India Seeks to Hasten Hydropower Approvals to Reach Green Goals
(Bloomberg) --
India will outsource geological investigations to speed up the approval of hydroelectric projects, including those meant for energy storage, a key part of the country’s energy transition pathway.
The Central Electricity Authority, which approves the construction of large dams, is seeking to hire external experts to speed up project design and help achieve the energy transition “earlier than targeted”, according to a note on the agency’s website. Geological studies are currently carried out by various government agencies.
These bodies are short-staffed, which delays the assessment process, said Pankaj Batra, a former head of planning at the CEA. “Bringing in a team of experts seems like a way to plug that gap and expedite approvals,” he said.
Hydropower is a critical part of India’s energy mix due to its low emissions during operations and its ability to cushion the intermittent flow of renewable power in the grid. Pumped storage is becoming an important supplement to batteries, but building dams remains controversial due to the environmental destruction it often leaves in its wake.
Projects have suffered delays despite approval from the CEA due to social resistance, resulting in higher electricity prices. As of December, India had almost 30 gigawatts of CEA-approved hydropower units that hadn’t started construction, many cleared more than a decade earlier. While many are waiting for environmental clearances or undergoing design revisions, some are being dropped altogether.
In 2023, CEA estimated India’s hydropower potential to be nearly 150 gigawatts; the country has managed to install a little more than a third of that. Much of that prospect lies in the fragile Himalayas, where large infrastructure is already seen as the main culprit behind devastating landslides, adding to climate change impacts such as floods and heat waves.
The country’s existing hydropower capacity of about 55 gigawatts accounts for 11% of the total mix, the biggest share held by coal.
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