A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering in Water Engineering and Management

Thesis (M. Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2017

This research was conducted to identify the potential hydropower sites in Upper Harirud Basin, in the central mountainous regions of Afghanistan. Being in a remote part of the country made this region relatively inaccessible for performing any kind of development survey, and traditional approaches for hydropower assessment was ineffective. Therefore, by using the remote sensing and GIS and hydrological modeling the potential sites for hydropower plants (either run of the river or storage type) was identified. Furthermore, in the modern world the viability of hydropower projects are not only evaluated based on technical criteria, but also based on economic, environmental and social criteria. Therefore, the potential sites were ranked by considering sustainability indicators using a multi-criteria decision making approach called AHP. Four different scenarios were considered for ranking of the potential sites, one based on experts opinion which was sought through questionnaire, one scenario was considered socially biased, one economically biased and one environmentally biased. The location of potential hydropower project was identified using ArcGIS analysis. A total of 32 Run of the River (ROR) and 6 reservoir type hydropower project was identified as potential projects. For finding out the availability of daily flow in potential sites, the hydrological model of the basin was created using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The calibration and validation of the model was performed on daily basis in two gauging stations with satisfactory model performance of R 2 and NSE>0.7 and PBIAS<10%. The flow duration curve at all potential locations was created and design discharge for hydropower was identified. It was found that basins power potential for ROR type at 50%, 70% and 90% flow exceedance is respectively 22 MW, 11.5 MW and 9.5 MW, also the basins power potential for storage type hydropower plant was found to be more than 50 MW. Furthermore, all the potential sites were ranked based on sustainability indicators, it was concluded that highest ranked sites were located near the basins outlet which has highest avalable flow. The ranking under experts scenario and economic scenario preferred the sites with higher power generation capacities. On the other hand, under social and environmental scenarios, it was found that sites with lower power generation capacity which are more environmentally friendly are preferable. As a result of this study, it was concluded that the Upper Harirud Basin has a high untapped hydropower generation potential which can be a significant boosting element for development of the livelihood and lifestyle of this poor region of Afghanistan