The Schoo! of Engineering in Montevideo, Uruguay, within the li-amework of Agreements made with the National Utility, has carried out an as-of the potential and studies of the feaSbility of the use of renewable energy for the generation of electrical power, both at the industrial level and the autonomous level for rural electrilication.
original assessmti methodologies were developed, inch&g calculation tools which allow, for example, to analyze historical meteorological data, to calculate the available energy in different kinds of energy generators and also to simulate the operation and design of autonomous systems with established load requirements and service quality.
At the micro and mini hydropower assessment, the main role was placed on the census of potential users and the preliminary analysis of the representative places for the different technical solutions adequate to the variety of topographic conditions and load requirements.
For power above 1 MW and up to 5 MW, the generating potential was assessed all over the country. If power lower tban 1 MW or lower than 1OOkW (mini and micro) is considered, the information available in maps with contour lines, in&ding in those of a 1:50.000 scale, is not enough to identi$ the most adequate places. Instead, knowledge of the place is indispensable h these cases. A preliminary plan of several installations was worked out.
KSYWORDS
Mini and micro hydropower assessment, rural electr&ation, autonomous electrical systems microturbine choice.
DATA ANALYSIS AND ESTIMATION OF BASIN'S STREAMFLOW.
At first, an analysis was made of the rain gage information available with a methodology developed by this team, which also allows to assess data quality.