A PROJECT

REPORT on
Water power plant
 ABSTRACT

Hydro Power Project may be used as one of the option for achieving the energy
targets in a developing country like India where center or state Governments have
limited financial resources to put in large projects which require long gestation
period. One additional advantage with the Small Hydro Power.
Project is that private partners may get attracted due to low investment and
quicker return in comparison to large projects. The last but not least is the most eco
friendliness of small power projects which is a point
of serious concern in case of thermal, or nuclear or sometimes in big Hydro power
projects depending upon the location of the projects. Small Hydro Power potential
in India is still under-utilized and there is need to tap this potential for optimum
utilization of natural resources.
In Madhya Pradesh, Small hydro plants are not many , however there is
good scope for developing such plants. Tawa is one of such plants in MP, which
has been developed as canal head powerhouse on the left bank canal (LBC) of
Tawa irrigation project by a private investor. This plant is working in a very
efficient manner addressing both the power and irrigation aspects successfully.
This example will attract the private investments in small hydropower sector in the
developing countries like India.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:

 Abstract

 Acknowledgement

 Introduction

 History Of Hydropower

 Hydropower In India

 Hydroelectric Projects Development: CHALLENGES

 Low Exploitation of Hydro Potential

 Power Shortage in India

 Declining proportion of Hydro Capacity

 Thrust on Hydro Power

 Govt. of India Initiative on Hydro Power Development

 Current issues/ problems with Hydropower in India

 Major challenges and responses

 Opportunities in Indian hydroelectric sector

 Conclusion
 INTRODUCTION

Hydropower is a renewable, non-polluting and environment friendly source of

energy. It is perhaps the oldest energy technique known to mankind for conversion
of mechanical energy into electrical energy. Hydropower represents use of water
resources towards inflation free energy due to absence of fuel cost. Hydropower
contributes around 22 % of the world electricity supply generated. The total
potential of small Hydropower of the whole world is 780,000 MW out of which
50,000 MW has already been utilized.
Small Hydro is also the highest density resources in generation of electricity
due to the reason of being it environment friendly, flexibility in operation and
suitability in giving support in peak time to the local grid. Due to the small
gestation period, small capital investment and quicker return involved, in recent
years it has become the point of attraction for private sector. Fiscal incentive
announced by the central and state Governments time to time for investment in this
sector have further caused private investor to give attention to this sector.
Small hydro power plants (SHP) provide maximum benefits in minimum
time. And offers the most fastest economical means to enhance power supply,
improve living standards, stimulate industrial growth and enhance agriculture with
the least environmental impact and without heavy transmission losses .Due to less
transmission losses there is a reduction in distribution cost as well. Its availability
at the head of the irrigation canals and small streams is also a one of the added
advantage of it.
 HISTORY OF HYDROPOWER

The first hydroelectric power dam in the world was built in Appleton, Wisconsin in
1982. In India, Jamshed ji Tata built the first hydroelectric power dam in the
Western Ghats of Maharashtra in the early 1900s to supply clean power to
Bombay’s Cotton and Textile Mills. He took the British Government’s permission
to build dams, namely the Andhra, Sirowata, Valvan and Mulshi hydel dams in the
Western Ghats to generate electricity using high rainfalls in the hills as storage
areas.
Humans have been harnessing water to perform work for thousands of
years. The Greeks used water wheels for grinding wheat into flour more than 2,000
years ago. Besides grinding flour, the power of the water was used to saw wood
and power textile mills and manufacturing plants. For more than a century, the
technology for using falling water to create hydroelectricity has existed. The
evolution of the modern hydropower turbine began in the mid-1700s when a
French hydraulic and military engineer, Bernard Forest de Belidor wrote
Architecture Hydraulique. In this four volume work, he described using a vertical-
axis versus a horizontal-axis machine. During the 1700s and 1800s, water turbine
development continued. In1880, a brush arc light dynamo driven by a water
turbine was used to provide theatre and storefront lighting in Grand Rapids,
Michigan; and in 1881, a brush dynamo connected to a turbine in a flour mill
provided street lighting at Niagara Falls, New York. These two projects used
direct-current technology.
 Hydropower In India

With the liberalization of the economy, the Government of India has been
encouraging and invited private sector for investment in the power sector.
Accordingly, a conducive policy environment has been created by modifying the
Electricity Act. The new Electricity Act-2003 deals with the laws relating to
generation, transmission, distribution, trading and use of electricity. The Act has
specific provisions for the promotion of renewable energy including hydropower
and cogeneration. It has been made mandatory that every state regulatory
commission would specify a percentage of electricity to be purchased from
renewable by a distribution licensee. The National Electricity Policy announced in
2005 aims at access of electricity by all households and per capita availability of
electricity to be increased to 1000 units by 2012. The Policy underlines that
renewable energy potential needs to be exploited and private sector would be
encouraged through suitable promotional measures. Regarding fixing of tariff, the
government has announced Tariff
Policy in 2006 wherein the State Regulatory Commissions are required to fix tariff
in their respective state and also decide about the renewable purchase obligation.
The Electricity Act and Tariff Policy are favorably tilted towards increasing power
generation from renewable. Now, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has
also announced the tariff calculation guidelines for renewable technologies
including for small hydro projects.
The existing power deficit and a rapid growing demand coupled with
government commitment to provide access to electricity for all has necessitated a
large scale capacity addition program. A capacity addition of 78,000 MW in the
11th Plan (2007 to 2012) and approximately one 100,000 MW in the 12th Plan
(2012-2017) is planned. Concurrent investments in Transmission and Distribution
are also going on. Such a gigantic task is strongly supported and complemented by
the private sector.
These changes facilitated the removals of barriers to investment, improved the
functioning of the system and resulted in additional generation of power much in
excess of that achieved in the earlier plans. Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
(MNRE) Government of India is the nodal ministry for small hydropower
development in India.
 HYDROELECTRIC PROJECTS DEVELOPMENT: CHALLENGES

 Enhancing the level of energy consumption, particularly in less

developed and developing countries, is a global challenge. 20% of world
population living in industrialized countries consume 60% of energy and
remaining 80% of population have to manage within 40% of total energy.
This has obviously resulted in wide disparities between the standard of
living and quality of life of high energy consuming countries on the one
hand and those who do not have the opportunities of adequate access to
energy on the other. It is precisely for this reason that development of
different sources of energy and increase in its consumption has become a
priority agenda of all the developing countries.

 Various countries have adopted their own strategies to provide energy

to their people. In the context of electric power, as an important form
of energy, the thermal and hydroelectric power on a global basis,
have occupied the largest proportion. Within the thermal group, coal
based power stations occupy dominant position. However, this varies
from country to country. The Gas based combined cycle power
stations in number of countries occupy a significant proportion.
Similarly, nuclear power stations have also increased and have been
adding large amount of capacity to the thermal group. During last 30
years, Hydroelectric power generation has, as a matter of fact, reduced
from 21% in 1973 to less than 17% in 2000. During the same period,
coal based generation marginally increased from 38% to 39%, gas
increased substantially from 12% to 17.4% and nuclear witnessed a
very steep rise from 3.3% to 16.9%. Obviously concerted efforts are
required to develop Hydroelectric capacities.
  Low Exploitation of Hydro Potential :

Inspite of hydroelectric power requiring a clean energy generation process,

exploitation of Hydroelectric potential in various countries has been rather on a
lower side.
:
 Power Shortage in India:
In India, though over 100,000 MW of capacity has been added in last 50
years, there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of power. While
in the last few years it has marginally reduced, the peaking shortage
continues to be over 12% to 13% and the average energy shortage at about
8.8%. Indian power system has an installed capacity of 108,207 MW in May
2003, with hydroelectric accounting for 25%.

 Declining proportion of Hydro Capacity:

In the last 30 years, the proportion of hydroelectric capacity in the Indian

power system has considerably reduced. It has dropped from about 46% in
1970 to 40% in 1980, 29% in 1990 and now 25% in 2003. In spite of the
Hydroelectric potential, which is now estimated to be of the order of 150,000
MW, the exploitation has been of the order of 27,000 MW. Some of the
important reasons for decline in the Hydroelectric proportion in the total
capacity over the last 30 years are as follows:

a) Indian power supply industry has always experienced the

situation of shortages both in energy and peaking requirements. To
tide over the shortage in shortest possible time, more dependence
was placed on sources of power generation with shorter gestation
period. Obviously this short-term approach rather than a long-term
perspective led to this problem.
b) With abundant coal reserves in the country, large capacity
additions through coal based pithead power stations during the eighties
and nineties increased the thermal proportion.
c) Emergence of gas based combined cycle power stations based on
indigenous natural gas with gestation period of 2-2 ½ years also
received priority in response to the anxiety to create capacity addition
in shortest possible time.
d) Nuclear power stations have also emerged as reliable modes of
thermal generation.
e) In spite of best efforts at the stage of planning and formulating
projects in the hydro segment, a number of large projects got into long
gestation period of construction on account of various reasons, namely
environmental issues, rehabilitation & resettlement (R&R) problems,
gap between investigations and field realities, etc. We do have a
number of successful stories on the hydroelectric projects but we also
have large projects which have taken several years to get completed.
  Thrust on Hydro Power:

In the recent years, the Govt. of India has committed quantum jump, in the
financial allocation and also by way of other supports so that Hydroelectric
projects not only get right priorities but also contribute in an increased way to
th
the future capacity addition programs of the country. Accordingly, in the 10
Five-Year Plan (year 2002-2007), the target for hydroelectric capacity has
been placed 14,393 MW, which is more than the total installed capacity
(13,666 MW) created in the last 20 years. The thrust on hydroelectric
development is based on the following considerations:
a) Hydroelectric involves a clean process of power generation.
Once the projects are constructed, there is no pollution ramification
unlike many other power generation technologies and processes.
b) Since it does not suffer from the limitation of inflation on
account of fuel consumption, in the long run, it is the most cost-
effective option for power supply. In Indian context, where more
than 45% of Indian population has yet to have access to electricity at
an affordable price, this is an important consideration.
c) Indian power supply system has a peculiar limitation of huge
variation between peak and off peak requirements. Management of
peak load in an effective manner could be conveniently handled
through availability of hydroelectric support. The system at present
does suffer from large frequency variations. Better hydro support
could address this problem better.
 d) Locations of Hydroelectric projects in India are also in areas
which need substantial support for their economic development.
These areas are North-east, Uttaranchal, Himachal Pradesh & Jammu
& Kashmir where more than 80% of potential exists. Developing
projects in these areas will spur economic activities and will lead to
overall economic development.
e) In an integrated Hydroelectric project – there are many such
projects – the schemes involve not only supply of electricity but also
provision of drinking water and irrigation. These are important issues
in many parts of India. Hydroelectric projects, in many cases, do
have the ability to mitigate these problems.
f) Flood control is also an issue and quite often a challenge.
Integrated hydroelectric projects could adequately address this concern.

 Govt. of India Initiative on Hydro Power Development:

The main features of the Government of India policy on hydro power

development are as follows:
 Additional budgetary financial support for ongoing and
new hydro projects under Central Public Sector Undertakings.
 Basin-wise development of hydro potential –
comprehensive Ranking studies for 399 schemes.
 Advance action for capacity addition – 10 year ahead of
execution
 Emphasis on quality of survey & investigations
 Resolution of inter-state issues on sharing of water and power.
 Renovation, Modernization & Uprating of existing hydro
stations
 Promoting small and mini hydel projects – 25 MW and
below now fall into category of “non-conventional” qualifying
for benefits.
 Simplified procedures for clearances by Central Electricity
Authority; Electricity Act 2003 further liberalizes this.
 Rationalization of hydro tariff by allowing premium on sale
rate during peak period
 Realistic estimates of completion cost considering new
development on geological front during execution.
 Promoting hydel projects in joint venture
 Selection of developer through MOU/Bidding route
 Govt. support for land acquisition, resettlement and
rehabilitation, catchment area development, etc.

 Some of the measures announced by; Govt. of India have

already been introduced which include simplified procedures for
transfer of techno-economic clearances, streamlining of
clearance process and introduction of three-stage
clearance approach for
 development of hydro projects in Central Sector/Joint Ventures,
etc.

 The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission has approved

5% hydro development surcharge on annual fixed charges for
central hydro power generation.

 National policy on Hydropower in India:

 With the aim to accelerate the development of Hydropower, the

Ministry of Power (MoP), Government of India (GoI) introduced
the National Policy on Hydropower Development in 1998. The policy
document has identified and responded to the major issues and barriers.

 With Central, State and Private hydropower projects contributing

3455 MW, 5810 and 550 MW respectively, the GoI aims to reach the
th
total capacity of 9815 MW during the ninth plan. (The XI Plan aims
capacity addition of 18781 MW in the hydropower sector)
 Exploitation of vast Hydro Electric potential at faster pace:

The government would take steps like execution of all CEA

cleared projects, update and clear pending DPRs, survey new green
field sites and resolve inter-state disputes.
Promotion of small and mini hydro projects
Small and mini hydro projects are especially viable for remote and
hilly areas where extension of grid system is comparatively
uneconomical
Strengthening the role of PSUs and SEBs in taking up new
hydro projects
The government aims at enlarging Public sector’s involvement in
mega hydro projects and multi-purpose projects involving inter-state
issues, projects for peaking power and those with rehabilitation and
resettlement issues.
Increasing private investments for development of hydropower in
India
The public sector would be supported by greater private
investment through IPPs and joint ventures. Private sector
participation is considered vital for large scale development of
hydropower.
Through these measures, GoI aims to realize 100% hydropower
potential of the country by year 2025-26. These objectives have been
developed in response to the following constraints:
Technical, including difficult investigation, inadequacies in
tunneling methods)
Financial (deficiencies in providing long term finance)
  Tariff related issues
 Managerial weakness (poor contract management)
 Geological surprises (especially
in the Himalayan region where
underground tunneling is required)
 Inaccessibility of the area
 Problems due to delay in land acquisition and resettlement of
project affected families
 Law and order problem in militant infested areas.

 Current issues/ problems with Hydropower in India:

The Government of India set up a National Committee in 1987 and a

Standing Committee in 1998 to oversee the progress on hydropower
development.
This section derives largely from the report submitted by the Standing
Committee on Energy (2005-06) - Hydro power: a Critique which discusses
the actions taken by the Government on the recommendations made by the
Committee in the forty second report on hydro power in India.

 Technical issues:
To expedite early execution of hydro projects, bankable Detailed Project
Report (DPR) based on detailed survey should be prepared to avoid
geological uncertainties. Survey & investigation and analysis of geological,
geo-morphological, geo-electrical, hydrological data etc. should be done
at the time of preparation of a DPR itself in order to minimize the impact
of
risks. It is, therefore, necessary to expedite survey and investigations with the
latest state of the art technology and prepare a shelf of projects for execution.
The quality of DPRs should be of high standard which should infuse
confidence in the national/international developers to take up the execution of
projects without loosing time in rechecks etc at the same time, contract
monitoring as distinct from project monitoring should be emphasized and
land acquisition and infrastructure development be settled and completed
before the start of the project.
Renovation and Modernization (R&M) has been recognized world over as
a well proven cost effective technique for improving the
performance/efficiency of older power plants. The useful life of the plants
can be increased by R&M and the plants yield benefits in the shortest
possible time at a reasonable cost. GoI in its policy on hydropower
development, 1998 has laid stress on need for renovation and modernization
of hydro power plants. Contingency Plan for Hydro Projects affected by
Natural Calamities need to be prepared and made public. National Policy on
Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) should be finalized and made public.

 Infrastructural issues:
There is a need to setup single window clearance for hydro projects. Various
authorities such as the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), the Ministry of
Finance, Ministry of Environment and Forests, etc. are involved in the
appraisal of a hydro power project before it is certified for development. It
will be desirable to have a single window dispensation/authority so that a
project is cleared without many hassles.
The hydro projects which involve lesser risk element and entail lesser capital
investment can be considered for development in the Private Sector. Public
Sector can take up (a) Multi purpose Projects (b) Projects Involving inter-
State issues and in inter-State river systems, (c) Projects involving
cooperation with neighboring countries and (d) Projects for complementary
peaking with regional benefits (e) Projects in the North-Eastern Region etc.

 Financial issues:

There is also a need to off-load indirect cost components on hydro project.

Many hydro projects are located in troubled areas and infested by militancy
and terrorist activities. There is an urgent need to amend the present policy of
the Government in regard to charging the entire security expenditure from
concept and until commissioning - on the project cost. However, the
recurring expenditure incurred on security, once a project goes on stream
could to be charged on the project developer.
The cost of access roads should not be included in the project cost, as
development of hydro projects triggers economic and commercial activities
around the project site and results in economic benefit to the State. Inclusion
of R&R, flood moderation costs, along with the provision of 12% free power
to the State in the capital cost of the project needed reconsideration as the
provision did not apply to thermal power projects.
  Major challenges and responses:

Development of Hydroelectric projects has thrown up a number of

important challenges, the world over and particularly in Indian context.
Over a period of time, experiences have been acquired and India is
responding to these challenges in the following manner.
a) Impact on Environment: Hydroelectric projects do
create environmental issues emanating from sub-emergence of
large areas also involving forest. The Govt. of India has a
comprehensive legislation on environmental issues and based on
this legislation, there are well laid down principles and
guidelines. Environment Impact Assessment studies when
properly carried out throw up the tasks to be undertaken by the
project development agencies. Ministry of Environment &
Forest is working on a plan to create Forest Bank which would
entail creation of huge afforestation with funding from project
development agencies in advance so that this issue could be
adequately responded. The mechanism of compensatory
afforestation through the Forest Bank will enable quicker
clearances of projects.

b) Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R) of Project Affected

People (PAP) is another major issue affecting the smooth
execution of
Hydroelectric projects particularly where in submergence
areas, the number of project affected people are large.

c) Another issue of concern is in relation to safety of dams.

Here again, experiences from some of the very large projects
of the country have led to considerable amount of knowledge
base and it is expected that in future projects, studies and
findings on dam safety could provide much higher degree of
confidence. Some of the Indian institutions have equipped
themselves both with hardware and software to properly address
these concerns. Where required, project development agencies
do depend on expertise available anywhere in the world for in
depth studies and guidance.

d)In view of complexity in development of Hydroelectric

projects, particularly large ones, emanating from dam height,
submergence, ramification of submergence, dam safety, drinking
water schemes, irrigation, infrastructure etc., the process of
clearances obviously gets linked with multiple agencies and
authorities. Short cuts could create problems.
e) Construction time is another area of concern, which needs to
be compressed. Large projects have taken inordinately long
time. There are two major aspects which could make a difference
– one is relating to construction management techniques
starting from planning to monitoring and another relate to
construction
 technology. Here again, there are recent examples of making
substantial improvement on both the fronts. Some of the projects
which have been sanctioned in the recent months are being
targeted to be completed within 4-5 years.

f) Communication with press, media and people at large to

reduce the communication gaps on merits of hydro-projects and
on migratory measures is another area of challenge which is
being addressed. This also needs to be taken up appropriately at
global level.

 Opportunities in Indian hydroelectric sector:

About 14,000 MW of additional capacity in the period 2002-2007 and

50,000 MW of additional capacity during the period 2002-2017 throw open
enormous opportunities for national and international agencies. The
opportunities fall in the following categories.
a) Preparation of DPR for the 162 schemes with over
50,000 MW capacity
b) EPC contracts for development of many of these
projects
c) Package wise contracts in a large number of projects.
d) Investment as equity holder and project developer
e) J.V. with Indian Companies for developing projects
 CONCLUSION

In order to achieve a growth rate of 7-8 % as envisaged in National policy of

India ,it is also required to tap all the small Hydro Power potential of the
country. The encouraging performance shown by the Tawa project itself set
an example for inviting private investment in the small Hydro Power Project
sector, especially in view of the fact that Large Hydro power projects involve
huge capital investment and long gestation period which private partners do
not afford to bear.
The utilization of small Hydro Power Potential is especially required in
all states where the utilized potential is very low like in MP and therefore
optimum utilization of the same may set up an stepping up stone for
achieving self sufficiency in power sector in country.