India needs to tap Hydro Power’s potential; here’s what should be done to remove hurdles
Despite India being resource-rich, hydro power is yet to contribute a commensurate share to its energy mix, accounting for only 13.2% of the installed generation capacity of 343,899 MW. The north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh best represents this scenario, having a mere 118 MW of installed capacity compared to a potential 50,000 MW.Besides what this entails for a rapidly expanding economy, the underutilisation of resources denies the system hydro power’s advantage of starting and stopping generation faster than other conventional modes, which helps balance the transmission grid. This is especially important given the recent surge in solar and wind power generation, which can be uncertain and intermittent.Since the sector was opened to .....