"An
Academic Centre of Excellence for carrying out education,
research, development, training and advisory services
to provide key inputs for full realization of renewable
energy potential with thrust on Small Hydropower
and conservation of natural resources."
Environmental damages caused by heavy utilization
of conventional fuel sources, emission of particulate
matter and carbon-dioxide from thermal
power plants & allied industries and consequences of large hydro
projects have forced many countries to develop New & Renewable
Energy Sources (NRES) which are not only environment friendly but
are renewable
in nature, Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Government
of India entrusted with the development of non-conventional energy
sources, sponsored Alternate Hydro Energy Centre (AHEC) at Indian
Institute Of
Technology , Roorkee (previously University Of Roorkee has completed
150 years of its glorious existence) in the year 1982 to promote
power generation through the development of small hydro in hills
as well as
in plain areas and development of decentralized integrated energy
systems in conjunction with other renewable energy sources e.g. biomass,
solar,
wind etc. Since 1989, UP Govt. has been maintaining the establishment
of AHEC on net deficit financing basis under Non-plan budget of the
University.
AHEC offers training to the field engineers and technologists through
organization of short term training courses to create trained human
resources in the field of renewable energy. AHEC runs a three semesters
M.E. Course
in `Alternate Hydro Energy Systems' for field engineers. The course
content has been structured to give an overview of all renewable
energy source
with emphasis on small hydro power development. Two elective subjects
on Renewable energy and Small hydro power development are also offered
by AHEC to engineering under-graduate students.
The mandate of the centre entails undertaking almost all aspects
of small hydro projects including the preparation of detailed project
reports,
engineering designs, techno-economic analysis, providing technical
guidelines for field execution, refurbishment of power houses, development
of biomass
and solar energy systems and creating a trained human resource in
the field of renewable energy. The environment and energy audit of
process
and allied industries and environment impact assessment of small
hydro projects are also dealt by the centre as its diversified activities.
The centre is housing modern laboratories viz., Hydro mechanical
Systems, Biomass and Eco-systems, Control Systems, Computer Aided
Design and information
Systems Civil Engineering. systems and GIS systems to undertake specific
research pertaining to the above diverse fields. Data Bank Information
System and Computer Aided Design for small hydro projects are the
unique facilities created at AHEC to cater to the speedy development
of small
hydro power and other renewable energy sources. Faculty of AHEC,
drawn from multidisciplinary fields of civil, mechanical, electrical,
chemical
and power engineering, has gained excellent expertise in the entire
gamut of activities related to renewable energy and the environment.
