The modernization of hydraulic infrastructure in irrigation, from traditional channels and ditches to pressurized networks, has led to significant improvement of the water efficiency (conveyance and consumption). Nevertheless, this fact brought a dramatic increase of the energy consumption, causing impacts on farming margins and operational costs.
On-demand irrigation networks have the main advantage of offering continuous water availability, giving a great flexibility to farmers for irrigating. However, the occurrence of areas with excess pressure, which must be dissipated in some way, has become more frequent. Micro-hydropower turbines for energy recovery arise as an attractive solution to counteract the negative impacts due to the high energy cost of the process. Given the seasonality of the activity, cost-effective solutions are in dire need and hydropower stands out as a technology capable of bringing electricity to remote places with no grid connection where an excessive water pressure to be dissipated within an irrigation pipe.
