Small hydropower generation using pump as turbine; a smart solution for the development of Pakistan's energy

Energy supply that is sustainable, effective, and economical has a strong association with socio-economic growth, particularly in developing countries such as Pakistan. Due to the ever-increasing gap between supply and demand, Pakistan has become an energy-deficient nation, with most people having no-to-limited access to power. Pakistan has been suffering from power shortages and an energy crisis because of its strong reliance on fossil-fuels to provide expensive electricity. Therefore, this paper offers a novel concept for developing Pakistan's energy by producing small-hydropower using Pump-As-Turbine (PAT), which is a form of Renewable-energy with lower environmental-impact and has not been used in Pakistan previously. PATs have shown several advantages over traditional hydro-turbines, such as minimum expenses, low-complexity, short delivery time, ease of spare parts, easy installation, availability in a large number of standard sizes, and massive production for broad-range of heads and flow rates. According to technical standards, any sort of pump could be used as PAT, including radial, mixed, single-stage, multi-stage etc. for power generation, which are capable of producing 5kW–1000kW of power, depending on their usage. However, Pakistan has shown little to no interest in exploring small/micro hydropower generation (PATs technology). Thus, this study offers public awareness and forward thinking regarding the use of advanced SHPs and draws the interests of legislators and different investors via solid recommendations about the cost-effective and environmental-friendly technology (PAT).