NEWSLETTER #4 _ January 2023

Dear Reader,

In this month’s edition of the Hydro4U Newsletter, we are happy to present our latest study on fish movement at Shakimardan, where our project partner INBO and TIIAME conducted research to gather basic knowledge on snow trouts and thereby minimise the impact of the hydropower plant on the target species.

In addition, site-specific field works on the planned Hydro4U demonstration hydropower plant in At-Bashi (Kyrgyzstan) have started, led by ILF and other projects partners. Moreover, our project partner Muhr Group worked on the scalable design approach for the new hydroshaft power plant. The modular components can be re-dimensioned for all future power plant designs, thus enabling a time and cost-effective approach.

At the end of October, a joint meeting with representatives from TUM, Global Hydro, Muhr Group as well as the Kyrgyz cooperation partner Orion took place, discussing the current status of the Hydro4U project. For further details and insights, please have a look at our news and blogs section.

Furthermore, the Hydro4U Summer School starts its third round in 2023 providing participating students with cultural and informative insights.

In the upcoming months, there will also be a Special Session at the IAHR World Congress 2023 in Vienna with a focus on Small Hydropower in Central Asia initiated by BOKU and chaired by a team of TUM, BOKU and HSOL. For further information please have a look at our news section.

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We hope you enjoy reading!

Bertalan Alapfy
Hydro4U Coordinator
Technical University of Munich
Chair of Hydraulic and Water Resources Engineering

Author: Venera Baichekirova, Head of International Relations Department of KSTU 

One task within Hydro4U is the development of academic programmes and courses on sustainable hydropower for students from Europe and Central Asia. Therefore, Hydro4U project partner Kyrgyz State Technical University named after Iskhak Razzakov (KSTU) is hosting annually a two-week Summer School for students titled “Kyrgyzstan – Hydropower, Ecology and Hydromorphology”.

The 2021 edition of the Summer School took place from 14th - 26th September 2021, where students from Germany and Kyrgyz Republic were able to experience the incredible potential of hydropower in Kyrgyzstan but also learn about ecological impacts and sustainability related to ecology and hydro-morphology. The main organisational work of the Summer School was done by Venera Baichekirova, Head of the International Department at KSTU with technical support from members of KSTU, Prof. Trukmen Jabudaev and Prof. Nuridin Niazov as well as Dr. Markus Reisenbüchler from TUM. The concept of the Summer School consists of lectures and workshops at KSTU in Bishkek combined with field trips to interesting sites in the Kyrgyz Republic related to hydropower and natural river systems, but also cultural offers such as Russian language courses and sightseeing trips.

The following year, the 2022 edition of the Summer School took place from 20th August - 5th September 2022 in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic. During their stay in Central Asia, students from Germany, Argentina and Kyrgyzstan visited hydroelectric power plants in the south and north of Kyrgyzstan and learned about the environmental consequences and sustainability associated with ecology and hydromorphology, as well as the hydro-electro-technical part of the stations. At the same time, the participating students received explanations about the ecological and agricultural background of Central Asia and painted a picture of future challenges of the region. Furthermore, the 2022 Summer School edition also included a visit to the Orto-Tokoi reservoir on Issyk Kul’e led by Mr. Nurbek Sadygaliev, where they received plenty of information about irrigation in Central Asia.

In 2021, a total of 16 students participated at the Summer School, followed by 13 students who participated at the Summer School the following year, in 2022.

Further summer schools are planned annually. In the next edition of the Summer School, the participating students will have the opportunity to visit interesting places in Kyrgyzstan more extensively. If earlier German students visited Chui, Jalal-Abad and Issyk-Kul regions, this year the cultural program includes Naryn region too, and more specifically Kochkor region and Son Kul lake. Students will be informed about the application phase for Summer School 2023 on our website at https://kstu.kg/en/summer-school-1 and on our social networks https://www.facebook.com/kstu.kg and https://www.instagram.com/kgtu.kmtu/

Within Hydro4U, it is also expected to welcome again some professors from the project partners who will be able to hold a lecture as well as a workshop on the topic of the Summer School.

Summer School 2022, Kyrgystan (Photo credits: Venera Baichekirova, KSTU)

Special Session at IAHR World Congress 2023 in Vienna, Austria 

The 40th IAHR World Congress 2023, taking place from 21 – 25 August, will particularly focus on rivers being lifelines connecting mountains and coasts while simultaneously being strongly affected by climate and land use change. In addition, a Special Session titled “Introducing The “WFE” Nexus to Central Asia focusing on Sustainable Development of Small Hydropower” will be held. Central Asia has large potential for hydropower generation, however, water resources are unevenly distributed and heavily exploited by irrigation. Read more about the Special Sessions here

Happy Faces all around – Hydro4U team met with Kyrgyz cooperation partner Orion

On the 26^th of October 2022, representatives of the Technical University of Munich, Global Hydro and Muhr Group met to analyse and discuss the current status of the Hydro4U project with the Kyrgyz cooperation partner Orion. The main topics of this meeting were the technology of the turbine, the steel hydraulic engineering as well as the overall arrangement of the power plant. Read more about the meeting here.

Studying fish movements and habitat use in the rivers of the Shakhimardan enclave – fishing / tagging / tracking

During the last two weeks of October, INBO and TIIAME visited the Shakhimardan construction site to catch and tag fish. Tracking fish leads to detailed insights on how fish move and to which riverine habitats throughout the year. This basic knowledge is currently lacking on the target species, snow trout (Schizothorax eurystomus), but essential to develop a hydropower that has a minimum impact on the species.The goal of the trip was to catch and tag 30 snow trouts with radio transmitters.

Site surveys in At Bashi to investigate the geotechnical subsurface conditions

Beginning with the first site visit in June 2022, ILF together with other project partners started the site-specific field works on the planned Hydro4U demonstration hydropower plant in At-Bashi (Kyrgyzstan). The main focus of the site visit was to obtain basic information for the subsequent detailed design works, and in particular, to specify the planned geotechnical subsurface investigations.

Muhr Group relies on scalable approach for the new hydroshaft power plant

Hydro4U's goal is to increase the marketability of the new type of power plant and to create an overall economic concept for shaft power plants. During the last 12 months, the Muhr Group worked on the scalable design approach for the new hydroshaft power plant, designing the modular components in such a way that they can be re-dimensioned for all future power plant designs without the need to design parts for individual projects.

• HYDRO4U SPECIAL SESSION: ASIA 2023, 14 - 16 March 2023, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• RENEXPO INTERHYDRO, 30 - 31 March, Salzburg, Austria

• 7TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS AND EXHIBITION: HYDROPOWER CENTRAL ASIA AND CASPIAN, 21 - 22 June, Astana, Kazakhstan

• AFRICA 2023, 10 - 12 July 2023, Lake Victoria, Uganda
• 40TH IAHR WORLD CONGRESS 2023, 
  21 - 25 August 2023, Vienna, Austria

CONTACT

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