The 2003 TCDC (Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries) SHP Training Workshop was held from 9 Oct to 18 Nov 2003 by HRC. Attended altogether 37 participants from 24 countries, covering Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe and Oceania. This is the first training workshop on SHP that HRC conducted since the establishment of HRC for so many participants from so many countries.

    This training workshop which is the 37th international SHP training workshop conducted by HRC was sponsored by Chinese Ministry of Commerce, as one of the technical collaborative projects among the developing countries. All the lodging, boarding, training, pocket money and the domestic transportation fees were borne by the Chinese government. That is part of the Chinese contribution to the South-South cooperation.

    In pursuing HRC's quality principle "excellence", improvements were made in many aspects for the training workshop. New study tour routes were developed and optimized including Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant and Chint --- the model of China's large private enterprise. Around 95% of the lecturers used Power Point to give presentations. For the first time HRC provided for participants with a CD-ROM which contains the details of every participant, presentations of HRC lecturers, Hangzhou's scenic photos and one-hour long selected traditional Chinese music. Participants paid visit to the packaged hydropower units in Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute and its Tiexinqiao Hydraulic Experimental Base which is China's largest hydraulic experimental base. The packaged hydropower units visited are appropriate for the energy supply to the farmers in the decentralized vast rural areas in the developing countries, and the equipment is reliable in operation and low in price.

    HRC's new lab and restaurant are being constructed in HRC and we believe that the participants in our upcoming training workshops on SHP will surely be able to make use of the better environment and facilities in HRC.

    In 2004 HRC plans to conduct two international training workshops on SHP. The TCDC training workshop on SHP Equipment planned will be implemented in Oct and Nov. The other TCDC training workshop on SHP multi-purpose development for African participants either in Sept or in June 2004 is now under consideration and it will be fixed by the end of Feb.

    II. International conferences

    1. Director of HRC, Dr. Chen Shengshui went to Japan to attend the 18th Sino-Japanese Conference on River and Dam Engineering and presented a paper titled "Featured Design for SHP Stations in China". Dr. Chen conducted discussions with Japanese experts on the hydro power informatization in the information era, water ecological recovery, water environmental protection and the prospect of hydro power science and technology, etc.

    2. Ms. Cheng Xialei, Deputy Director of HRC, as one of the 52 experts of the Chinese delegation, participated in the Third World Water Forum, which was opened in Kyoto, Japan in March. She presented a paper titled "Water vs Rural Energy", introducing the achievements and experience in rural hydro power development in China, sharing the abundant experience and new ideologies on water resource development with the peers all over the world.

    3. Invited by the World Bank officials, Mr.Li, Deputy Chief of International Cooperation, attended the International Workshop on Attracting PPSP in Infrastructure and presented a paper titled "Framework of China's Private Enterprises for Participation in SHP Development". The presentation was evaluated highly by the World Bank experts and leaders in Yunnan province government. With the implementation of opening and reforming policy in China, more private and more investors are now participating in the exploitation of SHP in China to meet the growing market demand.

    4. HRC assisted the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources to conduct the promotion conference on international advanced water and power products on the internet in May. Altogether 48 items of water and power technology from 14 countries were promoted.

    5. Contacts were made with the World Bank and ESCAP for jointly holding the international conference on small hydropower in the future.

    III. Global SHP cooperation

    1. The 5th Conference of Sino-Vietnamese Science and Technology Joint Committee was held on 18 March 2003 in Beijing, with the small hydropower development and SHP station automation system listed and approved by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology as the long-term cooperative project between China and Vietnam during the Conference. HRC has been designated as the implementation organization on the Chinese side.

    As the renewable and environmentally sound energy playing an important role in poverty relief and global environmental protection, SHP development has drawn the attention from both Chinese and Vietnamese governments.

    The objective of the project is to explore the mode of SHP development, SHP equipment and automatic system which are appropriate for the SHP situation in Vietnam with the aim to promoting the SHP development in Vietnam. The duration of the cooperation is three years (from May 2003 to May 2005). In Oct the agreement was reached and the contract signed. The automation lab is one of the items for SHP cooperation as jointly approved by the two sciences and technology ministries of China and Vietnam. The establishment of the lab will hopefully promote the wide application of SHP unmanned automation technology in Vietnam.

    2. The SHP technical cooperation with Powerbase of Canada was strengthened. In July, a Chinese delegation composed of Ms. Cheng Xialei, Deputy Director of HRC, Mr. Xu Jincai, Chief of the New-Tech R&D Center of HRC, and some other experts with the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Water Resources, paid a visit to Canadian partner Powerbase Automation System Inc., for discussing further cooperation on Automatic Control System for SHP. The kind cooperation between HRC and Powerbase dates back to 1996, when the advanced technology on the Unmanned Control System for SHP was introduced from Powerbase, as the implementation of one of the "948" projects consigned by the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. The system was mainly developed for the hydropower stations connected to power grids. Being demonstrated, studied and indigenized, the technology has been applied and popularized in dozens of SHP stations nationwide with fruitful results. Moreover, with joint efforts, an upgraded simple automatic control system for the isolated SHP stations is developed successfully, with competitive advantages both in function and price.

    In order to further improve the SHP automation in China, HRC nd the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Water Resources applied together in 2003 for carrying out the "948" project entrusted by the Ministry of Water Resource, which plans to introduce the simple automatic control system from Canada, and demonstrate in Jinhua, Zhejiang province. It is expected that the pilot project will be installed and commissioned soon and put into operation earlier in 2004.

    3. HRC has undertaken the design and complete equipment supply for Corojo and Moa SHP stations in Cuba, both these projects belong to the Chinese aid programs to foreign countries. HRC dispatched two experts who stayed in Cuba for 9 months in assisting the equipment installation. More experts from HRC will be going to Cuba for technical assistance in 2004 when newly ordered electric equipment arrives in Cuba.

    4. In August, a group of 6 Indian members paid a visit to HRC. After the briefing on HRC and SHP in China, the Indian guests expressed keen interest in SHP training that HRC conducts every year for international participants and micro packaged units that Chinese manufacturers produce. Inquiries were addressed around the supply of micro packaged units and the related expenses on SHP training. The 6 members were at Hangzhou attending 2003 Bamboo Cultivation, Processing and Production Seminar organized by UNIDO. India is a country badly in need of energy. In 2001-2002 there was a shortage of energy by 7.5%.

    5. HRC has completed the feasibility study for the Ulaanbaatar Power Storage Plant in Mongolia. This project is likely to be implemented when its electricity price is to be further negotiated by the Mongolian side as reasonable.

    6. Invited by the Mongolian side, one HRC expert went to the northwestern part of Mongolia. Site trips were conducted to SHP resources, load demand, mode of SHP exploitation, installed capacity and development arrangement at the two villages. Preliminary comments have been presented to the Mongolian side in regard with SHP resources, load demand, mode of SHP exploitation, installed capacity and development arrangement. The Mongolian side expressed that survey work and collection of data concerning topography, geology, discharge, temperature, construction materials etc would be completed within two months, and the related data will be sent to HRC. Based on that, HRC will complete the feasibility study work.

    7. During the visit paid to HRC in April by Mr.Polglase from Hydro Tasmania, a company specialized in hydro power international consultation with its headquarters in Australia, both sides conducted friendly and detailed talk on the containerized mini hydro technology and identified the work in the next phase. Also, the utilization of the latest renewable energy like wind power and battery technology were discussed. Meanwhile, information on the SHP investment both home and abroad was exchanged. The prospect for the bilateral cooperation was felt promising.

    8. Cooperation with ESCAP was strengthened. Entrusted by ESCAP, HRC has submitted to ESCAP the paper titled "General Situation and Operation Mechanism for Private Enterprises to participate in Rural Hydropower Development" together with the "A Case Study of Chinese Private Enterprise Investing into Rural Hydropower Construction".

    IV. Information dissemination

    1. HRC continued to publish the two magazines, i.e. the bimonthly <Small Hydro Power> in Chinese and the quarterly <SHP News> in English, distributing to over 90 countries and regions.

    2. HRC's homepage has been improved steadily and it received over 70,000 clicks during the year, becoming the window of HRC to the outside world. More columns of the homepage will be developed so that more exchange among the SHP peers worldwide could be realized.

    3. The book titled "Rural Hydropower and Electrification in China" was completed and the printing will be finished in Feb 2004. It gives a comprehensive and in-depth introduction to the main experience and technology of rural hydropower and electrification in China, as a reference for global colleagues working in the hydropower sector. It is a valuable attempt in international SHP exchange and Mr. Suo, the Vice Minister of Water Resources took pleasure to write the preface for the book.

    4. All together 28 technical papers by HRC staff were published domestically and internationally during the year, much more than the previous year.

    V. Certification for ISO 9001:2000 Quality System

    The working group with the China Quality Certification Center undertook the on-site examination & approval on three independent certification systems respectively for National Research Institute for Rural Electrification, Hangzhou Yatai Hydro Equipment Completing Co. Ltd. and Hangzhou Yatai Supervision & Consultation Co. Ltd. The examination was focused on the capability for realizing the quality principle and the quality objective, as well as the competence of continuous improvement; the reliability for the inner checking; the accordance between the concrete implementation and the ISO9001:2000 standards & the quality management system document and the implementation validity of the quality management system.

    It was concluded by the working group that, HRC is recommended for certification after the on-site examination & approval and with the rectifying measures & effective implementation. The rectifying measures concerned are to be taken recently, and the certification will be soon completed successfully.