Water Power and Dam Construction - Issue November 2009

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WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER 2009 11

INSIGHT

The scope of the project, however, will

remain unchanged. A total of 200MW

of generating capacity will be installed at

Memve’ele on the Ntem River, with first

electricity due by December 2014. At the

conclusion of the preliminary agreement,

the minister of energy and water resources,

Michael Ngako Tomdio, commented: “I

hope everything will be done rapidly so that

Sino Hydro Corporation can begin work at

the latest early next year.”

New transmission infrastructure will

also be developed by the Chinese ﬁrm in

order to connect the scheme to the rest of

the national power grid and also to neigh-

bouring states. Yaoundé has a set a target

of boosting national generating capac-

ity to 2GW by 2015, with much of the

additional output provided by Memve’ele

and other new hydro and gas ﬁred power

plants used to generate export revenues. It

is believed that Equatorial Guinea, Gabon

and the Republic of Congo could all import

Cameroonian hydroelectricity, although

some output will also be used to boost sup-

plies to the south of Cameroon.

Memve’ele project director Dieudonné

Bisso has pledged that a comprehensive

social and environment impact assessment

will be carried out, with all displaced and

affected people given support to resettle.

He said that many of those affected would

be offered employment in the construction

phase of the venture. Project ﬁnance of CFA

365B (US$814M) is expected to be provided

by the Export Import Bank of China (Exim

Bank China), conﬁrming that Sinohydro’s

participation is supported by Beijing.

Regular readers of IWP&DC will be

aware of a number of other similar Chinese

deals in Africa. Sinohydro itself is already

developing the long awaited 400MW Bui

scheme in Ghana, has held talks with the

government of Zambia over the expansion

of the Kariba Dam in Zambia, and

is con-

structing the 300MW

Tekeze Hydro Power

Project (THPP)

in Ethiopia, but it is not the

only Chinese company interested in Africa’s

hydro potential. China International Water

& Electric Corporation is a member of a

consortium developing the 1250MW

Merowe Dam in Sudan, while China

National Machinery & Equipment Import

& Export Corporation is building two

smaller dams in Gabon.

China does have a track record of invest-

ing in Africa. Beijing helped to fund a series

of projects in the 1970s as part of a Cold

War diplomatic strategy to support coun-

tries with left wing governments. As a result,

Chinese money and manpower constructed

the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara)

to reduce both countries dependence on

Apartheid era South Africa. Beijing’s interest

in the region waned during the 1980s and

1990s but has re-emerged in recent years.

Massive increases in commodity prices

between 2004 and 2008 were in large part

fuelled by sustained Chinese annual economic

growth of 10%, as the volume of shipments

of hydrocarbons and mining products to

China increased relentlessly. Chinese compa-

nies have often been unable to compete with

the established international oil and mining

ﬁrms that dominate many African economies

but by tying infrastructural investment to

raw materials concessions, they are able to

offer something beyond the deals provided

by their western competitors.

Oil or copper concessions are sometimes

explicitly tied to infrastructural investment

but more often the connection between the

two is implicit. Wide ranging intergovern-

mental agreements between Beijing and

African states are often agreed on a bilat-

eral basis, to be followed by more speciﬁc

deals between those African nations and

Chinese companies regarding individual

projects that had previously been agreed

only in principle. The fact that many

Chinese ﬁrms are entirely or partly state

owned obviously provides the Chinese gov-

ernment with a great deal of inﬂuence over

investment policy.

From the point of view of African govern-

ments, such investment is greatly welcomed.

Hydro schemes account for most power pro-

duction outside North Africa and South Africa,

while most of the continent’s hydro potential

remains untapped. Yet local power companies

generally lack the ﬁnancial muscle to develop

new projects, while foreign ﬁrms from most

of the rest of the world have avoided investing

in Africa because of the lack of revenues on

offer. As a result, relatively few large hydro

projects have been completed on the conti-

nent since a spate of dams were constructed

during the ﬁrst wave of optimism following

the independence era of the early 1960s. The

fact that Chinese ﬁrms are prepared to con-

struct dam projects, as well as railway, port

and other much needed infrastructural ven-

tures, is therefore generally embraced by cash

starved African governments.

In addition, the development of the

18.2GW Three Gorges Dam, 15.8GW

Yellow River and 12.6GW Xiluodu projects

have helped China to build on its already

substantial supply of hydro sector expertise,

providing a training ground for thousands

of engineers and other industry specialists.

Beijing’s power plant diplomacy has given

the industry an opportunity to further its

expertise in a variety of challenging environ-

ments, helping to generate yet more export

revenues in the process.

Bui underway in Ghana

One of the most high proﬁle African hydro

schemes to be developed by a Chinese ﬁrm

is the Bui dam on the River Black Volta

in Ghana’s Brong Ahafo region. Successive

Ghanaian governments have sought to

develop the project in order to reduce

the country’s reliance on the 1020MW

Akosombo Dam and also to reverse the

country’s decline from net power exporter

to importer but foreign developers and

even international financial institutions

were reluctant to fund the venture, partly

because it will result in the ﬂooding of a

large area of Bui National Park, thereby

displacing a rare population of hippos.

In April 2007, however, Sinohydro ﬁnally

put pen to paper on a $622M build operate

transfer (BOT) contract for Bui, with almost

all funding provided by Chinese sources. The

Chinese government has supplied a $270M

low interest loan, while Exim Bank China

has provided a $292M buyer’s credit facility,

leaving Accra with just a $60M contribution.

Some western governments and development

agencies have criticised this and other hydro

schemes for generating more African debt

at a time when real progress has been made

on debt reduction, particularly through the

World Bank’s enhanced highly indebted poor

countries (HIPC) scheme.

The Ghanaian government argues that

the boost to the economy will more than

compensate for increased debt repayments

Left and middle: Akosombo Dam in Ghana; Right: Construction work gets underway at the Bui dam site. Photographs by Edmund Kyei Akoto-Danso, IWMI

12 NOVEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

INSIGHT

but the lack of transparency on the terms of

credit encourage criticism of such arrange-

ments. However, it could be argued that the

apparent absence of guarantees on govern-

ance and social beneﬁt leave African govern-

ments with more room for manoeuvre. Apart

from providing much needed electricity, it is

hoped to irrigate 30,000ha of agricultural

land and create a tourist centre.

Generating capacity of 400MW will

be provided by three turbines and a 110m

high roller compacted concrete (RCC) dam.

Phase two of Bui began in December last

year, when the river was blocked in prepara-

tion for the construction of the main dam,

power house and spillway. Bui lies within

the same river system as Akosombo, which

has been affected by droughts over the past

decade, but Accra is conﬁdent that Bui will

improve the power supply situation, pro-

viding electricity for northern Ghana and

also Togo and Burkina Faso via the West

African Power Pool (WAPP). At present,

most power consumed in the north is gener-

ated at the Akosombo Dam in the south and

so the national power company, the Volta

River Authority (VRA), suffers substantial

transmission losses in transferring electricity

across the country.

Sinohydro also signed an engineering,

procurement and construction contract

with Zambia Electricity Supply Ltd (Zesco)

in November 2007 to expand the Zambian

portion of the Kariba scheme. The other half

of the project is located in Zimbabwe but

the $243M Kariba North Bank project will

provide Zambia with an additional 360MW

of generating capacity and therefore offers a

good ratio of investment to MW. Exim Bank

China is again involved, providing $206M.

Construction work is already underway

and is scheduled for completion in 2012

when Zesco hopes to step up the pace of its

rural electrification programme, although

some of the new power production could be

consumed by the mining sector. At present,

Zesco relies on importing electricity from

the rest of the Southern African Power Pool

(SAPP) during periods of prolonged low

rainfall but rising consumption elsewhere in

the SAPP and South Africa’s growing power

supply problems mean that this may become

a more unlikely option in the future, with

SAPP tariffs expected to increase.

Perhaps the biggest prize in Africa in

terms of securing access to natural resources

is Nigeria. With the continent’s biggest oil

and gas reserves, it has certainly attracted

the attention of Chinese investors, including

China National Offshore Oil Corporation

(CNOOC), which paid $2.3B for a 45%

stake in Nigeria’s OML 130 concession in

January 2006, while further investment in

oil assets has been made. However, many

planned infrastructural projects have stalled,

including $8.2B of promised Chinese invest-

ment in railway modernisation and the

development of the 3.9GW Mambila Dam

by China National Machinery & Equipment

Import & Export Corporation, as a host

of contracts signed by the previous govern-

ment of President Olusegun Obasanjo are

reviewed by the new administration. The fate

of the Mambila venture has therefore yet to

be decided.

In March, Sinohydro signed a deal with

the Benin Electricity Corporation (CEB) to

develop the 147MW Adjarala hydro scheme

on the Mono River, which forms part of the

border between Benin and Togo. According

to Chinese sources, the contract is worth

EUR282M and the scheme is scheduled to

come on stream during the ﬁrst half of 2013.

Benin and Togo, which will jointly own the

project, have both relied heavily on imported

electricity from Ghana and Nigeria for many

years but could now become net exporters to

the WAPP. The completion of Adjarala could

make it less likely that spur pipelines from the

West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) will be

developed to transport Nigerian gas to Togo

and Benin, as all of the WAGP target states

increase their hydro generating capacities.

Tekeze on the brink

On the opposite side of the continent, a

consortium of Sinohydro-CWHEC (49%),

China Gezhouba Water and Power Group

(30%) and local firm Sur Construction

(21%) is developing the Tekeze scheme in

Ethiopia. With a height of 185m, the dam

will be higher than that employed in the Three

Gorges project, although expected generating

capacity is far more modest at 300MW. All

output will be sold to the Ethiopian Electric

Power Corporation (EEPC) under a long

term power purchase agreement (PPA). Dam

construction was completed in February and

the ﬁrst of its four 75MW turbines will be

brought on stream by the end of this year,

two and a half years after ﬁrst electricity was

originally expected.

More recently, in September, the Ethiopian

Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo)

announced that it had signed agreements

with Chinese ﬁrms for another two hydro

schemes. Sinohydro is to construct the

$555M Chemoga Yeda project, which will

comprise ﬁve dams on ﬁve rivers in Amhara

state. No details of generating capacity were

given. The second contract was awarded

to the China Gezhouba Water and Power

Group for the development of the 254MW

Genale Dawa III scheme in the south of the

country, on the border of Somali and Oromia

states. Located on the Genale River, it will

include a 110m high dam and is priced at

$408M, with ﬁrst electricity due in 2013.

If all of these schemes, together with a series

of projects without Chinese involvement, are

completed as planned, the Ethiopian govern-

ment could fulﬁl its ambition of becoming a

net power exporter within a decade but at

present the country continues to suffer from

power rationing. It has been reported in the

Ethiopian press that supplies have been cut

every second day over the past six months.

The biggest hydro project in Africa

with Chinese support is the Merowe Dam

in neighbouring Sudan, although China

International Water & Electric Corporation

is just one member of the development

consortium, which also includes Cegelec

of France and German firm Lahmeyer.

However, Exim Bank China is also pro-

viding a EUR240M (US$353M) loan, as

Beijing continues to demonstrate that it is

one of Sudan’s closest allies in the inter-

national community. Many foreign ﬁrms

have fought shy of investing in the country

because of accusations that such support

has helped fuel conflicts in south Sudan

and Darfur. Yet China National Petroleum

Corporation (CNPC) is now the biggest

investor in the Sudanese oil industry,

prompting Beijing to support a range of

infrastructural projects in the country.

The additional generating capacity provid-

ed by Merowe will be welcomed, given that

Sudan continues to be affected by power cuts.

The ﬁrst 250MW phase of the project came

on stream in March but power shortages

were reported as recently as July. According

to the Sudanese government, all 1250MW

should be in place by the end of this year,

greatly increasing total Sudanese capacity. As

a result, the Sudanese ministry of energy and

mining has announced that power tariffs will

be reduced by 25-30% next July.

Outlook

It may seem unwise for African governments

recently freed from most of their debt burden

to be accepting new loans, on whatever

terms. Yet the lack of access to electricity and

the unreliable nature of many power systems

on the continent remain two of the greatest

obstacles to more rapid economic growth

and improved living standards. While 98%

of North Africans have access to electricity

at home, the ﬁgure is much lower in most of

Africa, falling to 5-10% in Uganda, Malawi,

Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo

and Mozambique, while the lack of reliable

ﬁgures for a host of other countries suggests

that electriﬁcation may have made even less

progress elsewhere.

More investment in thermal power projects

and renewables would produce a more bal-

anced generation mix but large hydro remains

the cheapest option for most African nations,

particularly away from the coastal strip. The

Chinese government and Chinese companies

are prepared to invest billions of dollars in

African hydro schemes that have been on the

drawing board for decades but which have

remained undeveloped because other gov-

ernments and private sector ﬁrms are either

unwilling or unable to develop them.

It is therefore understandable that so many

African governments are prepared to accept

such investment, even at the risk of inﬂating

their national debt. With so many infrastruc-

tural projects awaiting construction and so

much untapped hydro potential in Africa,

it would not be surprising if this wave of

Chinese investment in African hydro were to

continue for many years to come.

IWP& DC

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14 NOVEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

DAM SAFETY

HE United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

(UNECE), in particular through its Convention on the

Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and

International Lakes, is engaged in promoting cooperation

on the management of shared water resources in Central Asia. This

is a precondition for sustainable development in the subregion.

One direction of activities is promoting the safe operation of dams

and other large water management structures.

Large dams represent a very important segment of the water

management infrastructure of Central Asia. According to ICOLD

classiﬁcation, out of more than 1200 dams in the region, 110 are

large dams. Many of these are located in the basins of transbound-

ary rivers such as the Amu Darya, the Syr Darya, the Ili and the

Irtysh. One of the world’s highest dams, the 300m tall Nurek Dam,

is located on the Vakhsh River, a tributary of the Amu Darya in

Tajikistan.

The economic hydro power potential [2] in Central Asia is estimat-

ed at 400B kWh annually, 10% of which is exploited. The region

could cover more than 70% of projected electricity needs by hydro

power. The main part (about 90%) of this hydro potential is found

in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. In these countries, new hydro power

stations are being constructed, one example being the Rogun sta-

tion in Tajikistan on the Vakhsh River. With a 335m high rockﬁll

dam and a water volume of 13.8km

, Rogun is designed to have an

installed capacity of 3600MW [3]. In Kyrgyzstan, the Kambarata-1

hydro power station on the Naryn River will be 275m high and have

a water volume of 4.65km

. The projected capacity is 1.9MW.

Many of the dams in Central Asia were built 40 to 50 years ago,

and due to limited resources for their maintenance and the inad-

equacy of a legal framework for their safe operation, the risk of

accidents is increasing. With a couple of exceptions there are also

no established procedures for notiﬁcation of co-basin countries

in the case of accidents or emergency situations. With dams on

the transboundary rivers criss-crossing the region, the failure of

a dam could have disastrous consequences in densely populated

downstream regions and countries.

Playing it safe in Central Asia

Many of Central Asia’s ageing large dams are located in the basins of transboundary rivers.

The United Nations is leading an initiative to promote the safe operation and management of

such structures in the region. Bo Libert, Erkin Orolbaev and Yuri Steklov give more details

The 335m high

Nurek dam in Tajikistan

WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER 2009 15

DAM SAFETY

PR OJ E C T I N I T I A T I O N

In response to a request by countries in Central Asia that this impor-

tant issue be addressed, UNECE and the United Nations Economic

and Social Commission for Asia and the Paciﬁc (UNESCAP) started

the project, Capacity-Building for Cooperation on Dam Safety in

Central Asia in 2006. Funding was provided by the Government

of Finland. The project is a contribution to the implementation of

the Cooperation Strategy to Promote the Rational and Efﬁcient Use

of Water and Energy Resources in Central Asia [4]. The Strategy

has been developed and adopted under the United Nations Special

Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA).

The project’s phase I, completed over nine months by the end of

2006, aimed to prompt the countries ﬁrst to consider setting up or

revising national dam safety regulatory frameworks to achieve their

harmonisation; and secondly to pursue regional cooperation on infor-

mation exchange and notiﬁcation in the event of accidents or emer-

gency situations with dams. This resulted in two major outcomes:

U A model national law on safety of large hydraulic facilities, includ-

ing dams, intended to be a base of national harmonised legal frame-

works for dam safety.

U A draft regional agreement on cooperation on dam safety, which

stipulates, inter alia, the exchange of information and the notiﬁca-

tion of other countries in the event of accidents with dams.

In the ﬁrst project phase, national reports on the issues related to vari-

ous aspects of dam safety were prepared for each country. Then, on

the basis of these reports, a publication on dam safety in Central Asia

was issued [5]. The publication covers the current national legal, insti-

tutional and ﬁnancial modalities in the area of dam safety, the exist-

ing cooperative arrangements in that sector, as well as the model law

and draft regional agreements. It also contains a list of large dams in

Central Asia, updated for the ﬁrst time since the end of the 1980s.

PH AS E II

The second three-year project phase started in 2008, with renewed

funding from Finland and co-funding from the Russian Federation.

UNECE is responsible for project implementation in close coopera-

tion with the executive board of the International Fund for the Saving

of the Aral Sea (EC-IFAS).

The project’s objective is to improve the national legal and institu-

tional frameworks as well as to set up regional cooperation mecha-

nisms on dam safety in Central Asia. Project activities in four areas

support the countries in terms of developing:

U National regulatory frameworks for dam safety, building on the

model national law developed in phase I.

U A regional cooperative framework on dam safety and sustained

intra-regional cooperation, with the draft agreement of the ﬁrst

phase as a starting point.

U The necessary documentation and technical capacity for harmonis-

ing technical regulations and procedures for the monitoring and

evaluation of dam performance.

U Improved access to potential sources of technical assistance for

rehabilitation of dams and improvement of monitoring and early

warning systems.

In all of the participating countries, some action has been taken to

formulate legislation on dam safety, or to improve the existing regula-

tory framework [6].

Kazakhstan

The draft of a national law proposing incorporation of amendments

related to the safety of hydrotechnical structures in the national Water

Code has been reviewed within the framework of the project. As a

result, the draft law has been revised. More changes in the national

legislation are however required to adequately handle safety issues.

An important step towards strengthening of the legislation in this

sector was made with the approval of national rules for the safety

of water management systems and structures by the Government of

Kazakhstan on 12 May 2009.

Kyrgyzstan

A law on establishing a dam commission as a national regulator for

the safety of large hydrotechnical structures was recently drafted

through a World Bank project. It will be reviewed by the UNECE

project, taking into account the draft model law.

Tajikistan

A ﬁrst draft of a national law on dam safety has been prepared with

reference to the project’s model national law. However, more efforts

are required to initiate the process of law formulation. A national

seminar on dam safety is planned for late 2009 which would help

trigger the process.

Turkmenistan

Participants at a national seminar on dam safety in 2008 realised the

necessity of having a national law on the safety of hydrotechnical

structures. Subsequently, a draft law was prepared along the lines of

the model law, but the draft needs revision to comprehensively reﬂect

the speciﬁcs of water infrastructure management in the country. It

is anticipated that assistance from the project will be requested to

ﬁnalise the draft law.

Uzbekistan

Upon reviewing recent changes in Russian legislation on the safety

of hydrotechnical structures presented at a national seminar on dam

safety in 2008, Uzbek authorities initiated a revision of the national

law on the safety of water management infrastructure adopted ten

years ago. The draft national law containing provisions aiming to

improve the existing law was prepared by the State Water Control

Facilities Committee (the country’s national regulator in this sector)

in consultation with other concerned ministries and agencies for sub-

mission to the Parliament.

The review of the proposed changes, along with recommendations

for improving the draft, was made by an international expert afﬁli-

ated with the UNECE project. The legal act proposing amendments

to the national law is in the approval process.

HA RM O N I S IN G TE C H N IC A L N O R M S A N D

R E GU L A T I O N S

This work has received a signiﬁcant push from complementary

funding from the Russian Federation, which has made it possi-

ble to engage the Centre on Safety of Hydrotechnical Structures

(Moscow), Association Hydroproject (Moscow) and the

Toktogul dam is located in Kyrgyzstan

16 NOVEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

DAM SAFETY

Vodoavtomatika Institute (Bishkek) in the activities. With a view to

proposing a model set of uniform technical norms and regulations,

a list of legal acts and technical documents used in the Russian

Federation for regulating the safety of hydrotechnical structures,

plus similar lists for all ﬁve Central Asian countries, have been

prepared and analysed.

On this basis, a draft set of documents has been proposed, and the

idea of preparing a model technical directive, comprising both model

law provisions and some technical norms, has been discussed. The

proposed approach is likely to speed up the revision and introduction

of a regulatory framework in the Central Asian countries. The outline

of the model technical directive has been prepared and submitted to

all the Central Asian countries for comment.

R E G I O N A L A G R E E M E N T

The development of an agreement on cooperation in the ﬁeld of dam

safety in Central Asia has continued. New drafts from 2008 have

been discussed at regional and national meetings and circulated to

relevant ministries in the countries. A draft charter for each of the

proposed alternative bodies for cooperation, namely an international

commission or a regional centre on the safety of hydrotechnical struc-

tures, has been prepared.

A new draft incorporating most of the changes and amendments

proposed by countries was distributed in October 2009 to the ﬁve

governments for approval.

C H A L L E N G E S F O R T H E F U T U R E

There are signiﬁcant challenges for future work on dam safety in the

region. Obviously, there is a need to increase the efforts at the indi-

vidual installations to make sure that the technical standards are fol-

lowed, and that proper measures are taken to make sure that the risk

of accidents does not increase with the ageing of dams. On a national

level, it is important that national legislation and the institutions

responsible for controlling the safety of hydrotechnical facilities are

developed in all countries. Training of staff responsible for dam safety

is a very important direction of the work, one which urgently needs

to be developed. At a regional level it is important that a platform,

such as a commission or centre, is established for the ﬁve countries to

discuss technical issues and cooperation on dam safety.

The authors are Bo Libert, regional adviser on the

environment, United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe, Geneva, Switzerland. Email: Bo.Libert@unece.org

Erkin Orolbaev, consultant, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan.

Email: erkin.orolbaev@gmail.com

Yuri Steklov, consultant, Bangkok, Thailand.

Email: yuri.steklov@gmail.com

References

(1) The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily

reﬂect the views of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.

(2) Data on the hydro power potential as well as other information on the

energy situation in Central Asia can be found at: http://www.unece.org/

speca/pdf/wer/effuse_e.pdf

(3) Data on Rogun, Kambarata and other dams in the region can be found

at: http://www.unece.org/env/water/publications/documents/Water_

Series_Publication5_r.pdf

(4) http://www.unece.org/speca/pdf/wer/effuse_e.pdf

(5) http://www.unece.org/env/water/publications/documents/Water_

Series_Publication5_r.pdf, only available in Russian.

(6) Details on project implementation including meeting reports can be found

online at: http://www.unece.org/env/water/damsafety.htm.

IWP& DC

Project cooperation with other

organisations

The International Fund for the Saving of the Aral Sea (IFAS) is the major

regional partner in this project. The IFAS executive board for Kazakhstan has

hosted several regional meetings in Almaty. Members of the IFAS executive

committee actively participate in the project’s activities and have made

substantial contributions to its development. The placing of the proposed

international commission on the safety of hydrotechnical structures in Central

Asia under the IFAS umbrella has been proposed by several countries and

welcomed by the IFAS executive committee.

The Euro-Asian Economic Community (EurAsEC) has provided support for the

ofﬁcial approval of the model national law. In May 2008, the EurAsEC inter-

parliamentary assembly adopted the model law and recommended its member-

countries to refer to that law when drafting or revising their national legislation

for regulating the safety of dams and other hydrotechnical structures.

In cooperation with a World Bank project in Kyrgyzstan on restructuring the

water sector management, cooperation on dam safety is developing.

Collaboration with Association Hydroproject, a loose union of research and

design institutes in the ﬁeld of hydrotechnical structures in the former USSR

republics, has contributed to the formulation of a model set of technical norms.

In a German initiative (the Berlin Process) to support the water cooperation in

Central Asia, the safety of hydrotechnical structures is one direction for project

development with the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is planning a dam safety project in

Uzbekistan on the Syr Darya which will aim to identify safety concerns of

individual dams for further possible development of investment ﬁnancing.

Further view of Kyrgyzstan’s Toktogul dam

• Impermeable

• Flexible

• Resistant to settlements

• Installed quickly,

also underwater

• Durable

• Applicable to all types

of structures

• Environmentally friendly

• Efficiently monitored

GEOMEMBRANES ARE:

Dumanoir, Guadeloupe Island, France. Covered PVC geomembrane

to waterproof a 650 000 m

reservoir for irrigation. October 2009.

CARPI SYNTHETIC GEOMEMBRANES

HAVE STOPPED LEAKAGE IN 95+ DAMS

Since 1963

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26 MARCH2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

SMALL HYDRO

firstBC companies to introduce the concept of clustering projects

to share the substan tial cost of longe r transmissio n lines. For

instance, at Plutonic Power’s East Toba and Montrose project, the

two run-of-river d evelopments will share a single 150km long,

230kV transmission line. Without this sharing arrangement, nei-

ther development would be fin ancially viable. The enviro nment

also benefits from this arrangement, as line sharing reduces the

potential development footprint. Furthermore, the lines are routed

as much as possible along existing logging roads, resulting in less

clearing for transmission line corridors. This environmental advan-

tage is in turn important for First Nations partners, as transmis-

sionlines often cross their territory.

Asimilar sharing of transmission lines is occurring in Cloudworks

Energy’s Kwalsa Development site, 90km northeast of Vancouver.

NBritish Columbia (BC), Canada, Knight Piésold has worked

closely with several private and institutional developers on pro-

ject development, applying many new and innovative techniques

in all aspects of designing hydro schemes. These include project

identification, stream gauging and hydrological assessment, engi-

neering design, project optimization, environmental assessment, per-

mitting and licensing, and First Nations involvement.

ROJECT IDE NTIFICATION

In the early 199 0’s, Knight Piésold worked with d evelopers on

identifyingand optimizing run-of-river projects that were close to

existing transmission lines. But in the last few years, as prime sites

have been identified in more remote areas, it became one of the

Since engineering its first hydroelectric scheme in 1926, Knight Piésold has gained

considerable experience in the design of power generation facilities. In the 21st century,

the company is working with its partners to create a legacy of clean, renewable energy

through run-of-river hydro projects

Technical and design innovations

in run-of-river projects

Assessinghydro power development in Gargoyle

Creek Valley –- Plutonic Power’s Bute Inlet Project

MARCH 2009

Serving the hydro industry for 60 years: 1949-2009

Examining excavation work

Focus on small hydro

Data collection

Innovations in run-of-river hydro schemes

28 MARCH2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

This method has also improved the c ompany’s ability to predict

flows at one site on the basis of flows at another site, even if the

relative timing of flows at both sites do not exactly coincide. The

flow prediction methodology has proven to be acceptable for bank-

able feasibility studies, enabling clients to secure project financing,

saysthe company.

NTAKE DESIG N

Aprimary goal of a run-of-river intake design is to extract water

from a river while excluding sediment and debris, which can cause

impact damage and excessive wear to the conveyance system and

turbines. Sediment exclusion has traditionally been achieved through

the use of expensive and often extensive desanding facilities. Knight

Piésold has refined the design of two types of intakes that incorpo-

rate efficient sediment exclusion systems, which have proven very

effective in high energy, glaciated river systems: Coanda Screen and

Rubber Weir Type Intakes.

Coanda Screen Intake

The Coanda screen intake relies on the Coanda effect of flowing

water to stay attached to an adjacent curved surface to direct water

through a fine meshed screen. It was used for the first time on a

Canadian run-of-river project in 2004. Over the past five years, the

company has worked closely with the manufacturer, Norris Screens

and Manufacturing, and contractor partner, Peter Kiewit Sons, to

optimize the screens’ design. The screens’ water diversion capacity

has been designed to make it more “fish friendly”, while its ability

to exclude sediment has been maximized and maintenance needs

have been decreased. The new stainless steel screens are self-clean-

ing and eliminate particles of less than 2mm in diameter. They are

substantially more robust than the first-generation type and better

able to withstand the high flood levels and heavy debris loads of

streams in BC’s coas tal mountains. In 2005, the design for the

McNair Creek Green Power project, which included a Coanda

Intake, received an Award of Excellence from the Consulting

Engineers of British Columbia (CEBC).

Rubber weir intake

The rubber weir intake incorporates a large diameter, cylindrical

rubber weir that automatically inflates and deflates in response to

sensorsmeasuring water levels in the headpond. Under very high

flows, the weir deflates completely, providing passage for flood

waters and debris.

SMALL HYDRO

Above:Coanda screen intake – Renewable Power’s McNair Creek project

Right:Weholite pipe low pressure conduit – Rutherford Creek Power/

Innergex’s Rutherford Creek

ciency of stage discharge data collection.

The operation of so many gauging stations and the huge amounts

of data they generate has necessitated the development of a special-

ized hydrology module for Knight Piésold’s centralized, web-based

Fulcrum environmental data management system. This module was

created specifically for the storage, management and processing of

stream gauging data. It allows field staff to upload, view, and process

all information from remote locations, and any changes to the data-

base can be viewed in real time by staff and clients.

Toassist with rating curve de velopment, and parti cularly the

extrapolation of a curve beyond the range of measured stage-dis-

charge values, a ranked regres sion modeling approach has been

developed. When combined with an understanding of the physical

processes dictating hydrologic response in compared watersheds,

this approach provid es guidance for th e delineation of a curve.

The company is currently constructing four of eight planned run-of-

river projects. This group of facilities is sharing the significant trans-

mission and interconnection costs to tie into BCTC’s 360kV

transmission system.

TREAM GAUG ING AND HYDROLOGI CAL

ASSESS MENT

Knight Piésold has developed considerable expertise for the collec-

ion and analysis of hydrological data in isolated, challenging envi-

ronments, including watersheds in coastal mountainous BC, Arctic

permafrost terrain on Baffin Island, and dense, tropical jungles in

Africa. It currently operates over 150 stream gauging stations around

the world. Most of these are in high velocity, glacier-fed streams in

BC’s Coastal Mountain range. The quality and value of the data

depend on several factors including gauging site selection, flow mea-

surement technique, data quality assurance and control, rating curve

development, and data analysis.

Proper gauging site selection is critical for ensuring a definable

and consistent relationship between water stage and di scharge.

Considerable skill is also required to identify, assess and establish a

proper gauging site. Accurate flow measurement is also of para-

mount importance, and for this the company uses several flow mea-

surement instruments and techniques including a traditional velocity

meter, an acoustic Doppler current profiler, and salt and rhodamine

dye dilution. The method of choice depends greatly on channel char-

acteristics and flow conditions: the salt and rhodamine dye tech-

niques are generally preferred for the turbulent, fast flowing

conditions that developers often face. These methods present chal-

lenges, however, as they involve expensive equipment that requires

calibration and is sensitive to changing conditions. A high level of

skill is also needed to select an appropriate site to ensure complete

mixing of the tracer compound.

However, with constantly evolving knowledge of technological

constraints in difficult field conditions, the quality of site data con-

tinues to improve. Knight Piesold is now developing an automated,

multi-discharge rhodamine dye type measurement device that will

remotely record a series of flow values at predetermined water levels.

This will allow several stage-discharge points to be obtained during

asingle large flow event, thereby dramatically increasing the effi-

WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM MARCH2009 27

SMALL HYDRO

Right:Helicopter access to a remote site in the East Toba River Valley –

PlutonicPower’s East Toba and Montrose project

Below: Stream gauging on Raleigh Creek – Plutonic Power’s Bute Inlet project

FUSEGATE SYSTEM

A non-mechanical spillway control system to improve ﬂood

discharge potential and increase water storage capacity

5, cours Ferdinand-de-Lesseps - 92851 Rueil-Malmaison Cedex - France - Tel: +33 1 41 39 98 80 n contact@hydroplus.com

18 NOVEMBER 2009 INTERNATIONAL WATER POWER & DAM CONSTRUCTION

DAM SAFETY

LL those years ago when I was at school, I never would

have believed that eventually I would be involved with

the hydroelectric industry – in fact I don’t think that

hydroelectricity, or engineering as a discipline, was ever

mentioned in any signiﬁcant capacity in those hundreds of lessons

I had to endure. Career advisors certainly never highlighted the

beneﬁts of working in this varied ﬁeld, so it came as no surprise

to me when I read the results of a report from the UK’s National

Grid, which suggests that engineering is not on the radar of young

people, and that parents and teachers have negative perceptions

of the industry.

The Engineering Our Future report was commissioned to look at

the attitudes towards engineering among young people, parents and

teachers in the UK. More than 1300 individual interviews with young

people aged 14-19, and additional in depth focus groups, were con-

ducted across the country. This revealed disturbingly low levels of

awareness and interest, and a picture of confusion about the role of

engineering, with the majority of young people and parents regarding

it as dirty and menial work.

Highlights of the ﬁndings include:

U Confusion about the role of engineers, with six out of 10 young

people not able to name a recent engineering achievement.

U Young people, parents and teachers have ‘blue collar’ images of

men in overalls who ﬁx things.

U Teachers and parents think engineering is a career for those who

are ‘less academic’.

U Prejudice and stereotypes stem from this basic preconception.

U Girls are ten times less likely to say they would pursue a career in

engineering.

U Low levels of appreciation for engineers’ contribution to society,

compared to other professions such as doctors and teachers.

“This report makes extremely worrying reading,” says Steve Holliday,

Chief Executive of National Grid. “National Grid sits at the heart of

the challenges of climate change, security of supply and affordability

of energy in the UK. We need lots of very clever people who can make

things happen and think outside the box to create a different world

in the future.

“We know from our own workforce planning that nearly 1000

new roles are needed by 2020. We need to inspire today’s youth and

help them to see how exciting and interesting a career in engineering

can be.”

With the UK, and indeed the rest of the world, on the cusp of an

energy revolution, it is essential that the industry has a pipeline of talent

coming through in the long term to help support the transition to a

low carbon economy, and to meet government targets for renewable

energy generation. As Lord Browne of Madingley, President of the

Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK, says: “This report highlights

the importance of attracting more people to the profession at a time

when engineering creativity is most needed to meet the grand chal-

lenges facing society… The Academy’s mission is to move engineering

closer to the centre of society. Engineering skills are increasingly vital

to modern life as they underpin our access to energy, water, food and

healthcare. Engineering will also be crucial in solving the growing prob-

lems of energy sustainability and climate change.”

A T T R A C T I N G E N G I N E E R S

There is no doubt that attracting students to careers in engineer-

ing is a continuing challenge, and companies should look at the fac-

tors that motivate young people toward a particular career. A report

by the National Society of Professional Engineers Young Engineers

Advisory Council ‘Motivation Factors of Young Engineers (2008)’

highlighted a number of motivating factors, namely: career growth/

advancement opportunities; self improvement; salaries; desire to

prove worth; client satisfaction; interest level in job; and sense of

professional obligation.

A paper by the US Association of State Dam Safety Officials

presented at the Waterpower XVI conference, held in Spokane,

Washington, from 27-30 July, highlighted that many of these factors

are present in a dam engineering role.

An invisible industry?

Engineering has become ‘an invisible industry’ which is

undervalued and undermined by outdated stereotypes,

according to new research from the UK’s National Grid.

Carrieann Stocks takes an in-depth look at the report and

investigates some recent initiatives to attract young people

to a career in the hydro power and dams industry

WWW.WATERPOWERMAGAZINE.COM NOVEMBER 2009 19

DAM SAFETY

The paper – Romancing the profession: promoting careers in dam

engineering and dam safety by Sarah McCubbin Cana and Bruce A

Tschantz – says that attracting young people to the profession of design-

ing, building, maintaining and operating safe dams is essential to ensure

the safety of those living downstream and the continuation of economic

and life-line beneﬁts provided by many dams. While few new large dam

projects are underway in the US, a plethora of career opportunities exist

in dam removal, dam modiﬁcation and rehabilitation, risk assessment,

dam failure analysis, emergency action planning and more.

Over the coming years, ASDSO says it will continue to expand its

efforts to encourage young people to consider this specialized and

exciting niche of engineering, in particular through its Committee on

Education Outreach, which was formed in 2004 with the purpose of

focusing more attention on the promotion of dam safety engineering as

a profession in undergraduate and graduate college-level programs.

Following it’s formation, the committee conducted a survey of

employment opportunities which was distributed to over 2000 ASDSO

member, 50 related associations, and a number of related journals and

newsletter. Separate survey questions were sent to university civil engi-

neering departments. The main results of this survey were:

U Approximately 27% of represented employees have graduate

degrees.

U The projected attrition rate for dam engineers is high and ample job

opportunities will exist in the future.

U The majority of respondents found it difﬁcult to ﬁnd qualiﬁes can-

didates for dam related positions.

The final question on the survey asked how the ASDSO and its

Committee on Education Outreach could help meet current and

future needs for engineers. From the answers received, two major

themes emerged – the need to promote awareness of careers in dam

safety and engineering, and the promotion of dam safety courses in

universities. Other suggestions included promoting internship oppor-

tunities and publicizing job opportunities.

The committee took note of these suggestions, and over the past

few years has created several new resources for students: a Speakers

Bureau that provides guest speakers for classes and student groups

throughout the US; an online clearinghouse for internships, co-op

programs and employment opportunities; a student paper compe-

tition connected with ASDSO’s annual conference; and on-request

resources for project assistance with design classes. The committee

was also instrumental in enhancing ASDSO’s existing scholarship

program, encouraging ASDSO’s Board of Directors to double the

scholarship award to $10,000, provide a free one-year membership to

scholarship recipients and sponsor recipients’ attendance at ASDSO’s

annual national conference.

It is also targeting younger students through the “Kids’ Pages”

on ASDSO’s website, by participating in Engineering Week activi-

ties and providing guest speakers in elementary and secondary

classrooms on request.

E D U C A T I O N P R O G R A M M E S

Back in the UK, in light of its report ﬁndings, National Grid also

reviewed its education and skills programme. A number of solutions

are outlined in the report that run along a similar theme as those

identiﬁed by the ASDSO, including:

U School Power – a new scheme whereby National Grid volunteers

will go into primary schools with a programme of activities to stim-

ulate interest in how energy, forces and materials work. The pro-

gramme will also be available for teachers and others to use online

U Work Experience - together with the Royal Academy of Engineering,

National Grid is developing a blue print for what meaningful work

experience should look like as well as developing a mentoring and

coaching programme aimed at teachers and careers advisors

U New pilot programme in North-West England to help disadvan-

taged young people.

Elsewhere in the UK, the British Dam Society (BDS) runs a student

zone on its website: www.britishdams.org. It is BDS policy to support

student education in relation to dams and reservoir engineering, and

it does this in a variety of ways including running competitions, giving

presentations at universities, assisting research projects and providing

useful information on its website. These are all initiatives targeted at

making engineering a more accepted career path.

F U T U R E I S S U E S

Attracting the younger generation of engineers is a task that everyone

involved in the industry needs to tackle. Companies must start to

invest in training to create the engineers that are needed in the future.

As the older generation of engineers start to retire, there are fewer

and fewer new entrants who can gain hands-on experience or training

from these experts, eventually replacing them in the ﬁeld.

The National Grid report asked a particularly important ques-

tion of its respondents – what do you think would best stimulate

young people’s interest in a job or career in engineering? The top ﬁve

answers were as follows: 1) Work experience in engineering roles;

2) Open days at engineering companies; 3) School/college visits

by engineers; 4) Year long scholarships in an engineering role; 5)

After-school clubs on engineering. These are all initiatives that the

hydro and dams industry could become involved with fairly easily

– and it should be considered before the skills shortage in the indus-

try becomes even more of a problem than it already is. As National

Grid Chief Executive, Steve Holliday, says: “The energy industry is

changing and it’s vital we have the right people to deliver the new

technologies required for the future. But to do this, we must inspire

and engage tomorrow’s engineers today”.

For further information on the Engineering our Future

report from the National Grid, please visit: http://www.

nationalgrid.com/uk/Community/EOF/

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