IEEE Power & Energy Magazine - September/October 2020 - 22

their operating life can be increased up to 100 years
through renovation and modernization. There are hydropower plants like Rihand Hydroelectric Project in
Uttar Pradesh that continue to operate efficiently even
after 56 years of commercial operation. The reservoir
of Rihand Dam is called Govind Ballabh Pant Sagar
and is India's largest artificial lake. (The total capacity
is 10.6 billion m3.)
✔ Social benefits: Many hydropower projects offer multiple benefits along with power generation. These may
include water supply, irrigation, recreation, navigation, fish breeding, and flood control. The area surrounding a hydropower project usually gets developed
as the approach roads are upgraded/maintained more
regularly and other amenities are created for the construction and operation/maintenance staff and their
table 2. The power grid regions in India.
Northern region

Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal
Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh,
Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar
Pradesh

Western region

Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,
Maharashtra, Goa, Daman and Diu, and
Dadar and Nagar Haveli

Eastern region

Orissa, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal,
Sikkim, and Andaman and Nicobar

Southern region

Telangana, Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu,
Kerala, Pondicherry, and Lakshadweep

Northeastern
region

Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh,
Manipur, Tripura, and Nagaland

families. These amenities include schools and medical, commercial, and recreational facilities. Overall,
the area benefits from general social and economic
development, as the project provides both direct and
indirect employment openings as well as entrepreneurial opportunities in the fields of transportation,
tourism, and other small-scale businesses.

The Current Status of Hydropower
in India
India's power grid is divided into five regions. Table 2 shows
the states and union territories that make up each of these
regions. Table 3 provides region-wise data on the identified
hydropower potential along with the hydro capacity that is
either in operation or under construction in each region.
More than 75% of the hydropower potential of the country is located in the Northern and Northeastern regions,
which account for 112 GW or more of the hydroelectric
potential. This is primarily attributed to the orographic
and topographic features of these regions, which are characterized by high mountains (the Himalayas) and mighty
rivers. Less than 8% of this potential has been exploited
to date. Remote access and difficult geology are two of
the more comprehensible reasons for this lack of development. Some other contributing factors are discussed in the
following section.

Challenges to Hydropower
Development in India
It is evident that India has an important task at hand to increase
hydropower's share in the total energy mix. The hydropower
sector, however, faces several challenges related to policy

table 3. The status of hydroelectric potential in India.
Identified Capacity as
per the Reassessment
Study

Capacity in
Operation

Capacity Under
Construction

Capacity in
Operation + Under
Construction

Capacity Yet to Be
Taken Up Under
Construction

Region

Total
(MW)

Above
25 MW (MW)

Northern

53,395

52,263

19,023

6,381

25,404

26,859

Western

8,928

8,131

5,552

400

5,952

2,179

Southern

16,458

15,890

9,689

1,060

10,749

5,141

Eastern

10,949

10,680

4,923

1,253

6,176

4,505

Northeastern

58,971

58,356

1,727

2,300

4,027

54,329

Total

148,701

145,320

40,914

11,394

52,307

93,013

Values are rounded to the nearest whole megawatt or percentage. (Source: CEA website http://cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/
hydro/2020/hydro_potential_region-02.pdf.)
22

ieee power & energy magazine

september/october 2020

http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/hydro/2020/hydro_potential_region-02.pdf http://www.cea.nic.in/reports/monthly/hydro/2020/hydro_potential_region-02.pdf

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