Renewable Sources of Energy: Prospects and Issues

Hydro power

Hydropower is a well-established technology, which has been producing firm power at competitive price for about a century. It is the principal source of electric power in some 30 countries, and provides about one fifth of the world's annual electrical supply. Its power stations include some of the largest artificial structures in the world. The dams, which are constructed during the process, are considered as most vulnerable because much of the forests and fertile soil is lost under the dam spread. Therefore, recent development in hydropower concentrates on smaller projects. The classification of hydropower is: Micro (<100 kW), mini (<upto 5MW) and small hydro (about 5-30 MW). Only 10% of the developing countries' potential have been exploited so far. ^[4] India has large hydroelectric resource with an estimated potential of 84,000 MW at 60% load factor. Much of this large potential is yet to be tapped. Worlds' undeveloped potential has been estimated at 1.5-2 million MW. Nearly 20,000 MW of hydropower is being added every year and most of this is taking place in Asia.