According to some experts, the share of hydro power in the overall installed power capacity of the country which has witnessed a decline over the years is unlikely to improve in the coming years. According to the estimation made by Central Electricity Authority (CEA) in order to meet the peaking power requirement of the country, the hydro capacity addition of a whopping 65,000 MW upto the end of the 14th Plan ending in 2027 will be needed. Of this, 30,000 MW has been proposed for the 13th Plan (2017-22), while 35,000 MW has been estimated to come up during the 14th Plan (2022-27). If 65,000 MW hydro power capacity is added by 2027, which is highly unlikely, the total hydro installed capacity will increase to 1,14,887 MW by the end of 14th Plan. In that case, the share of hydro power sector’s installed capacity in the country will increase to 23% of the total capacity by the 14th Plan.
While the ideal capacity addition in 13th and 14th Plan will be 65,000 MW, hydel projects totaling only 47,423 MW are under various stages of execution, thus making CEA’s projections little ambitious. It should be noted that the capacity addition proposed for the 12th plan is just 8,577 MW.
