Hydropower potential: Some concerns and issues
11 Nov, 2001 · 630
Colonel PK Gautam makes a case for developing hydroelectric power in South Asia
No study of water in the Indian and South Asian context can ignore its hydroelectric potential. One of its vital uses is the generation of electricity. The region-wise potential along with its exploitation is given at Table1. The hydropower potential which can be exploited is 84,044MW (at 60% load factor), exploited is 12, 475MW, and we have under implementation projects for 5,879 MW. The state owned National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Limited has plans to add 30,000 MW in the next 15 years.
As on 31 December 2000 , the total installed capacity was 100,136MW. Thermal energy had a share of 80 percent, hydroelectric 18 percent and nuclear 2.3 percent. The low hydro-electric contribution to the overall electricity production in
India
is of concern to planners. An ideal combination would be a thermal-hydro mix in the ration of 60:40. What is on the ground is 72:26. Thermal plants (coal) or nuclear plants are ideal for the base load, which is the steady power demand all day. Peak load is the sudden high demand for domestic consumption at certain times of the day. Without a proper load balance, it is difficult to meet peak demands. Thermal power stations like those based on coal cannot be shut off quickly. It requires about seven hours to reach optimum plant load factor. On the other hand, hydel and gas turbines can peak within minutes. Excessive dependence on thermal power means that in case of sudden variations in demand, the entire distribution system goes into a spin. The shortages are therefore in peak power. Critics point out that the focus remains on base load instead of peak load. The Draft Ninth Plan document has also highlighted that in the long run, an optimum mix must be coal and nuclear to meet the base load and hydroelectric energy/oil/gas to cater for the peak load.
Nepal
, with its water wealth, is extremely low.
The future of large dams and hydropower is under serious national debate in
India
. Social activists and environmentalists are challenging the technological and the development paradigm of large dams. The crux of the ecological argument against large dams is that the traditional river regime gets affected and the river would die. Also, precious land and forests would be submerged and biological diversity lost. Thus, in the long run, there would be a loss rather than a gain. The social argument dwells on the majority of landless people getting displaced. The rehabilitation measures are not considered adequate or appropriate.
India
,
Nepal
and
Bangladesh
have acknowledged the concerns of environmentalists regarding high and large dams to arise from many technical, social and environmental considerations. It is also acknowledged that project displaced people generally have a bad deal. In the past things went gone wrong due to lack of knowledge, experience coordination, use of wrong technology, inefficient and poor implementation/management, corruption, and insensitivity towards the project affected people. The study resolves this conflict by emphasizing that the key does not lie in doing nothing, but doing things differently and wisely. Lessons learnt from the past should serve as building blocks to promote sustainable development. Water is the key to prosperity in this highly populated poor, but resource-rich region.
Nepal
(
Ganga
) to the extent of 110 billion cubic meters (BCM), 80 BCM in the
Brahmaputra
basin and 15 BCM in Meghna. These multipurpose structures would provide regional benefits through power generation, flood moderation, dry season flow augmentation, irrigation and navigation. The construction sites would need to be state of the art (now attainable) and earthquake resistant. The people displaced would also need to be trained in relevant skills preferably in situ.
Table 1: Region-wise potential of Hydroelectricity
| Region
|
Potential
(Megawatts)
|
Exploited (%)
|
| North
|
30,155
|
21
|
| Western
|
5, 679
|
59.1
|
| Southern
|
10,763
|
59.5
|
| Eastern
|
5, 590
|
29.2
|
| North East
|
31, 857
|
2
|
| All
|
84, 044
|
21.8
|
It would be of interest to know how many developed nations have already made the maximum possible use of hydropower in their respective countries. The percentage of hydropower in select countries is shown in Table 2 for 1994. It clearly shows that development of hydro-power has been the logical first choice of developed countries. Hydropower, as good as the oil wealth of the Arab states, in
Table 2: Percentage of Hydropower Developed
of Selected Countries
| Country
|
Percentage
|
|
68
|
|
0.6
|
|
52.3
|
|
56.1
|
|
56.3
|
|
86.8
|
In a recent integrated study of water resources in the Ganga-Brahamputra-Meghna (GBM) basin, a group of scholars from
The study in formulating a GBM Regional Water Vision 2025 identifies the storage potential in reservoirs in
Water is thus a unique resource which shall be in the forefront of the environment security agenda in
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