J&K harnesses 23.81% of its hydro power potential: Govt

The Jammu and Kashmir Government revealed on Saturday that the Union Territory (UT) holds an estimated hydroelectric power potential of 18,000 Megawatts (MW), with 14,867 MW already identified. Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmad Rana, was responding to a question raised by Mubarak Gul during the ongoing Assembly session in Jammu.

The identified potential comprises 11,283 MW in the Chenab Basin, 3,084 MW in the Jhelum Basin and 500 MW in the Ravi Basin. To date, 3,540.15 MW, which accounts for 23.81 per cent of the identified potential, has been harnessed. Of this, 1,197.4 MW is from the UT sector (JKSPDC), 2,250 MW is from the Central sector (NHPC) and 92.75 MW has been generated through Independent Power Producers (IPP) under 31 projects.

Regarding solar power, the Minister highlighted the installation of solar power plants with capacities of 41,367 MW in government buildings and 34,300 MW in residential households across 4,648 government buildings and 5,463 households, respectively. J&K is said to have a solar potential of 111 GW, with the majority of this potential confined to the Ladakh region. However, large-scale solar power projects have not been developed in the UT due to challenges in identifying feasible land banks for such projects, with a minimum requirement of 500 acres for a 100 MW solar park. The topography of the region has made it difficult to identify such large land parcels.

Minister Rana also provided information on rooftop solar power projects, noting that a cumulative capacity of 75 MW has been installed across the UT.