Abstract:
Ethiopia is abundantly endowed with water resources which by large can produce high hydropower. However, electricity shortage is one of the biggest problems the country is currently facing. Development of the small-scale hydropower with sub basins is vital in order to provide access to electricity for rural areas. In order to help address this problem, assessment and identification of potential sites for hydropower energy is needed. It is therefore necessary to locate the potential sites this renewable, alternate and nonpolluting source of energy. Small hydropower projects (SHP) are emerging as solution for sustainable, eco-friendly, long term and cost- effective water or renewable energy resource for future.Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess and evaluates the potential hydro power locations in Koga watershed by using Multi criteria Decision Analysis.The Koga River Basin is located at 11° 22' 35.7243"N latitude and 37° 02' 7.0250" E longitude covers 280 km2 watershed area which lies to the north of the Wezem Mountains.Different constraints of spatial data layers have been used. GIS based parametric flow duration curve method and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis was carried out in hydropower potential locations for small scale hydropower in Koga watershed, the input data was compiled and analyzed using GIS data layers, including topographic characteristics, discharge and precipitation data.Eleven potential sites were selected and ranked by setting different prioritization parameters. The minimum installed power in this watershed was set 11.74kW and the maximum installed power is 43.58kW. Generally, Koga Watershed hasa total installed power of 241.82kW and estimated to generate potential energy of 2118246.601kW or 2.12GWh annually.These results can be used to select the best areas for setting up hydropower plants in the Koga watershed. Moreover, this hydropower potential assessment can be used by planners and developers for future development of small scale hydropower by the regions