As many as 20 under construction hydro power projects totalling 6,329 MW are either stalled or stressed in the country and Rs 30,147.08 crore has already been spent on them, Parliament was informed.
"Out of 44 HEPs (hydro electric projects above 25 MW) under construction presently, 20 HEPs totalling 6,329 MW are stalled/stressed and an amount of Rs 30,147.08 crore has already been spent on these HEPs," Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
According to the reply, total hydro power generation capacity in the country was at 44,413.42 MW in respect of hydro project above 25 MW capacity as on February 25, 2017.
The total hydro power generation in the country (from HEPs above 25 MW capacity) during 2016-17 up to February 25, 2017) is 113.53 Billion Units.
Goyal told the House that the government has sanctioned the proposal regarding basin-wise reassessment of hydro potential in the country. The work has since been taken up by the Central Electricity Authority through WAPCOS Ltd for completion in about 30 months period.
The hydro projects below 25 MW capacity come under the purview of Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and categorised as small hydro.
These projects include 2,000 MW Subansiri Lower of NHPC Ltd, 500 MW Teesta VI of Lanco Teesta Hydro Power Ltd, 120 MW Rangit-IV of Jal Power Corp, 300 MW Panan of Himagiri Hydro Energy Pvt Ltd, 850 MW Ratle of GVK Ratle Hydro Electric Project Pvt Ltd, 100 MW Sorang of Himachal Sorang Power Ltd and 960 MW Polavaram of Polavaram Project Authority.
In a separate reply to the House today, the Minister said, "In order to promote clean and renewable hydro electric power and make it sustainable, various options are under consideration." He also informed the House that the government is contemplating declaring all hydro power projects (irrespective of size) as renewable energy which would ensure coverage under Renewable Purchase Obligation and qualify for dispatch priority.
Besides, the government is also considering providing cheaper credit to hydro power projects above 25 MW with a view to make tariff competitive and engaging with Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) to work out modalities to reduce tariff by changing/rationalising other tariff parameters like depreciation, O&M etc.
In another reply, the Minister said that the energy deficit during October-January period this fiscal was 0.6 percent with power availability of 365.64 billion units (BU).
Similarly, the peak power deficit during the 4-month period was 0.7 percent with power supply of 153.98 BUs.
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