Renewable energy generation in India

Syllabus - Infrastructure [GS Paper-3]

16/05/2024

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Renewable energy generation in India UPSC

Context

The Ministry of Power has recently optimized hydropower generation in order to avoid supply shortfall as peak power demand is set to touch 240 GW during the summer months.

Renewable energy generation in India

India is the world’s third largest manufacturer of renewable power and around 40 percent of established power capability comes from non-fossil fuel resources.
India has delivered a renewable capability of over 18 GW in FY24.
This inexperienced push has led to a sharp 24 percent reduction in emission intensity of GDP between 2005 and 2016, but it has also thrown up challenges in assembly height demand with a grid being increasingly more powered by renewables.
However the reliance on coal and fuel alongside hydro power is favored greater to fulfill height demand.

What is Hydropower?

- Hydropower, or hydroelectric power, is one of the oldest and biggest resources of renewable energy, which uses the herbal float of shifting water to generate electricity.

Hydropower

- - Hydropower currently generates more electricity than all other renewable technologies combined and is anticipated to stay the world’s biggest supply of renewable energy technology into the 2030s.
  - Classification of Hydro Projects based on Installed Capacity:
  - Micro: up to one hundred KW
  - Mini: 101KW to 2 MW
  - Small: 2 MW to 25 MW
  - Mega: Hydro projects with established potential >= 500 MW
- India: In 2022-23, hydropower accounted for 12.5 percent of power technology in India. India had approximately 4745.6 MW pumped storage capability in operation in 2023.
  - The hilly States of India mainly Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand represent around half of this potential.
  - Other capacity States are Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Kerala.

Potentials of Hydro Electric power in meeting Energy call for

- Abundant water resources: India is endowed with numerous important rivers and their tributaries, which offer huge capability for hydroelectric power generation.
- Potential for small-scale projects: In addition to massive-scale projects, India also has ability for small-scale hydroelectric projects, in particular in hilly areas and faraway regions where grid connectivity is confined.
- Storage capability: Hydroelectric power plant life with reservoirs provide the benefit of power garage, which may be crucial for handling peak demand and presenting stable power supply.
- Long Lifespan: Hydropower infrastructure, together with dams and turbines, will have lengthy lifespans, regularly exceeding 50 years with proper maintenance. This sturdiness guarantees a solid and enduring supply of power for an extended period of time.
- Reliable and Predictable: Unlike sun and wind electricity, which might be intermittent and depending on weather conditions, hydropower offers a regular and reliable supply of electricity.
- Clean Energy: Hydropower produces minimum greenhouse fuel emissions compared to fossil fuels, making it an environmentally friendly alternative for producing power

Challenges associated with Hydro Power generation

Environmental Impact: Large-scale hydropower initiatives regularly require damming rivers, which adjust ecosystems, disrupt fish habitats, and impact neighborhood biodiversity.
- It additionally results in risks like sediment buildup and water temperature changes downstream, affecting aquatic existence.
Social Impacts: Building dams and reservoirs displace groups and disrupt livelihoods, especially the ones counting on the affected rivers for fishing or agriculture.
High Initial Costs: Constructing hydropower facilities involves great upfront investment charges.
Climate Change Vulnerability: Hydropower generation is predicated on consistent water float, which may be tormented by climate exchange-brought on variations in precipitation styles and glacial melt.
- A UK primarily based think tank discovered that the drought — probably exacerbated by means of climate change — drove an 8.5% drop in hydroelectricity around the world during the last two many years.
Sedimentation: Dams lure sediment flowing downstream, main to reservoirs step by step filling up with sediment over time.
- This reduces the reservoir’s capability and affects the performance and lifespan of the hydropower facility.
Maintenance Challenges: Hydropower infrastructure calls for regular maintenance to ensure safe and green operation.

Way Ahead

The technique to deal with the rising top call for is to diversify the energy resources by incorporating different renewable technology into the power mix.
Innovations around setting floating solar panels at the water’s surface in hydropower plants — as international locations such China and Brazil are exploring — have sizable capacity.
To compensate for the intermittency, pumped-garage hydroelectric flora – in which it stores energy inside the shape of the gravitational capacity power of water with the assist of renewable energy is being seen as the maximum possible opportunity

Source: The Hindu