Costs per kW for microhydro systems

[ThomasS]

An average estimation would be 1500 - 3,000 USD/kW capacity.
Microhydro systems smaller than 100 kW are often higher. That is, hydro systems today show economies of scale in size (the larger, the cheaper per kW)


Summary of average costs

Civil works parts and labour
(water intake, water pipe, power house) 50%
Turbine                                10%
Generator                              6%
Load controller                       3%
Dump loads                           3%
Power lines                            3%
Transport costs                      2%
Electrical installation parts      1%
Labour
(Engineering, Administrative)  22%
---------------------------------------------------------
Total                                    100%

The ACTUAL costs will vary a lot depending on your circumstances.

- will you do most of the work yourself or do you have cheap labour?
- how much civil work do you have to do? (penstock height vs. pipe length)
- length of the power line (are transformers needed?)
- transport costs