Dams, the way to go ahead!
- Shashank Shekhar Tiwari
- Jul 24, 2020
- 4 min read
With India moving towards the future, from being a developing country towards a developed nation, its time for India to move from its conventional sources of energy towards more renewable and environment friendly sources of energy.
Badlapur Dam-Maharashtra
India with its large number of rivers from Indus in the North to Tamiraparani in the South and from Brahmaputra in the East to Bharad in the West with an average runoff area of 1869.37 km3. Currently about 32.04% of the agricultural area cultivating food grains is covered by canal irrigation. As of 1st April 2020, India is the 5th largest producer of electricity using hydro energy with an annual production of 47,057 MW of hydro electricity produced each year and an estimated potential of over 148,000 MW. An additional 6,700+ MW from small hydro schemes is to be exploited. 56 sites for pumped storage schemes with an aggregate installed capacity of 94,000 MW have also been identified. India's plan is to produce 70,000 MW of Hydro-electricity by 2030.
Major Hydro Power Plants in India
Following are the major Hydro plants that produce more than 1,000 MW per year-
Installed capacity by source in India
2018 World electricity generation
Major Hydro Power Plants in the World
Following are the major Hydro plants that produce more than 5 GW electricity Production-
With China(1,249 TWh) which is 21% of total electricity consumption, Canada(400 TWh) which amounts to a total of 60% of total electricity production, and Brazil(373 TWh) is producing a total of 77% of its requirements by Hydro, India(with only 13.6% of total electricity produced is Hydro) still has a long way to go to match that production.
Potential and Low cost of production
If the cost of electricity production is compared the results could be astounding when compared to the cost of production by fossil fuel, where the production of fossil fuel might be lower(₹3.05 /Unit for Fossil fuel and ₹3.32 /unit) at the beginning but when compared to a longer run hydro could be reduced to to fraction of the cost. Taking an example for Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB), it has an installed capacity of 2.9 GW, the generation cost after four decades of operation is about ₹0.27 /unit.
Benefits Of Dams
Dams provide a range of economic, environmental, and social benefits, including recreation, flood control, water supply, hydroelectric power, waste management, river navigation, and wildlife habitat.
Recreation Dams provide prime recreational facilities throughout the India. Boating, skiing, camping, picnic areas, and boat launch facilities are all supported by dams.
Flood Control In addition to helping farmers, dams help prevent the loss of life and property caused by flooding. Flood control dams impound floodwaters and then either release them under control to the river below the dam or store or divert the water for other uses. For centuries, people have built dams to help control devastating floods.
Water Storage (Fire & Farm Ponds) Dams create reservoirs throughout the India that supply water for many uses, including industrial, municipal, and agricultural.
Irrigation 22.48% of India's cropland is irrigated using water stored behind dams. Thousands of jobs are tied to producing crops grown with irrigated water.
Mine Tailings There are over 4000 mine tailings impoundments in the India that allow the mining and processing of coal and other vital minerals while protecting the environment.
Electrical Generation The India is one of the largest producers of hydropower in the world. Dams produce over 47,057 Megawatts of renewable electricity and meet 2 to 13 percent of the Nation's power needs. Hydropower is considered clean because it does not contribute to global warming, air pollution, acid rain, or ozone depletion.
Debris Control In some instances, dams provide enhanced environmental protection, such as the retention of hazardous materials and detrimental sedimentation.
Navigation Dams and locks provide for a stable system of inland river transportation throughout the heartland of the Nation.
Way towards the future
The International Hydro-power Association estimates that the total hydro-power potential in India is 660,000 GWh/year, of which 540,000 GWh/year (79%) is still undeveloped. India ranks as the fourth country in the world by undeveloped hydro-power potential, after Russia, China and Canada, and fifth by total potential, surpassed also by Brazil.
Clean energy is India’s top priority to meet the global commitment under INDC (Intended Nationally Determined Contribution) to meet the target of reducing GDP emission intensity by 35%. The reduction is to be made by 2030 considering 2005 as a base data. With an aggressive chase of INDC targets on renewable energy capacity addition, India can have more than 50% of electricity generated from renewable source, leading the global renewable energy generation in 2050. India is eyeing towards massive electrification of its energy intensive sectors, the majority of which in 2050 will be seen to be supplied from renewable sources like solar and wind. Ongoing efforts towards greening the passenger & freight transportation by railways and an ambitious plan to electrify the entire road transportation by 2030, indicates that the second most energy intensive sector- Transportation is targeted. A mammoth pipeline is to be built in coming years to reach the target of 100GW by 2022.
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