Hydropower: A low-hanging sour-sweet energy option for India

Abstract

India is the world's second largest populous nation, fifth largest economy with seventh largest geographical area but experiences high energy poverty. With the lowest per capita energy consumption among world's top ten economies, India ranks at 137 out of 218 nations. Hydropower has the potential to alleviate India's energy asymmetry as well as realize its sustainable growth aspiration of a low-carbon regime. However, hydropower in India has been plagued by debates on human displacement, loss of biodiversity, increased risk of natural disasters, and socio-economic conflicts making it an unpopular energy alternative. Here, we review and address various concerns related to India's hydropower sector, examine scientific evidence, analyze energy policy imperatives, geopolitical considerations, and future directions for a sustainable hydropower policy in India in the context of ongoing climate change. Evidence indicates that besides electricity generation, hydropower infrastructure helps: (i) avert floods, (ii) mitigate the impacts of global warming, and (iii) ensure redistribution of water to arid regions and improve water security. As a part of sustainable hydropower policy, we propose that most of the ecological and social problems associated with hydropower development can be avoided to a great extent through careful planning, proper project design, responsible ownership, and public participation. As short-term measures, we propose: (i) entrepreneurs and planners follow credible and transparent pre-project investigations, (ii) mandatory implementation of environmental management plans, and (iii) better accountability and transparency of statutory bodies as well as hydropower developers. For long-term measures, we suggest: (i) create a 'National Institute of Energy & Environmental Sustainability' to oversee post-project hydropower developmental activities, (ii) streamline various bureaucratic and institutional procedures, and (ii) establish a trans-boundary water management system for seamless and coordinated implementation of hydropower development programs across upstream-downstream nations.

Keywords: Dams; Energy poverty; Environmental management plans; Global warming; Greenhouse gases; Hydropower.

Fig. 1

Distribution of hydropower projects across India. Although, the hydropower infrastructure is spread across different states and regions, a larger number is located/proposed in the Himalayan mountains which is the main reason for the controversy surrounding hydro-projects and dams.

Fig. 2

Ranking of nations based on electricity consumption (kWh/year) and GDP per capita (US$) a. World map showing the nation-wise electricity consumption (kWh/year). b. Ranking of some the selected countries in different continents, based on electricity consumption and GDP per capita. The values on Y-axis represent electricity consumption, while X-axis represents the various countries. Bubble size reflects the relative values of GDP per capita of each country with bigger size representing higher GDP per capita. Note the USA ranks at 10, China at 47 and India at 137 globally in terms of electricity consumption per capita. (Data sourced from World Bank [47,48]).

Fig. 3

Relative greenhouse gas emissions (CO₂e/GWh) as average emission intensity by electricity generation source. The bars represent the minimum and maximum (range) of emissions associated with each source (Source: World Nuclear Association [49]).

Fig. 4

Public support for various energy sources expressed as acceptability or favourability for different energy sources (Modified after Corner et al. [22]).