ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The Micro-Hydropower Sourcebook was initiated in 1981
under a Cooperative Agreement between the National
Rural Electiic Cooperative Association (NRECA) and
the Office of Energy of the U.S. Agency for Interna-
tional Development (USAID) as part of a broader USAID
effort to assist developing countries in their efforts to
harness indigenous renewable energy resources. -3e
Sourcebook has been completed with the support of the
NRECA International Foundation, a newly formed non-
profit organization.
The idea of a publication to address the needs of those
implementing micro-hydropower schemes in developing
countries had its roots in my initial work in Papua New
Guinea &NC), where Professor Jack Woodward first
introduced me to this field. During his last year as head
of the Department of Electrical and Communication
Engineering at the PNG University of Technology, he
initiated the implementation of a micro-hydropower
scheme requested by the villagers of Baindoang. When
he returned to the University of Auckland in 1977 to
head the Department of Electrical Engineering, I found
myself in the driver’s seat and had my first hands-on
experience implementing a micro-hydropower project.
At the same time, Ian Bean, an agricultura! develop-
ment officer stationed at the remote government out-
post of Pindiu, began implementing very small micro-
hydropower plants of rudimentary design in four isolated
mountain communities in PNG. While learning from his
experiences, I found his enthusiasm at meeting the chal-
lenge of adapting a sophisticated technology for use in a
setting where modern tcchnol lgy is largely unknown
contagious. The desire to assist others in meeting this
challenge has been an instrumental factor in deciding to
write this book.
During the past 5 years while I have been working part
time on the Sourcebook, numerous people around the
world have contributed in one way or another. I am par-
ticularly indebted to the following individuals who have
generously shared their time and experiences with me:
Dr.
M.
Abdullah, Dean, Faculty of Engineering of the
North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) University of
Science and Technology in Peshawar, Pakistan, who
accompanied me on several occasions on site visits to
the NWFP where he had implemented several dozen
schemes and patiently answered my innumerable ques-
tions; Andreas Bachmann, who, while with the Swiss
Association for Technical Assistance (SATA) and later
with UNICEF, was involved in a variety of renewable
energy projects and shared with me numerous publica-
tions he had prepared on his activities as well as time to
visit projects in the field; Chartdanai Chartpolrak with
the National Energy Administration (NEA), who accom-
panied me on visits to micro-hydropower schemes in
Thailand for which he was responsible; Rupert Arm-
strong Evans from Cornwall, England, who has a vast
body of experiences from his full-time involvement in
the manufacture of hydropower equipment and the
implementation of micro- and mini-hydropower schemes
in the United Kingdom and overseas; Jaime Lobo Guer-
rero of the Universidad de 10s Andes in BogotEi, who is
committed to designing technologies to make them
more accessible to those in rural areas and eagerly
shared the results of his work with me; Rik Hothersall,
who also became involvad in the field of micro-hydro-
power while teaching in PNG and kept me informed of
his efforts; Dale Nafziger, who shared his photographs
and experiences gained while working with the United
Mission to Nepal (UMN); Domingo Wong, who accom-
panied me on visits to sites that the Instituto de Recur-
SOS HidrLulicos y ElectriEicacIon (IRHE) had imple-
mented in Panama and freely shared with me project
successes as well as shortcomings; and Robert Yoder, an
engineer sensitive to the needs and problems found in
rural areas, with 8 years of experience with the UMN,
who was my guide and translator on a 2-week trek
through the nil1 region of Nepal to visit schemes imple-
mented by the UMN, contributed to the case study on
Nepal, and showed by example that micro-hydropower
technology can indeed be viable in rural areas oE devel-
oping countries.
Others have shared their experiences from implement-
ing or managing their own schemes: staff of the Alter-
nate Hydra Energy Centre in Roorkee, India, imple-
menting schemes and undertaking research in hydro-
power generation and productive end uses; Geoff Bishop,
3 mining engineer who was implementing a 220 kW
scheme to provide power to the mission station of the
Eglise Episcopale du Burundi in Buhiga and to an admin-
istrative center and agricultural school in Karuzi;
Githuki Chege, a simple farmer in Kenya with several
water-powered mills and an eagerness to try something
new; Brot Coburn, who was involved in several renew-
able energy technologies in Nepal and implemented a
micro-hydropower scheme near the base of Mt. Everest:
Bernard C&tinon, a French coop&ant, who managed the
implementation of several schemes for the Ministry of
Rural Development in Burundi; Martin Dietz, who was
involved in a cooperatively administered micro-hydro-
power scheme with the UMN in Nepal; Gary Duncan and
Mike Smith, two Peace Corps vc!unteers who were
undertaking an ambitious micro-hydropower project in a
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