An Overview of Power Topologies for Micro-hydro Turbines

This paper is an overview of different power topologies of micro-hydro turbines. The size of micro-hydro turbine is typically under 100kW. Conventional topologies of micro-hydro power are stand-alone operation used in rural electrical network in developing countries. Recently, many of micro-hydro power generations are connected to the distribution network through power electronics (PE). This turbines are operated in variable frequency operation to improve efficiency of micro-hydro power generation, improve the power quality, and ride through capability of the generation. In this paper our discussion is limited to the distributed generation. Like many other renewable energy sources, the objectives of micro-hydro power generation are to reduce the use of fossil fuel, to improve the reliability of the distribution system (grid), and to reduce the transmission losses. The overview described in this paper includes micro-hydro power generation, stand-alone topologies, fixed speed generation (FSG), variable speed generation (VSG), direct-connected grid integration topology, and PE grid integration topologies.