Hydropower: An Overview

Uttam Maharjan

Energy is one of the basic components of development. Without energy, no economic sector can develop. An instance of energy is fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are extensively used around the world. The far-reaching use of such fuels has contributed to destabilising the environment, causing, for instance, global warming. With fast-paced depletion of fossil fuels and the resultant effects on the environment, hydropower is being explored as a renewable source of energy. In the present scenario dominated by the deleterious effects on the environment of greenhouse and other noxious gases, moving towards the use of hydropower as a carbon-free energy source has been deemed viable and eco-friendly.

Renewable energy

Hydropower has been recognised as a renewable source of energy. The Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Third Water Forum (Kyoto) have both recognized hydropower as such. Other sources of renewable energy are solar energy, wind energy, geothermal energy, oceanic energy, cogeneration (use of a heat engine or a power station to generate both electricity and useful heat at the same time) and biomass.

At the end of the Third Water Forum held in March 2003, a new report was released on how developed countries should fund water projects. At the beginning of the 21st century, 33 per cent of the people were found suffering from water hardships as per the 54-page report of the Forum. In Africa, households spend 26 per cent of their time fetching water. As per the study by the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaboration Council, an independent body that endeavours to secure safe drinking water for the teeming poor in the world, Asian and African women have to walk around 6 kilometres a day to fetch water. Consumption of water per person per day in developing countries is estimated at 10 litres vis-୶is 135 litres in the developed countries.

About 1.1 billion people around the world are deprived of safe drinking water, whereas about 2.4 billion people are balked of good sanitation. One of the millennium development goals is to halve the problem relating to safe drinking water by 2015.Nepal is very rich in water resources. Despite this huge potential of water resources, the hydropower picture in the country is bleak. There is no denying that hydropower has multi-dimensional use, through which sustainable development can be notched up. Sustainable development in the economic sector would certainly transform the socio-economic status of the people, a daunting challenge for the poor countries.With the restoration of multi-party democracy in the 1990s, the hydropower sector in the country, like other economic sectors, has somewhat metamorphosed. The Water Resources Act 2049 and Hydroelectricity Act 2049 were promulgated, enabling the private sector to step in for investment in water resources. Foreign companies are interested in hydropower projects, but they prefer large-scale hydel projects.

Foreign aid for the development of water resources projects also comes but with harsh terms. Such projects are marred by lack of transparency, accountability, monitoring and financial discipline and by economic anarchy and malgovernance. The cost of such projects would also soar due to delay in completion, exchange rate devaluation and additional cost. It is essential to set up an Electricity Development Board and encourage small- and medium-scale hydel projects. For water resources to develop in a true sense, three things need to be in place: management of electric development and promotion, market management of electricity, and operation and maintenance of projects in a timely fashion. In developing countries like Nepal, large-scale hydel projects are a difficult proposition due to the high cost and sophisticated technical know-how required. Hence, small-scale hydel projects such as micro- and pico-hydel projects need to be encouraged and stimulated in addition to large-scale hydel projects. Micro-hydels produce upto 100 KW of power. Such hydels are often used in areas where there is plenty of water. They supply power to small communities. Micro-hydels can complement photovoltaic solar energy systems.

On the other hand, pico-hydels generate power below 5 KW. Such hydels are used for far-lying communities requiring very low power. Pico-hydropower does not pollute the air, so it is more eco-friendly than fossil fuels. Hydropower projects have elimination of the cost of fuel as their major advantage. As no import of fuel is required, hydel plants are free from price hikes normally associated with fossil fuels like oil, natural gas, coal and POL products. Besides, the operating labour cost of hydel plants is lower as plants are automated, requiring very few people on site during normal operation. Reservoirs built for the purpose of hydel operation may provide water sports facilities. Such areas may be used for wooing tourists, thus, developing the areas into tourist spots. In a similar vein, a hydel plant may be constructed at a lower cost around multi-purpose dams for irrigation, flood control or recreation, which may recoup the cost of the construction of the dam. Hydropower projects do not come with advantages only; they may pose a threat to aquatic ecosystems. Damming often poses an obstacle to the migration of fish, thus preventing them from reaching their spawning grounds upstream. Similarly, damming and redirecting the waters of a river may endanger native and migratory birds. Large-scale hydel projects may give rise to environmental snags both upstream and downstream. The reservoirs of hydel plants in tropical regions may generate a lot of noxious gases such as methane and carbon dioxide.

Disadvantages

Construction of hydel dams makes it necessary to relocate the people who are living where the reservoirs are planned to be built. In such a case, the question of compensation often crops up, leading to spats with the local people and causing a delay in completing the hydel projects. Besides, historically and culturally strategic places may be affected, sometimes leading to their complete loss, which is a great blow to heritage preservation. Construction of a dam in a geologically unsuitable area may give rise to disasters. One such example is the Vajont Dam in Italy, which killed 2,000 people in 1963. Failure of dams can be very serious. The failure of the Banqiao in China killed 171,000 people and rendered millions homeless. Even stronger dams built at a great cost are vulnerable to sabotage and terrorism.

Source: The Rising Nepal, May 25, 2007