The Decrease Subansiri hydroelectric energy station, India’s largest underconstruction dam with a possible output of two gigawatts (GW), was initially as a result of be operational by 2011 at a price of US$756 million.
Building work on the dam, which crosses the Subansiri River on the border of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India’s Himalayan area, started in 2005, however stopped as a result of protests over its environmental affect.
Work resumed in 2019 after clearance was granted by the Nationwide Inexperienced Tribunal (NGT), a statutory physique that offers with environmentally disputes. The restarted challenge has a brand new price ticket – USD$2.4 billion – almost 3 times the unique price.
Because the resumption of labor on the dam, landslides and flash floods have repeatedly halted progress, the most recent landslide in October 2023 severely affecting water move by the river.
The 800-megawatt (MW) Parbati II hydroelectric challenge within the Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh within the Himalayas was initially purported to be accomplished by 2010 at the price of US$471 million. As of January 2024, the dam has nonetheless not been constructed, and the ultimate price is estimated at US$1.3 billion. Gradual progress on the challenge has been blamed on “geological constraints” and heavy rainfall.
Gradual move
Hydropower has been recognized as key to India’s ambition to cut back its reliance on fossil fuels, which nonetheless make up properly over half of the nation’s power combine, and meet the world’s largest inhabitants’s rising demand for power.
Hydropower at the moment accounts for a low single-digit proportion of the power provide, however the world’s third largest greenhouse fuel emitter is aiming to spice up the share of non-fossil gas sources to 50 per cent by 2030, with hydro enjoying an growing position in India’s decarbonisation plan.
However progress has been gradual. A decade in the past, India had 39.4 GW of put in capability from giant hydroelectric dams. At the moment, put in massive hydro capability is simply 47 GW, with 18 GW beneath development and 21.8 GW permitted however, for a wide range of causes, not but began.
The gradual tempo of permitted and under-construction tasks has prompted power specialists to foretell that enormous hydropower may very well be placed on the again burner, at a time when photo voltaic and wind power tariffs are falling.
Based on Vibhuti Garg, South Asia director of the Institute for Vitality Economics and Monetary Evaluation (IEEFA), a suppose tank, giant hydro’s share of the power combine has fallen as capability has stagnated. Environmental and social issues surrounding massive hydro tasks, together with the large-scale displacement of native communities, have led to delays and big price overruns, she observes.
Whereas the way forward for giant hydro stays unsure, the federal government has been closely selling the deployment of pumped hydro and storage, which supplies a dependable various power supply to wind and photo voltaic, notes Garg.
The federal government’s new PSP improvement coverage, launched in 2023, identified that whereas wind and photo voltaic are actually among the many most cost-effective sources of renewable power, their “intermittent nature” can destablise the grid.
PSP has been recognized as a viable answer” to the combination points posed by photo voltaic and wind, because it can retailer giant quantities of power throughout off-peak occasions and discharge over longer intervals.
PSP would have minimal environmental affect as it could primarily be deployed on present dam websites, in reservoirs or off-the-river tasks, the federal government stated.
Stranded property
Opposition to giant hydroelectric energy tasks from individuals residing down stream, in addition to price range shortfalls and pure disasters, have slowed dam-building in India to a trickle. The final decade has seen a near-complete withdrawal of the non-public sector from giant hydro tasks, and the federal government has needed to step in to maintain tasks afloat.
In January 2023, work stopped on the 520 MW Tapovan-Vishnugad dam in Uttarakhand following large-scale land subsidence within the close by city of Joshimath. Native residents and environmentalists blamed the landslide on the development of the Tapovan-Vishnugad dam, and that of the close by 444 MW Vishnugad-Pipalkoti dam.
Though the state’s excessive court docket allowed work to restart in Might, development of the Tapovan-Vishnugad dam has been gradual, whereas the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti dam has been hobbled by a funding shortfall.
The price of the Tapovan-Vishnugad dam has risen from a projected US$358 million to US$926 million, whereas the anticipated outlay on the Vishnugad-Pipalkoti dam has jumped from US$300 million to US$464 million.
Value overruns have usually led to disputes, with the hydro energy purchaser demanding that the tariff be renegotiated, resulting in additional delays.
The 180 MW Bajoli Holi challenge in Himachal Pradesh, the 120 MW Rammam dam within the Himalayan state of Sikkim and the 76 MW Phata Byung challenge in Uttarakhand are amongst non-public sector-funded hydro tasks to have hit the rocks.
The 400 MW Maheshwar challenge in Madhya Pradesh has been suspended since 2011 after the developer bumped into money move issues. The state authorities terminated the energy buy settlement in 2020 and the developer has since filed for chapter.
“In India, whereas small hydro was thought of renewable, giant hydro tasks weren’t till just lately as a result of numerous environmental issues. Nevertheless, given India’s renewable power necessities to fulfill its revised Nationally Decided Contributions beneath the Paris Settlement, there’s a have to re-look at hydro – not abandon it,” stated Dhruba Purkayastha, India director of Local weather Coverage Initiative, a US-based evaluation and advisory group.
Hydro tasks have turn out to be stranded property because of poor bid course of administration, improper danger allocation and inaccurate price calculations, he stated.
“The non-public sector shouldn’t be requested to bear dangers past their management, resembling geological points and water availability. However that’s precisely what has led to the issue of stranded property. When tasks obtained hit by points past the businesses’ management, the federal government didn’t bail them out,” he advised Eco-Enterprise.
A senior official from India’s energy ministry, who spoke to Eco-Enterprise on situation of anonymity, stated that India is giant hydro extra as tasks that safe the power provide and stabilise the grid than as commerical alternatives.
