment with their increased and efficient

5 service delivery capabilities. Students have good opportunity to read at night; with these direct benefits of the micro hydro power has resulted into a better socio-economic condition. Environmental benefit In addition to improved cooking stove and better sanitation facility rural Nepal has been changing with a very dynamic pace. Use of energy efficient illumination element CFL s are also playing big role in maximizing the energy use of lighting and other purpose. Promotion of Micro hydro technologies has helped the villages to maintain its ecological balance by checking the entry of diesel and kerosene operated machineries and appliances. Presently in the project area, villagers are consuming an average of 3 liters kerosene oil per household. The projection of household consumption at village level seems huge amount, which is 3,126 liters per month and 37,512 liters per annum. Thus, 37,512 liters of kerosene oil leads to saving of 1,12,536 kg CO 2 to the environment. The amount of CO 2 saved can give CER (Carbon Emission Reduction). The present rate of carbon credit will give almost same amount of money which has been saved by replacement of kerosene by electricity produced by MHP. It is very well know that CO 2 emission is the largest contributor to cause global warming and changes in climatic pattern. On account almost 50% role is of CO 2 for causing global warming. Calculation An average consumption of kerosene oil per household is 3 liter. Therefore, total kerosene oil consumption for the village would be 3126 liters if the number of total family is Total monthly consumption of kerosene oil = 3 lit 1042 = 3126 liters/month Similarly, annual consumption can be coined out by multiplying per month consumption by 12 months. Therefore, total annual consumption of kerosene oil = = liters By use of thumb rule for emission of CO 2 from burning of kerosene oil an approximate 3kg of CO 2 emitted from 1 liter of kerosene oil.

6 Therefore, in this context total annual kerosene oil consumption is liters. To find out the CO 2 emission, we have to multiply with three. Thus, annual CO 2 emission would be = kg of CO 2 Now, as we know 1CER is equal to 1 ton of CO 2 Therefore, to get the total CER value of emitted CO 2, total kilogram to CO 2 has to be divided by Hence, Therefore, total CER is 112.5, this can be used to get carbon credit money from the various managing organization. Example: an average rate of credit is $30 per CER, therefore for CER carbon credit could be $ 3375 or in Nepali Rupees (@ of Rs 80/$) Conclusion The efforts to promote micro-hydro power in Nishi Khola-II have substantially contributed in the development efforts of the villagers as whole. This village is just an example. MHP have without doubt brought significant socio-economic benefits to their communities. However, the living conditions of MHP communities are still very vulnerable. In addition, a number of aspects of MHP schemes still require a lot of improvement to enable the projects to run more smoothly. The MHP programme has definitely improved the economic status of the consumers. It has replaced kerosene as well as diesel and dry cell immensely. The agroprocessing, rice huller, grinder, oil-expeller and such other end-use have immense opportunity to increase the employment and then yearly income. Such type of projects are not only benefitting to the society but as well to the environment. MHP have long life and less operational issues, this makes it as one of the most suitable source of energy in Nepal. Study and analysis done by: Er. Pravesh Kafle, Santosh Kumar Gupta, Passang Tobgay

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