India has emerged the top country in the Asia-Pacific region for hydro technology tenders recorded during the quarter ended June 2019, with 24 tenders and a 42.9% share followed by Nepal at 18 tenders and a 32.1% share.
During the period 56 tenders were announced marking a drop of 34% over the last four-quarter, against an average of 85, according to Global Data’s power industry tenders database.
Supply & erection tenders were 20 in number with a 35.7% share, while repair, maintenance & upgrade were 15 in number with a 26.8% share in the total number of tenders in the Asia-Pacific region. Consulting & similar services saw 15 tenders issued during the quarter which comprised 26.8% share. Project implementation tenders were six in number with a 10.7% share.
India has targeted a total hydel power generation capacity addition of 1,190 MW during the year. If achieved, India’s hydel capacity will cross 50 GW and touch 51.18 GW this year.
At present large hydel capacity stands at around 45,399 MW while small hydel is around 4594 MW totaling 49.99 GW. Last year the government had targeted hydel capacity addition of 840 MW but it managed to achieve only 140 MW.
According to plans, this year central sector NEEPCO will be adding the highest capacity of 600 MW at Kameng Hydel Power project in Arunachal Pradesh. State government of Himachal Pradesh will be adding another 211 MW in the state. These would include three units of 33.33 MW by state government-owned BVPCL and three units of 37 MW by Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd.
Three private sector companies are also scheduled to add around 379 MW. These are GMR’s Bajoli Holi project in Himachal Pradesh with a total capacity of 3 x 60 MW, L&T’s Singoli Bhatwari project in Uttarakhand with a total capacity of 2 x 33 MW and Sorang hydel project with proposed capacity of 2 x 50 MW at Uttarakhand.
According to the schedule prepared by Central Electricity Authority, the country is likely to cross the 50 GW installed capacity mark this month if NEEPCO manages to commission its proposed unit 1 and 2 of the Kameng project. These are to have a generation capacity of 150 MW each and are scheduled to be commissioned this month. It is slated to start commercial operation in August.
Last year, hydel power plants achieved a 7% year-on-year growth in power generation at 135 billion units. It contributed 10% of the total power generation for the year among conventional power generation sources.
At present, the largest hydel generation capacity is in north India at 19.7 GW followed by South at 11.77 GW. Western India has a total installed capacity of around 7.55 GW followed by East at 4.94 GW.
