Technologies adopted by Indian Government for generation of hydroelectric energy:-

There are many technologies that are adopted by our Indian Government for hydro energy generation.
The most common technique that is done by hydroelectric power plant is built a dam on a river to store
water in a reservoir. Water released from the reservoir flows through a turbine, spinning it, which in turn
activates a generator to produce electricity. There is another type of hydroelectric power plant called a
pumped storage plant – can even store power. This conventional hydropower is an important piece of
DOE’s renewable energy portfolio because it acts as utility-scale grid storage technology. The Water
Power Program can play an essential and catalytic role in demonstrating the benefits of pumped-storage
hydropower as a part of our clean energy future – acting as a renewable form of grid stabilization and
enabler for the high penetration of variable renewables.

Hydro power projects are classified as large and small hydro projects based on their sizes. In India, hydro
power plants with capacity of 25 MW or below are classified as small hydro. Hydro power plants with a
capacity up to 3MW and below was transferred to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE).
Thereafter, many initiatives were taken by this Ministry since then for the promotion of small hydro
which included implementation of a UNDP-GEF.

National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) is the country’s largest hydropower producer with an
authorized capital of Rs 200 crore. It has a total capacity of 5,987 Megawatt. Some hydroelectric power
projects of India are Koyna hydroelectric power plant, Machkund hydroelectric power plant,
Nagarjunsagar Hydroelectric Power plant etc.

And now there are six emerging hydropower technological trends which aimed at increasing
hydropower’s flexibility, efficiency and cost effectiveness were the subject of a workshop organised by
the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC). These technologies cover hydropower flexibility,
digitalisation, storage and variables speed turbines, generators with current – controlled rotors, as well
as novel small – scale and fish-friendly technology.

New technology of marine hydrokinetic (MHK) harnesses energy from ocean waves, tides and currents,
and convert it into electricity to power our homes, buildings and cites.

So hydroelectricity uses the energy of running water, without reducing its quantity, to produce
electricity. Therefore, all hydroelectric developments, of small or large size, whether run of the river or of
accumulated storage, fit the concept of renewable energy.