India needs to tap hydro resources to achieve 500GW renewable energy capacity target: Power Minister R. K. Singh

In a bid to achieve the target of installing 500GW (giga watt) renewable energy capacity by 2030, India needs to tap its hydro resources, Union Minister of Power R. K. Singh has said.

The Minister made the remarks at an event organised to mark the 47th Raising Day of power PSU NHPC on Sunday.

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“Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a target of installing 500GW (giga watt) renewable energy (RE) capacity by 2030. We will do that, instead we will exceed the target. But to install such an amount of RE capacity we need a balancing source and that balancing source is hydro, this is where the role of NHPC becomes more important,” the Minister said in his address.

The Minister has directed NHPC to exploit hydro resources in the country to become one of the largest hydro power companies in the world.

“I am happy that in the last 2-3 years a lot of progress has been made. The projects which were stalled for long, you resumed them. The 2,000 megawatt Subansiri lower hydroelectric project (in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh) is progressing well. In Dibang (dam), all hurdles have ended. Now this 3,000-MW project will also begin,” Minister Singh said.

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Appreciating the employees for working with challenges in adverse weather conditions, he asked NHPC to set up as many hydro capacities as possible and bring in NHPC in the list of top hydro power companies in the world.

NHPC Limited presently has an installation base of 7071.2 MW from 24 power stations including two projects in JV mode. Besides, the company is also making progress in the solar and wind energy sectors. It has commissioned 103.13MW of solar, rooftop solar and wind energy projects at various locations in India.

NHPC Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) Abhay Kumar Singh said NHPC is presently working on projects totalling 6,000 megawatts (MW) and another 9,000-10,000 MW is in the pipeline.

He said the company will meet its 50,000 MW energy capacity which includes solar, within time.

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“We have made a break up of the target by 2025, 2030, 2040 how much capacity we have to install and accordingly we will be meeting our targets. And we will reach our goal within time,” the CMD said without divulging further information.

When asked about NHPC’s plan of setting up new projects, he replied “we have made a proposal to set up a 3000MW project in Kaimur, Bihar. We are in talks with the government there.” NHPC, under the Ministry of Power, is the largest hydro power company in India.