By Manish Gupta
India will add 3,110 MW hydro power generation capacity built at an investment of about Rs 45,000 crore this fiscal, expanding the current installed capacity of 46,850 MW by 6.6%, an official with knowledge of the matter said.
These hydropower projects are in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Kerala. Uttarakhand has two central sector projects – Tehri pumped storage project (PSS) of 1,000 MW and Naitwar Mori of 60 MW.
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Subansiri Lower 2,000 MW project in Arunachal Pradesh, of which 1,000 MW will be commissioned this fiscal, is the oldest project kicking off in FY24. It was started about decades ago and faced issues related to displacement.
Himachal Pradesh is likely to see one central project (Parbatti-II of 800 MW) and one private project (Tidong-I of 150 MW) coming up this year. Kerala has two state sector projects – Pallivasal (60 MW) and Thottiyar (40 MW).
Hydropower projects generally take 6-8 years for completion but usually get delayed due to agitations related to land acquisition. But once constructed, it is one of the cheapest source of green energy and is not intermittent.
“Hydropower, which hardly produces any carbon, is very useful in stabilising the grid and is a longer term solution. It plugs the fluctuations created by solar and wind energy. After the payback period, hydropower comes very cheap.”
The country’s biggest hydropower station of 600 MW (Kameng in Arunachal Pradesh) was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last November. India stands fourth globally in renewable energy, including large hydro.
As per India’s commitment at COP26, it is working towards achieving 500 GW of installed electricity capacity from non-fossil sources by 2030. So far, of the 172 GW of capacity from non-fossil fuel sources, 46.85 GW is from hydro.
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India’s assessed hydropower potential is about 145,320 MW (for projects with capacity above 25 MW), as per the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
Challenges relate to remote location, unpredictable geology, natural calamities, environment and forest issues, rehabilitation and resettlement issues, law and order issues and inter-state issues, as per the ministry of power.
