State harnesses only 38% hydro power

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 21

Though bestowed with an abundance of aquatic resources, Himachal has so far been able to harness just about 38 per cent of its total identified hydro power generation potential.

The hill state has a total identified hydro power potential of 27,436 MW, but only 10,547 MW has been harnessed so far, according to data compiled by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) that functions under the Union Ministry of Power.

The high initial cost of setting up hydro power projects, long gestation period as well as relatively low private sector participation are a deterrent to exploiting the potential.

While 755 MW of potential has been forgone due to various technical and administrative factors, 9,136 MW is at the clearance and investigation stage. Another 2,885 MW is at the construction stage, according to the CEA data.

To counter high costs and long gestation period, the state government has come up with a policy intervention deferring the 12 per cent free power share that was to come in the first 12 years of the project getting commissioned, which has been viewed as a motivation and a turning point in some of the projects. The share will now be recovered in the next 28 years at a uniform percentage rate without any periodic incremental slabs. To encourage the private sector, the premium on power generation has been reduced to Rs I lakh per MW and the government is allotting land at a cost of just Re 1, thereby drastically reducing costs.

The state government has also made it mandatory for Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited to purchase all power generated by projects up to 25 MW, not only giving a new lease of life to small hydro projects, but also addressing concerns about the sale and supply of the electricity produced by them.