The document summarizes a feasibility study conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop renewable energy at a military training complex in Afghanistan. It assessed various renewable technologies including wind turbines, solar PV, solar hot water, and lighting retrofits. Due to logistical and maintenance challenges, larger wind turbines and solar arrays were deemed too difficult and smaller, distributed systems were recommended instead. Contractors in Kabul could install and maintain the proposed smaller systems. The study also considered energy efficiency upgrades and conducted site assessments to identify the best locations for wind turbines.

1. US Army Corps of Engineers
BUILDING STRONG®
Renewable Energy Development for a
Military Training Complex in
Afghanistan
William Stein
Benjamin Barnes
US Army ERDC-CERL
Energy, Utility & Environment Conference
(EUEC 2012), Session K-3
Phoenix AZ USA
31 January 2012
Distribution Statement A - Approved for public
release; distribution is unlimited.

2. BUILDING STRONG®
Outline
• Information collected after feasibility study
• Results from discussion with SSA
• Assessment plan
• Wind
• Solar PV
• Solar Hot Water + Diesel/Propane Boilers
• Lighting retrofit
• Reflective roofs
• Window retrofit
• Waste water treatment potentials
• WTE
• Phases II and III
• Acknowledgements
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3. BUILDING STRONG®
Information collected after feasibility study
The 3 X cost multiplier does not capture in sufficient detail the site conditions
• Logistical difficulties:
• 1 MW turbine requires a 300 ton crane
• Largest section to move by truck is 35m long
• Multiple contractors around Kabul verify that the
largest crane available is 125 tons.
• Theft and vandalism are issues.
• Lack of technical capacity available for
operation and maintenance.
• USAID failures in micro-hydro caused them to
recommend: “In the short-term, make every effort
to slow developments to match the capacity by
downsizing planned government and donor
programs … to accommodate sustainable
development.”
• Rough terrain, insufficient
roads.
Eastern ridge of ANSU site, typical terrain.
Photo credit: Ben Barnes, CERL
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4. BUILDING STRONG®
Results From In-Brief with the Senior Science
Advisor (SSA) to the Commander
GO-AHEAD GIVEN TO:
• Reduce the size and increase
the number of wind turbines.
Five 10-12 kW units tentatively
approved; potential for more.
• Install 50 kW PV in multiple small
systems.
• Consider efficiency and low-tech
RE for RFP.
• Cancel complex WTE plant.
• Cancel complex anaerobic
digester.
EMPHASIS ON:
• Social value: demonstrating that
RE can work here, showing the
public that we’re trying things
that work.
• Five-year paybacks are preferred
• Waste and waste-water sludge
both still require trucking off the
installation, which presents a
security issue. If possible, SSA
would still like recommendations
on these items.
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Renewable Energy
• 10-12 kW wind turbines
• 50 kW PV in multiple small systems.
• Solar hot water (potentially with diesel or propane
boiler)
• Transpired solar walls on the few buildings with
makeup air
Energy Efficiency
• Lighting retrofit
• Window retrofit
• Reflective roof coatings
Assessment Plan
Technologies Considered
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• Met with Renewable Energy Enterprises (REE), an
Afghan-owned company with a permanent
presence in Kabul.
• Exchanged emails with and reviewed the work of
Sustainable Energy Services Afghanistan (SESA),
a company installing systems and training Afghan
technicians in Kabul.
• Concluded that qualified, local companies exist,
both with experience in the technologies we are
considering.
Assessment Plan
Verify Availability of Technology/Contractors
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Wind Power
Installing a 1MW wind turbine is impossible at worst, risky at best
The limitations mentioned above
make a 1 MW turbine risky at best.
Even if it could be installed and
maintained, it is an unrealistically
large investment for a site with no
detailed wind study.
Furthermore, multiple small
resources increases resiliency in a
difficult maintenance environment;
failed turbines represent a smaller
percentage of the overall capacity,
and can be cannibalized for parts if
necessary.
http://www.brighterenergy.org/wp-
content/uploads/2010/05/nordic.jpg
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8. BUILDING STRONG®
Wind Power
Contractors in Kabul have the capacity to install and maintain small turbines
Panjshir Valley wind power
project, SES Afghanistan (using
10 kW Bergey)
http://sesa.af/projects/panjshir-valley/gallery/panjshir-windpower-
small-2/
22 Bunkers ERDC Partnership:
Wind and Solar Project by IHFD
(partner of REE).
WWW.IHFDLLC.COM
The expected payback period (very roughly estimated) of the
new, smaller wind turbines is 20 years, or about 2.5 times
that predicted for the larger turbine.
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9. BUILDING STRONG®
Wind Power
Site Determination
Wind data from the
Kabul airport (~8 mi.
East) indicate a
predominantly N and NW
wind. Monthly data
suggest that this flow is
largely dependent on
immediate solar
radiation, as it decreases
substantially in the
Winter.
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10. BUILDING STRONG®
Wind Power
Site Determination
LIDAR data from the Intelligence Fusion Cell assisted in
understanding large scale features likely to change the speed
and prevailing direction of the wind.
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Wind Power
Site Determination
Site observations on different days and times helped verify
assumptions on wind behavior and assess constructability.
GPS data and observations recorded for each potential site.
Observing wind walking from peak to saddle on
NW ridge. Photo credit: Ben Barnes, CERL
Bill Stein observing wind at NW peak at
ANSU site. Photo credit: Ben Barnes, CERL
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Wind Power
Site Determination
Proposed locations.
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Wind Power
Site Determination
Proposed locations – East Ridgeline.
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Wind Power
Site Determination
Proposed locations – Northeast Ridgeline.
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Wind Power
Site Determination
Proposed locations – Northwest Ridgeline.
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Wind Power
Future Potential
After two or more years, the
10 kW turbines will indicate
which wind sites are the
best, paving the way for
installation of a larger 275
kW Vergnet, which is the
largest tilt-up wind turbine
available. It can be installed
or maintained with a 20 ton
crane.
www.vergnet.com
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Photovoltaics
Installing a 2 MW PV array is risky and expensive. Senior Science Advisor requested
smaller and approved a total of 50 kW in smaller systems.
The technical limitations
mentioned above make a 2
MW solar array risky. Theft
and vandalism remain and
issue at ANSU, so smaller,
roof mounted systems are
preferred.
The same small inverter size
throughout will increase
system resiliency and is
more within the capacity of
the available contractors.http://www.industcards.com/nellis-pv.jpg
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18. BUILDING STRONG®
Sayed Karam solar power
project, Sustainable Energy
Service Afghainstan
http://sesa.af/projects/sayed-karam-solar-pv-
project/gallery/
22 Bunkers ERDC Partnership:
Wind and Solar Project by IHFD
(partner of REE).
WWW.IHFDLLC.COM
The expected payback period (very roughly estimated) of the
new, smaller solar systems is 24 years, or about 1.6 times
that predicted for the ground-mounted 2-MW system.
Photovoltaics
Multiple contractors in Kabul have the capacity to install and maintain small,
grid-tied solar systems
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19. BUILDING STRONG®
The expected payback period (very roughly estimated) of
the SHW systems is 9.4 years.
Solar Hot Water
Multiple contractors in Kabul have the capacity to install and maintain domestic SHW
systems, which have a better payback than other renewables considered.
An REE affiliate manufactures
solar thermal panels in Kabul.
They also import and install
systems.
WWW.IHFDLLC.COM
Sustainable Energy Services
Afghanistan installs evacuated
tube collectors.
http://img.diytrade.com/
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20. BUILDING STRONG®
Solar Hot Water
Multiple contractors in Kabul have the capacity to install and maintain domestic
SHW systems, which have a better payback than other renewables considered.
• The current hot water scheme is many electric
resistance tanks in every building.
• The assessment identified buildings with heaters
in the same general location, making
supplementing with solar hot water more feasible.
• Diesel boilers also have the potential to reduce
diesel consumption per Btu of hot water by a
factor of 3 or 4. Propane is also an option, as it will
be supplied to the DFACs for cooking.
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21. BUILDING STRONG®
Solar Hot Water
Comparing a low-solar-fraction electric backup SHW system to a ordinary
diesel boiler.
A low solar fraction
with electric backup
can consume more
diesel than a simple
diesel boiler.
The “break-even” solar
fraction when
comparing these two
systems, is 69%.
(assuming a genset efficiency of 25%
and a diesel boiler efficiency of 80%)
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Solar Hot Water
Four options
• Use a high solar fraction solar system (>80%)
with the existing electric water heaters as
backup.
• Accept the added complexity of SHW with a
diesel or propane backup.
• Implement diesel or propane boiler alone.
• Heat pump water heaters with or without solar
backup (this option likely unavailable)
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23. BUILDING STRONG®
Lighting Retrofit
The lighting load can be cut in half in most places.
Magnetic ballasts were used in Phase I because electronic ballasts are
difficult to get in Kabul. ANSU is large enough to justify importing a large
order from Dubai, however, and the high reliability of programmable start
electronic ballasts suggests that 10-15% spares should be adequate for
the foreseeable future.
Typical two-
lamp fixture
from Building
229 on ANSU.
Photo credit:
Ben Barnes
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The spaces are also over-lit. 6500K lamps are more common in Afghanistan than
in the US, and the light they provide is used more efficiently by the human eye.
The US-based designers might not have taken this into account when designing
the lighting; one lamp-fixtures in most locations would give adequate lighting.
Replacing with one-lamp fixtures with electronic ballasts will have a (roughly
estimated) 4.4 year payback.
6500K lamps
excessively
illuminating a
barracks corridor
at ANSU. Photo
Credit: Ben
Barnes
Lighting Retrofit
The lighting load can be cut in half in most places.
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25. BUILDING STRONG®
The expected payback period (very roughly estimated) of the reflective
roof coatings is 5 years. This does not include the small contribution to
PV and SHW systems from the higher reflectivity roof.
Reflective Roof
Reflective roofs have the potential to increase comfort in most buildings and
reduce cooling energy in the air conditioned buildings.
Bill Stein inspects new ‘TC Ceramic®’ coating on a roof in
Baghdad in 2004. Photo Credit: Richard Kelly
Coated Bagdad roof next to uncoated roof. Photo Credit:
Richard Kelly
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26. BUILDING STRONG®
Other Technologies Assessed
• Window Retrofits.
• Waste water biogas digester.
• Solid waste to energy
incineration (briquette
machine or electricity plant).
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AwningwindowinANSUsupport
area.Photocredit:BillStein
http://business.inquirer.net/money/topstories/view/20110
312-325042/Garbage-in-briquettes-out
TheBiogas/BiofertilizerBusinessHandbook.
PeaceCorpsInformationCollectionand
Exchange

27. BUILDING STRONG®
• Feasibility determined for several
demonstration scale retrofit technologies
for Phase I and II.
• Recommendations made for Phase III to
avoid unnecessary retrofit.
Conclusions
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28. BUILDING STRONG®
Acknowledgements
• CSTC-A, for sponsorship
• AMEC, for providing food, lodging, hospitality and
security at their site, traveling around with us and
providing information and recommendations in a timely
manner.
• MACTEC, for meeting with us, and entertaining a long
discussion about design changes.
• REE, for meeting with us and discussing their
experiences in Afghanistan.
• SESA, for exchanging emails with us and discussing
their experiences in Afghanistan.
• TAD Intelligence Fusion Cell, for supporting the effort
by promptly responding to requests for GIS
information.
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29. BUILDING STRONG®
Questions and contact information
Bill Stein
Office phone 520-456-1377
E-mail william.j.stein@usace.army.mil
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