Small hydro power lights up cities in rural areas

In Mankulam, small hydro makes a significant contribution to the people's lives

When UNIDO's International Center on Small Hydropower (ICSHP) first came to Mankulam (in the State of Kerala, India) in 2004, the city was not connected to the power "grid". For its 25,000 inhabitants, access to energy was a critical issue, and a key pre-requisite to sustainable development. Against this background, the UNIDO Center, in cooperation with its local partners, set up a small hydro project with a total capacity of 110kw.

The Organization's intervention profoundly changed the lives of all involved: through the newly-generated power, businesses have developed and flourished in Mankulam, creating sustainable employment opportunities. At the same time, the energy derived from the small hydro project allowed for the city's life to unfold: its 400 homes all receive electricity from the project, and can now even enjoy a communal life in the development center where televisions and computers with Internet access were made available.

Indeed, the inhabitants benefit in multiple ways: for the 15 year old Rajini, the project means that she can study at night in her house. At the same time, the project helped develop a flour mill, where her father has found employment. Today, the faces of Mankulam all shine very bright as they see both the immediate benefits of the project, as well as the bright outlook of the future.

Mankulam is just one of the cities that the UNIDO Center assisted; ICSHP also provided its assistance to numerous towns in Africa, including in Ghana, Mali and Nigeria. Wherever a small or medium watercourse with some head is available, a local small hydro power project can be developed. And, while providing electricity to over 450 households, each project saves 220 tons of petrol or 335 tons of coal while avoiding the emission of 480 tons of CO2.

Likewise, many Chinese cities benefit from UNIDO's intervention: in Chenzhou alone, 1039 projects have been developed with a total installed capacity of 910MW and an annual output of 3 billion KWH. The projects supply electricity to 4.6 million persons in the city, while creating over 20,000 jobs and accounting for over 18% of the city government's total annual tax revenue.

There are, of course, many more "Mankulam" in the world; and UNIDO ICSHP hopes that it can contribute to making, in many of those places, "better cities, better lives".

For more information, please contact the UNIDO China Office.  

or UNIDO Asia Programme

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