Recently, the worsening drought season in Taiwan has made people to cherish more of the existing resources. Taipower has 11 hydroelectric power plants throughout Taiwan, generating a total power of more than 6,000 GWh annually. Besides power generation, the hydroelectric power plant also has the function of regulating the water for domestic use and irrigation. For example, in addition to generating more than 40 GWh of electricity each year, the Lanyang Power Plant in Yilan also releases its tail water after power generation into the Annong River to supply water for downstream areas such as Sanxing, Luodong, and Dongshan. Taipower installed micro-hydropower generating units in the tailrace of the Lanyang Power Plant in 2019. It has also added the "flow rate based micro-hydropower test platform", was officially in operation today (April 7). Taipower said that the test platform allows Lanyang Power Plant to fully utilize water not only for power generation, micro hydropower, and domestic use, but also for testing, utilizing the water 4 times. In the future, the platform can assist Taipower’s own and private micro-hydropower units in conducting tests to improve power generation efficiency, jointly promoting the development of Taiwan's micro-hydropower generation.

• Taipower held the opening ceremony for the micro-hydropower test platform at the Lanyang Power Plant today, allowing the Lanyang Power Plant to fully utilize water not only for power generation, micro hydropower, and domestic use, but also for testing, utilizing the water 4 times. In the future, the platform can assist private micro-hydropower units in conducting tests to improve power generation efficiency.

Taipower held the opening and trial operation ceremony for the flow rate based micro-hydropower test platform at the Lanyang Power Plant this morning. Taipower Chairman Wei-Fuu Yang and distinguished guests from various industries together witnessed the launching of Taiwan's first micro-hydropower test platform. Taipower explained that hydropower uses the flow of water from high places, such as rivers, lakes, etc., to low places, converting the potential energy of water to the kinetic energy of water wheels that drive the generator to produce electricity. Currently, Taipower’s conventional hydropower installations have a total capacity of approximately 2.045 GW, including 11 hydropower plants and 87 power generating units, with an average annual power generation of 4,000 GWh, which is equivalent to providing more than 1 million households with the needed electricity for one year. Since the geographic characteristics of Taiwan is limiting it to develop large-scale hydropower plants, Taipower has taken the initiative in recent years to develop “small hydropower” generation systems that can work with the existing water conservancy facilities such as reservoirs, hydropower plants, and water canals, with installed capacity of less than 20,000 kW . Taipower further defined the power generation system with installed capacity of less than 100 kW as the "micro-hydropower" system.

Taipower pointed out that there are currently 10 small hydroelectric generating units in Liyutan and Hushan Reservoir, with a total installed capacity of nearly 26,000 kW. As for the micro-hydropower, 12 sites have been independently developed, including the Eastern Power Plant, the Wanda Power Plant, the Daguan Power Plant and the Mingtan Power Plant. In addition, Taipower has helped Hualien Fuhui Farm to build a demonstration power generation unit.

Taipower stated that the Lanyang Power Plant in Sanxing, Yilan, contains Tianpi and Yuanshan power generating units, with an annual power generation capacity of more than 40 GWh. Among them, the tailrace after the Tianpi unit generates power has a straight open channel of about 700 meters. The channel is particularly straight and has a stable flow rate. The maximum discharge flow can reach 30 m³/s (cubic meters per second, CMS), the flow rate is about 1~1.5 m/s, and the span of the channel is up to 12 m. For this reason, Taipower has planned the 5 kW micro-hydropower generation unit, which was officially in operation in July 2019.

The micro-hydropower of the Lanyang Power Plant is "flow rate based", which utilizes the spontaneous flow of water to rotate water wheels, leading to the generation of electricity. Compared with the "hydraulic head based" micro-hydropower generation which requires a height difference in water level, the flow rate based method is smaller in terms of scale. Due to the higher initial investment cost for the flow rate based method, it lacks the incentives of development. For this reason, Taipower has once again made good use of the tail water of the Lanyang Power Plant and invested NT$ 15 million to build Taiwan’s first flow rate based micro-hydropower test platform in the tailrace, which includes two horizontal cross-river structures with a spacing of 10 meters and two power generation-unit supporting platforms with maximum moving widths of 10 meters. When the power generation unit is placed on the test platform, the Tianpi power generation unit can be used to adjust the water output to control the depth, flow rate and flow volume of the channel. With with the measuring instruments installed in the channel, the flow rate as well as the voltage, current and power of the generator can be detected, testing the efficiency of the power generation unit. The platform can help developers adjust parameters of the power generation unit, including assembly method or position, number of blades, angle, gear ratio, etc., improving the overall efficiency of the unit.

• Taipower held the opening ceremony for the micro-hydropower test platform at the Lanyang Power Plant today, allowing the Lanyang Power Plant to fully utilize water not only for power generation, micro hydropower, and domestic use, but also for testing, utilizing the water 4 times. In the future, the platform can assist private micro-hydropower units in conducting tests to improve power generation efficiency.

• Taipower held the opening and trial operation ceremony for the micro-hydropower test platform at the Lanyang Power Plant this morning. During the ceremony, Taipower Chairman Wei-Fuu Yang (6 from right) and distinguished guests from various industries together witnessed the launching of Taiwan's first micro-hydropower test platform.

The water of the Annong River in Sanxing, Yilan is originated from the tail water of the Lanyang Power Plant; therefore, the River has been called the "Power River" in the past. After power generation, the tail water can also used as domestic water and irrigation water for the downstream areas such as Sanxing, Luodong, Dongshan, and Wujie. Taipower once again made use of the tail water from power generation to set up micro-hydropower generating unit and micro-hydropower test platform, utilizing the water 4 times. It is hoped that through the established test platform, assistance can be provided to private businesses in promoting the sustainable development of green energy in Taiwan.

Spokesperson： Professional Chief Administrator, Ting-Shu Zhang
Tel：(02)2366-6271/0936-625-552
Email：u742433@taipower.com.tw

Contact Person： Division Chief of Hydropower Operation Division, Department of Power Generation, Wen-Long Hong
Tel：(02)2366-6536/0912-500-520
Email：u010571@taipower.com.tw