India is yet to tap 80 per cent of its estimated Small Hydropower Potential (SHP) of 15,000 MW, which can be a major source of environment-friendly and cost-effective electricity generation.
Tapping Small Hydro Power (SHP) is all the more important now as global warming is posing a threat to the environment, throwing up vital issues like drinking water scarcity, according to energy management expert Dr V K Damodaran.
Of the country's estimated SHP of 15,000, only 16 per cent has been developed so far. At least 50 per cent could be developed immediately,
Dr Damodaran, Vice-chairman of Kerala Energy Management Centre, said in a paper presented to the national workshop on Global Warming here recently.
This could be done with private participation or community involvement. "What is expected from the Government is proper, pro-active policies to facilitate development of SHPs," he said.
As done by European Union recently and China some 50 years back, framework directives should be put in place on simultaneous and multi-purpose use of water resources, he told PTI.
Hydro electricity is the world's leading source of renewable energy, supplying 19 per cent of electricity. But SHP accounts for only 10-12 per cent of hydel power, though it accounts for 63 per cent of renewable energy sources.
The greatest advantage of SHP over other sources of electricity is that it is most environment-friendly. When an SHP produces on kWh electricity, its environmental impact is 300 times less than with lignite, 250 times lower than coal, 125 times less than uranium and 50 times less compared to natural gas, he said.
According to Damodaran, a change in policy perspective on SHPs is essential in India, where small hydropower projects are often conceived as mini versions of large hydro projects. An effective policy change-over could be achieved by notifying separate codes of practices, including the use of permissible construction material, he said.
Developing SHPs are also important in the context of global warming and climate change, which has begun to take a toll on availability of water around the world.
This concern has been growing since the early 1990s, when the European Union worked out a Framework Directive for SHP and environmental integration strategy.
Besides their environmental advantage over conventional methods of power genration, SHPs can be developed as multi-purpose plants, combining drinking water and waste-management systems.
Small hydel plants are also beneficial, given their 'energy payback', which is the ratio of energy produced in the normal lifespan of a plant divided by the energy required to build, maintain and run the generation equipment. If a system has a low payback ratio, it would mean that much energy is required to maintain it and its environmental damage could be higher, he said.
According to a study by the Spanish Association of Renewable Energy Produces, SHP has much less environmental impact compared to most other forms of power generation like lignite, coal, fuel-oil, natural gas, nuclear and wind.