Failure Analysis of Micro-hydroelectric sites in the

Province of lfugao, Philippines

Mahmoud Kabalan, Diane Tamir, Dr. Pritpal Singh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Department
Villanova University
Villanova, PA, USA
Mahmoud.kabalan@villanova.edu

Abstract- Micro-hydroelectric power has the promise of PHIUPPINES

supplying clean renewable energy for remote communities at a
cost-effective price. However, previous attempts of
implementation suffered from a high failure rate and proved to be
unsustainable. This paper presents a failure analysis of multiple
micro hydroelectric sites that were built in the province of Ifugao,
Philippines. The analysis was done by completing field trips to the
failed sites and performing a technical examination of the
neglected hydroelectric facilities. Moreover, interviews with
multiple community members and officials were held to
understand the social, culture and economic context of these
systems. The interviews also focused on including female
community members to get a gender neutral overview of the
community. The study showed that multiple technical, economic
and social factors can lead to the failure of the implementation of
this technology. A relatively successful micro-hydroelectric system
in the province is highlighted to provide a comparison with the
other failed sites. The aim of the paper is to provide an insight on
the best practices for the future development of micro­
hydroelectric systems. The study showed that a sustainable micro­
Figure 1: Map of the Philippines
hydroelectric system should address the three pillars of
sustainability - social, economic and technical. rural electrification or developments projects. These projects
face similar challenges and hurdles to ensure that they are
Keywords-micro hydroelectricity; failure analysis; rural
sustainable.
development; social and economic factors

I. INTRODUCTION
II. ABATAN MrCRO HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM
Micro hydroelectricity is a technology well suited for rural
The first failed system is located in the village of Abatan in
electrification projects [1]. However, this technology suffers
Hungduan, Ifugao. Abatan is a small community with around 50
from a high failure rate in such a setting [2]. The sustainability
households. The micro hydroelectric system was constructed by
of these systems rely on multiple social, economic and technical
a local NGO in the year 1998 with an installed rated capacity of
factors that are complex and dynamic [3-10]. The authors 21 kW. Once the system was installed, the community was
wanted to comprehend these factors by studying three failed solely responsible for troubleshooting and system repairs. The
and one successful micro hydroelectric sites in Ifugao. The NGO did not provide any training or technical support for the
three failed sites are in the villages of Abatan, Bokiawan and community. The system functioned for two years with
Maggok while the successful one is in Hapao. The province of maintenance being carried out by untrained community
Ifugao is located in north of the Philippines (Figure 1) and is members who were eager to keep the system operational. By the
known for its mountainous terrain and numerous rivers and year 2000, the system broke down since the community could
streams [11]. The aim of the study was to gain experience and not afford the cost of repairs anymore. The provincial electric
insight before embarking on an effort to develop a new micro utility, IFELCo (Ifugao Electric Cooperative), reached the
hydroelectric site in the province of Ifugao. The following community around a year after the system broke down.
paper presents an overview of the sites studied and the lessons
Four elected operators were responsible for collecting the
learned from these trips. The infonnation gathered here is based fees from the participating households. The community decided
on interviews with the local government officials or community on a fee of IPhp/watt/month for each household based on their
members responsible for running and operating these systems. capability to pay. These operators were not paid but were
Although the failure analysis is done for micro hydroelectric exempt from the electricity consumption fee set by the
systems, the insights and lessoned learned can be applied to any community. The collected funds were used for system

2014 IEEE Canada International Humanitarian Technology Conference - (IHTC)

978-1-4799-3996-1/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE
maintenance which consisted mostly of lubricating the bearings
with occasional repairs to the generator and turbine.
The installed electrical lines were not compatible with the
power system. The quality of the electricity deteriorated as the
distance from the household to the powerhouse increased due to
line losses. The voltage drop was so significant that households
far from the powerhouse were not capable of using light bulbs
at times. The main usage of the electricity was for lighting
purposes. The most common light bulb was the 25 Watt
incandescent bulb that is dim and does not provide adequate
lighting for reading. However, the community claimed that
sound systems were used in special occasions such
community gatherings. The powerhouse has been abandoned
for almost a decade. The powerhouse is now completely covered
with overgrown forest and the inside of the powerhouse is now
filled with mud that is five inches deep.
Figure 2: Map of the municipalities in the province of
Ifugao
The micro-hydroelectric system suffered from multiple
technical problems throughout its short life span.
implementation of the system design was carried out by un­
specialized individuals and resulted in major system flaws. The
penstock leading into the turbine was at a very steep angle
causing an excessive head lose. Moreover, the pipe diameter
decreased from 8 to 6 inches inside the powerhouse and caused
more pipe-losses. The turbine was not constructed properly
which caused the shaft to break in three separate occasions. The
original design had a 1.5 inch diameter shaft that was welded to
each side of the runner of a typical cross flow turbine design.
After the first failure of the turbine, the shaft diameter was
increase to two inches. The final design had a two inch diameter
shaft going through the runner with the runner being welded
onto the shaft.
During system operation, a bearing inside the generator
broke causing the rotor to brush against the stator which resulted
in short-circuiting the generator. Consequently, the generator
was rewound twice because the short circuit caused it to burn
out twice. The fust time the generator was rewound in a shop in
nearby town of Lagawe while the second time the community
rewound it on site. Moreover, the system had neither an
electronic nor a mechanical governor or speed controller which
meant that the speed of the generator and turbine could not be
controlled. With the absence of any control mechanism, the
voltage and frequency of the generator could not be controlled
and the system's exact operating point would vary.
The system ultimate failure was when the turbine, its
bearings and all its fittings broke. The community was unable to
give us a clear picture on what caused that major system failure.
The community did not attempt to repair the system because
they lacked the funds and because plans for connecting to
IFELCo were already in place. Despite all the hard work and
costs given by the community, the community would
recommend this system to another un-electrified village since
having poor quality electricity is better than none
as
III. BOKLAWAN MICRO HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM
The second failed system is located in Bokiawan in the
municipality of Kiangan, Ifugao. The system was designed and
installed in 1999 by the same local NGO mentioned above and
funded by the municipal and provincial government. The power
rating of the installed system was 10 kW. At the time of the
installation, the system supplied power to 22 households,
however that number decreased to 10 due to high maintenance
costs and low power quality. The system is not operational as of
late2011 after a typhoon destroyed a section of the flow channel.
The community used the electricity for lighting and re-charging
cell phones. Each household was allowed two light bulbs only.
The NGO was the only entity in contact with the community
and coordinated all construction efforts. The community's
contribution was in the form of free labor throughout the
construction of the system. The NGO's personnel purchased the
required system materials and components such as generator,
electric lines, transformers, etc. However, the original turbine
was constructed at the office of the NGO. Moreover, there were
plans to have a rice mill installed at the powerhouse; however
these plants were never implemented due to lack of funds.
The management of the micro-hydro system was the
The
responsibility of the Bokiawan Farmers Association once the
NGO left the village. The association was in charge of running,
repairing, and collecting maintenance and usage fees from the
community. The Bokiawan Farmers Organization was an
existing local group formed to build and maintain the vital
irrigation canals used in rice farming.
An engineer provided training on basic system maintenance
and electrical connections. No training or aid was given to the
farmers regarding business planning, business development, or
the fmancial management of the system. The Farmers
Association together with the community decided on a fee of 10
Php per light bulb per month. This fee was selected by
considering the spending capability of the community. The fee
covers regular maintenance which is mainly bearings
lubrication. Additional funds were collected from each
household when a component of a system broke down and
needed to be replaced.
There were many problematic areas in the design or
implementation of the mechanical and electrical components of
the micro-hydro system. The penstock feeding into the
powerhouse is 8 inches in diameter; however its diameter
decreases to 6 inches inside the powerhouse. Moreover, the gate
valve is placed on the 6 inch pipe and not on the 8 inch pipe. The
6 inch gate valve was not able to withstand the pressure of the 8
inch pipe and it started to leak. In addition, the turbine was not
fixed properly to the floor of the powerhouse so the operators
piled rocks on the turbine casing to limit the vibrations. Since
the turbine had no by-pass, the operators' only choice was to
wedge a metal rod into the runner pulley to stop the turbine from
rotating as water passes through it. This placed excessive stress
on the runner and shaft of the turbine and caused damage to both.
The runner needed to be replaced between 5 and 10 times due to
twisting and broken runner blades. Additional system repairs
that were made included changing the bearings of the turbine
and the carbon brush of the generator.
As for the electrical components, the size of the generator
was inaccurately sized. First, a 10 kW generator was first
installed however, in an attempt to increase system capacity a 30
kW generator was bought. When that generator was installed,
the generator/turbine assembly was not able to rotate due to
improper sizing of the new generator. That generator is still in
the comer of powerhouse unused since it was purchased more
than 10 years ago. Moreover, the system has no speed control or
governor to control the rotation speed in order to produce proper
voltage and frequency levels. Furthermore, the electrical
distribution system was implemented in a bizarre fashion. Two
transformers were purchased, a 30kVA step up transformer and
5kVA step down which are mismatched. Furthermore, these
transformers were installed right next to each other at the
powerhouse without the basic understanding of how these
transformers work. These transformers had no advantage or
contribution to the overall system performance and were a poor
investment.
Nevertheless, the system was able to produce electric energy
adequate only for lighting purposes and cell phone charging.
The system stopped operating after a typhoon destroyed the
water canal by triggering multiple landslides in September 2011.
These landslides destroyed about lkm of canal in three spots,
with one landslide going all the way down to the river.
The local electric utility provider, IFELCo, extended its lines
to reach the village of Bokiawan around 2009. With the micro­
hydro site currently not operating, the community is left with the
sole option of connecting to the public electricity grid.
Currently, households pay over 100 Php/ month for basic
lighting and sell phone charging which some households are
struggling to meet. Since the utility grid reached Bokiawan, the
community purchased two refrigerators, 10 TVs and some other
appliances for personal usage. However, no income generating
activities or livelihood projects resulted from the electricity.
IV. MAGGOK MICRO HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM
The third and last failed site visited is the village of Maggok
in the municipality ofHungduan. The system installation started
in 2005 with a rated capacity of 25 kW. This system was again
designed and constructed by the same NGO as the first two
systems above. The project funding was provided by the local
government and foreign aid organizations. Construction was
finally completed in August 2006 providing electricity to 80
households until the turbine's first failure in 2007.
The construction of the micro-hydro system was completed
in about 8 months. The community provided free labor during
construction in the amount of five working days per household.
Additional working days given by locals were then compensated
with a daily wage. However, due to poor management, some
laborers were paid and some continued to work for free. This
wage inequity stirred up the community's disapproval towards
the system management.
The installation of the electrical lines was supervised by a
civil engineer. Step-up and step-down transformers were
purchased to reduce the line losses; however these were
unsuccessfully installed. Contrary to basic electrical
transmission and distribution techniques, the step-down
transformer was installed in the powerhouse while the step-up
transformer was placed close to the village. Once these
transformers were erroneously installed, the electric system
performance degraded as expected. After carrying the heavy
transformers across the mountainous terrain and rice fields, the
locals were disheartened and decided to leave the transformers
in the rice fields. This engineering mistake caused the
community to further lose trust in the NGO's staff.
The Maggok Sustainable Electric Cooperative (MAGSEC)
was formed to run and maintain the hydroelectric system. The
positions in the cooperative were elected by the community and
included four directors, a manager, secretary, treasurer,
lineman/collector, and three operators. Out of these positions,
only the linemen and the operators were paid. The lineman
received training for maintaining the electrical lines and the
household connections while the three operators were trained in
basic maintenance of the turbine and generator. MAGSEC
charged new consumers a 50 Php (US $1) connection fee and
the cost of the connection lines to their house. A flat rate of
50Php/month is paid per household for the electricity regardless
of the quantity of electricity consumed. This rate was agreed
upon by general assembly on how much locals can afford to pay
for electricity. This rate is too low to cover the expenses needed
to maintain, repair and run the systems.
The community used the electricity for lighting and charging
cell phones. Each household was allowed a maximum of three
bulbs, but every household paid the same flat monthly rate
regardless. Moreover, many had appliances like televisions and
radios and some had power tools like wood planers. There is also
one refrigerator in the town hall shop purchased recently but is
not operational due to the low quality electricity.
The system fust failed in 2007 one year after construction,
when the turbine cracked under the pressure of the water. It was
then taken to Kiangan to be welded back together. Since then,
the community has always had problems with the runner,
especially with the blades breaking off. They have also
experienced many problems with the generator, which required
constant repairs and replacements. The fust generator purchased
in 2006 is a 15 kW unit while the second generator purchased in
December 2008 is a 20 kW unit. The community has never
received constant and good quality electricity. This is not only
because of the poor turbine design providing inconsistent
rotation, but because of the poor electrical distribution system
and lack of transformers.
During a field trip to the powerhouse in 2009, the gate valve
was leaking heavily and causing the powerhouse to flood. There
were no transformers in the system and the electrical lines gauge
was too small resulting in significant line losses (estimated at
more than 40%). Moreover, there is no speed control or
regulation between the turbine and generator which causes the
generator voltage level to be lower than its rated output.
Vibrations were felt from the turbine when standing in the
powerhouse since the foundation wasn't properly laid. The
turbine and generator broke frequently leaving the community
with blackouts for weeks at a time. The funds collected from the
community were not enough to pay for repairs and maintenance.
Some households refused to pay the flat rate due to limited
resources and/or dissatisfaction with the quality of light.
Eventually, the community lost faith in the system and few cared
to contribute efforts for repairs.
A strong typhoon wiped out the sedimentation tank along
with the entire rock bed it was resting on. This has left the
community without electricity since October 2011. Meanwhile,
the community has made efforts to repair this problem but have
not made much progress due to a lack of funds and the time
needed to tend to their crops.
In 2009, efforts began to rehabilitate the gate valves, turbine,
generator, and Electrical distribution system. However, these
efforts have been largely unsuccessful and suffered multiple
delays due to funding and coordination problems. The
community has been without electricity since the end of 2011.
The locals have lost all faith in the micro hydroelectric system
and are hoping for the national electric grid to reach their
community soon.
V. HAP AO MICRO HYDROELECTRIC SYSTEM
The operating micro hydroelectric system was found in the
village ofHapao which is in the municipality of Hungduan. The
system was design and constructed by experienced faculty of a
university. The implementation was completed over two phases.
In 1997, a 3kW system was installed to provide power to the
households in Hapao and Baang. Baang and Hapao are two
communities that are separated by a large stream and are U.N.
World Heritage sites since 1995. In 2005, the system capacity
was augmented by installing a new 5kW micro hydroelectric
system to account for the increased energy demand. After the
5kW system became operational, the electrical lines were
separated so that the 5kW system provided power to Baang
while the 3kW system provided power to Hapao.
The faculty prepared the designs for both systems and
oversaw the implementation stage which was completed by free
labor from the community. The construction of each phase took
around one month and was completed in the same respective
years; 1997 and 2005. In 2005, a new tank and penstock were
constructed while the new turbine and generator were housed in
the same powerhouse next to the 3kW turbine/generator that was
installed in 1997. The 3kW and 5kW systems are totally
independent from one another since each system has a separate
tank and penstock and supplies energy to a different
neighborhood. The local government funded the construction of
the powerhouse and the purchase of a back-up generator while
the university covered all other costs of the system.
The faculty did not provide any technical training to the
community during or after system construction and
implementation. No professional linemen oversaw the linking of
the electric distribution network so community members
connected their households by themselves to the electric system.
However, this process was not planned or controlled and caused
electricity demand to exceed the supply resulting in low quality
electricity.
After the 3kW system was completed in 1997, an
organization was formed to manage and maintain the micro­
hydro system. The organization comprised of members from the
two communities being served; Hapao and Baang. Once the
second system was operational, the former organization was
split in two yielding one organization for Hapao and one for
Baang. These two organizations have coordination meetings
since both systems share the same operator and powerhouse.
The operator turns the system on at night and off in the morning
on a daily basis. So far there was no conflict reported between
the two communities served by the system.
The fIrst decision that the organization took was to set the
electricity consumption fee. The decision was taken by
consensus between the community members based on their
ability to pay. The fee was a flat monthly rate of 20 pesos for
each household; however payment is not consisted since some
households cannot afford the fee year round. Moreover, the
organization had to control the number of households
connecting to the system and stopped allowing more to join to
maintain electricity quality. The organization would direct the
operator to forcefully disconnect households that are illegally
connected. The organization divides the 20 Php fee as follows:
10 Php goes to maintenance, 7Php goes to the operator, and 3
Php goes to the collector. Regular maintenance only covers
lubrication of the pulleys and a small percentage of repairs.
Further funding is solicited from the community and the
government when additional repairs are needed such as buying
new belts. If problems or repairs cannot be addressed by the
community, the organization contacts the university faculty that
usually visits to evaluate the problems and attempt to fIx them
free of charge.
Electricity is mostly used for lighting with one to three bulbs
per household. Good quality of light is reported when 5w bulbs
are used, but the lights usually dim or turn off between the hours
of 6pm and lOpm when demand is at its peak. There is no limit
or monitoring on the amount of electricity consumed. Some
households have TVs but rarely use them because they don't
turn on due to low voltage. TVs can be turned on during off­
peaks hours once most of the community has gone to sleep and
turned their lights off. Some skilled laborers have also tried
using power tools for carpentry and carving but the tools did not
work with the low power quality. Aside for the poor quality, the
system is reliable, and is only down for about two to three days
per month for maintenance.
The system is currently in good structural shape with two
intake tanks, a sturdy penstock and a powerhouse with a solid
construction. There are minimal vibrations in the powerhouse
since the foundations of turbine and generator set in the concrete
floor. The penstock enters the powerhouse close to the ground
and is set in the concrete eliminating the need for extra supports
under the gate valve. Both systems have not suffered any major
electromechanical malfunctions that caused extended
downtime. The 5kW generator was replaced once while the
turbine was swapped with an improved turbine. Other
occasional maintenance included replacing bearings, pulleys
and the generators' carbon brushes.
At the time of the field trip, only the 5kW system was
operating while the 3kW system was inactive because the belts
connecting the turbine to the generator snapped. The community
is currently in the process of purchasing replacement belts.
Multiple gear ratios were used on the 5kW turbine generator
assembly to speed up the generator to rotate at a higher velocity.
The generator is rated to produce electricity at 220V; however it
is producing electricity at around l30V. That is due to the fact
that the generator's shaft speed is much less than its rated speed
of 3600 rpm (revolutions per minute). The pulley system, with
its present gear ratio, is not sufficient to increase the speed of the
turbine's revolution up to the rated speed of the generator.
Consequently, the output voltage is almost half its rated value
since the generator's output voltage is almost proportional to its
shaft speed. Increasing the pulley ratio is impractical because
that would de-stabilize the mechanical assembly between the
turbine and generator. The electric lines extend directly from the
generator to the community without utilizing transformers to
raise the voltage level. With the generator producing 130V
electricity, we estimate that line loses would be too high which
causes the power quality issues reported earlier. The authors
discussed the matter with the university faculty. The decision to
buy the 3600 rpm generator was due to the superior quality and
performance of this unit. The faculty informed us that units there
were few reliable units with a rated speed of 1800 rpm at the
time of construction.
VI. DISCUSSION
The field studies of the above four micro hydroelectric
systems provide a general overview of the challenges facing the
implementation of this technology in Ifugao. The sustainability
of these systems relies on social, economic and technical
factors. The technical aspect is the foundation on which
sustainability is built. NGOs participating in such projects
should insure that they possess the proper capacity, technical
skills and experience to participate in such endeavors. It can be
seen that a faulty system design and implementation destines
the project for failure in such a setting. A defective system
would require significant funding to fix the errors which is
prohibitive in rural development projects were funds are
limited. However, the lack of funds also require shortcuts in the
technical designs of such projects. A balance between the
essential and the unessential system components is required and
is challenging to find. Studies need to be done on the most
effective "no-frill" designs that lower system costs but do not
sacrifice performance. Consequently, the issue is tied to the
capacity and expertise of the participating organization (NGO,
government, etc.) in such projects. As the three failed systems
showed, the NGO had no experience in properly designing and
implementing a micro hydroelectric system. In contrast, the
experienced university faculty built two systems that are still
operational to this day.
Moreover, the goal of the organization must be clear at the
start of such rural electrification projects. The ultimate goal of
the project would dictate the most applicable technology. For
example, solar photovoltaic panels and small batteries are the
most appropriate if the end use is lighting and cell phone
charging and are affordable. On the other hand, micro
hydroelectricity provides enough power for the development of
small businesses and industrial applications but are a significant
investment.
The second layer of sustainability in rural development
projects is financial. A sustainable system must be able to
survive financially without the constant need for external
funding for system maintenance. This requires a self-sustaining
system coupled with a proper organization structure. Previous
studies have shown that income generating activities are vital
in ensuring sustainable rural development projects [12].
Accordingly, these projects need to be coupled with income
generating activities to maximize sustainability and impact on
the local economy and quality of life. Moreover, the community
requires training on the basic financial and management skills
needed to properly manage such projects.
Finally, the social issues must be addressed. Social aspects
are the most complex to fully comprehend. Those rural
development or rural electrification projects should not disrupt
the intricate social dynamics of these communities. Any
disruptions might lead to losing the trust of the community such
as the case of Maggok.
CONCLUSION
VII.
The study above presented a failure analysis for micro
hydroelectric systems in Ifugao. The lessons learned can be
applied to other rural electrification projects. Insuring the
sustainability of such projects might be difficult. However,
certain steps can be taken to improve the chances of the survival
of these projects.
Acknow ledgment
The work done in this paper was funded by Halloran
Philanthropies. The authors are grateful for that financial
support.
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