The Tehri Dam

Tehri is the highest dam in India and tenth tallest dam in the world.  It is a multi-purpose rock and earth-fill embankment dam on the Bhagirathi River near Tehri in Uttarakhand, India.  The dam is a 260.5 metres (855 ft) high rock and earth-fill embankment dam. Its length is 575 metres. Tehri Hydro Power Complex (2400 MW), comprises the following components:

• Tehri Dam & Hydro Power Plant (1000 MW)
• Koteshwar Hydro Electric Project (400 MW)
• Tehri Pumped Storage Plant (PSP) (1000 MW) (Totalcapacity   2400 MW)

The Koyna Hydroelectric Dam

is the second largest hydroelectric power plant of India. The total Installed capacity of the project is 1,960 MW. The project consists of 4 stages of power generation. All the generators are located in the underground Powerhouses excavated deep inside the surrounding mountains of the Western Ghats. A dam foot powerhouse also contributes to the electricity generation.

The Srisailam Dam

is a dam constructed across the Krishna River at Srisailam in the Kurnool district in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India and is the 3rd largest capacity hydroelectric project in the country with 1,670 MW generation of electricity.

The Nathpa Jhakri Dam

is a concrete gravity dam on the Satluj River in Himachal Pradesh, India. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production and it supplies a 1,500 MW underground power station with water.

The Sardar Sarovar Dam

It is a gravity dam on the Narmada River near Navagam, Gujarat in India. It is the largest dam and part of the Narmada Valley Project, a large hydraulic engineering project involving the construction of a series of large irrigation and hydroelectric multi-purpose dams on the Narmada River.

THERMAL POWER PROJECTS

Construction cost of thermal power stations are comparatively less than that of hydel power, though recurring cost to run the plant and cost of fuel is, of course, greater. Raw materials used in thermal plants, specially coal, are bulky and weight-losing in character. So, it is not too economic to set up thermal plants very far from coal belt. On the  other hand, energy loss due to power transmission to distant areas also prohibits the location to be very far from consumer centres.

STATE-WISE DISTRIBUTION

West Bengal Despite the advantage of early growth, is now facing one of the worst power crisis in recent decades. Though steps were taken to install a number of thermal power plants to tide over the long-drawn crisis.

West Bengal State Electricity Board and Power Development Corporation of Bengal is running number of power plants at Bandal, Santhaldihi and Kolaghat. N.T.P.C. has a super thermal plant at Farakka. An ambitious project to construct a thermal power plant is going on at Bakreswar. In Eighth Plan, Sagardighi was selected for the construction of another power plant.

DVC[2] has set up number of power plants in this state. Durgapur Project Limited has its plant at Durgapur; Mejhia is the proposed site for coming D.V.C. project.

BiharD.V.C has set up two power stations at Chandrapura and Bokaro. After independence Patratu and Barauni thermal stations were constructed. All these plants are favourably situated within the coal-belt of Bihar.

Uttar Pradesh First thermal power plant in Uttar Pradesh was established in 1942, near Aligarh. Since then, specially after independence, several plants came into existence. According to the master-plan, policy of decentralization was adopted to avoid regional imbalance of power distribution. Near Rihand dam, obra thermal power plant was constructed.

Delhi  ‘National capital region’ takes power from central power grid. In Delhi metropolitan region only Badarpur thermal power station is located.

Madhya Pradesh - Biggest power station in Madhya Pradesh is situated near the coal mines of Kobra, Another old power plant is located at Patterkeda of Betul district.

Gujarat  Dhuvaran is the only important thermal power station in Gujarat.

Maharashtra- Koradi, near Nagpur, is having the most important thermal power plant of Maharashtra except those managed by ‘Mumbai Electric Supply Corporation”.

Andhra Pradesh - Kotha Gudam thermal power project is the only big thermal power project in the state.

Tamil Nadu - Though the state is mostly dependent upon hydel power, due to water scarcity in summer, the Government is trying earnestly to develop few thermal power plants in the state. Neyveli Thermal Project collects coal from the Neyveli lignite mines. To provide electricity to the Chennai urban region, near Ennore a power plant was established.

Orissa - Orissa is mostly a hydel power based state. It has a super power plant at Talcher.

UMPPs

Ultra Mega power projects are an extension of MPPs of 1990s being designed to bridge the power gap our country is facing. Each UMPPs to have an IC of 4000 MW. Due to high scale of production the cost of productions will be lower. For example Mundra in Gujarat is functional with 4000 MW IC.

Oil and Natural Gas

The area having the possibilities of oil extends over 17.2 lakh sq. km. Of this total sedimentary basin area, 3 lakh 20 thousand is an offshore area found up to a depth of 200 metres. There are 13 important basins bearing oil strata which can be put in three categories. Cambay basin, upper Assam and Mumbai offshore basin are petroferous basins from where commercial production is being taken. Rajasthan, Cauveri-Krishana-Godavari basin, Andaman, West Bengal, Himalayan foothills, Ganga-valley and Tripura Nagaland fold belt are known to have petroleum-bearing strata but commercial production from these regions has not been started. Kachch-Saurashtra, Kerala-Konkan and Mahanadi have geological structures favoring occurrence of petroleum hence these basins are considered to be prospective regions.

India’s position regarding production of petroleum is not satisfactory. For a long period, Assam has been our only source of petroleum. After Assam, Mumbai High and Gujarat emerged as big producers. Production of mineral oil was just 2.5 lakh tonnes in 1950-51 while the consumption at that time was 34 lakh tonnes. Crude oil production reached a level of 34 million metric tomes.

The oil refining is done in 12 refineries in India with an aggregate refining capacity of 777.97 mmt per annum.

Natural gas has emerged as an important source of commercial energy in view of large reserves that have been established in the country particularly in South Basin of West Coast of India. As in 2014-15, India had 69tcf of recoverable gas reserves. Thus, there has been an increase of nearly six and a half times in a short span of nearly ten years. Natural gas is being obtained from Cauveri Offshore, Nada in Cambay Basin and Tanot in Jaisalmer district in Rajasthan. Natural gas is also making  significant contribution to household sector by way of LPG extracted from associated gas. The HBJ (Hazira-Bijapur-Jagdispur) pipeline is a big venture of transporting as through pipeline.

NATURAL GAS

Natural gas has emerged as the most preferred fuel due to its inherent environmentally benign nature, greater efficiency and cost effectiveness. The demand of natural gas has sharply increased in the last two decades at the global level. In India too, the natural gas sector has gained importance, particularly over the last decade, and is being termed as the Fuel of the 21st Century.

Production of natural gas, which was almost negligible at the time of independence, is at present at the level of around 105-110 million standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD). The main producers of natural gas are Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), Oil India Limited (OIL) and JVs of Tapti, Panna-Mukta and Ravva. Under the Production Sharing Contracts, private parties from some of the fields are also producing gas. Government have also offered blocks under New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) to private and public sector companies with the right to market gas at market determined prices.

Most of the production of gas comes from the Western offshore area. The on-shore fields in Assam, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat States are other major producers of gas. Smaller quantities of gas are also produced in Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan States. OIL is operating in Assam and Rajasthan States, whereas ONGC is operating in the Western offshore fields and in other states. The gas produced by ONGC and a part of gas produced by the JV consortiums is marketed by the GAIL (India) Ltd. The gas produced by OIL is marketed by OIL itself except in Rajasthan where GAIL is marketing its gas. Gas produced by Cairn Energy from Lakshmi fields and Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation Ltd. (GSPCL) from Hazira fields is being sold directly by them at market determined prices.

UTILISATION OF NATURAL GAS

The gas produced in the western offshore fields is brought to Uran and is partly utilised at Hazira and the rest is fed into the Hazira-Bijaipur-Jagdhishpur(HBJ) pipeline which passes through Gujarat, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, U.P., Delhi and Haryana. The gas produced in Gujarat, Assam, etc; is utilised within the respective states.

IMPORT OF NATURAL GAS TO INDIA THROUGH TRANSNATIONAL GAS PIPELINES

Three pipelines at various stages of planning

• (a)        Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) Pipeline Project
• (b)        Myanmar-Bangladesh-India Gas Pipeline Project.
• (c)        Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan (TAP) pipeline from Daulatabad area of Turkmenistan

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

LNG is transported in specially built ships with cryogenic tanks. LNG projects are highly capital intensive in nature. The whole process consists of five elements:-

• Dedicated gas field development and production.
• Liquefaction plant.
• Transportation in special vessels.
• Regassification Plant.
• Transportation & distribution to the Gas consumer.

The major exporting countries of LNG are Algeria, Qatar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, whereas, the major importers are Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Western Europe.

In order to encourage gas imports, the Government of India has kept import of LNG under Open General License (OGL) category and has permitted 100% FDI.

LNG Projects

Petronet LNG Limited (PLL), a JV promoted by GAIL, IOCL, BPCL and

Shell's 2.5 MMTPA capacity LNG terminal at Hazira has been commissioned. Dabhol LNG terminals at Kochi in Kerala, Mangalore in Karnataka and Krishnapatnam/Ennore in Tamil Nadu are also under active consideration and may fructify in next 4-5 years time.

Nuclear Power

Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity. Even then, as per the data released by Central Electrical Authority (CEA), out of the total 302.83 GW installed capacity of India, Nuclear Power accounts for a 5.7 GW

Nuclear power is obtained from uranium and thorium. Uranium is available in the copper belt of Bihar and the rocks of Aravalli range in Rajasthan. The monazite sands on the Kerala coasts also contain uranium. It is also obtained from the mica mines in Gaya (Bihar), Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), and Udaipur and Jaipur districts of Rajasthan.

Although nuclear power contributes only 2% of our total power generation at present, it has vast potential for future development. It requires quite higher technology to develop nuclear power which India has fortunately attained now.

India is one of the six countries, i.e. USA, Russia, U.K., France and Canada, which has developed the capability of designing, constructing, commissioning and operating a nuclear power station without any help from outside.

Most of the nuclear power stations in India have been constructed near sources of water because it is required in great quantity for cooling purposes. The first nuclear power station was located at Tarapur in 1969. The other plants are located at Kalpakkam near Chennai, Kota in Rajasthan , Narora in Bulandshahar district of Uttar Pradesh,  Kaiga in Karnataka , kakrapar in Gujrat and a new plant is been set up in Koondkulkam in Tamil Nadu with Russian collaboration. 

Future projects

• French-backed 9,900 MW Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project in Maharashtra
• Mithi Virdi in Gujarat
• 9,564 MW Kovvada nuclear power project
• 2 x 700 MW Gorakhpur nuclear power plant coming up in Haryana
• 2 x 700 MW Chutka Madhya Pradesh Atomic Power Project (CMPAPP).

Other Energy Sources[3]

India does not lack in renewable energy resources such as sunlight, biomass and wind. Ours is the only nation in the world to have a dedicated ministry for the same, the Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), which is now known as the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. The department is responsible for promoting renewable energy technologies, creating conducive environment for promotion and commercialization of these technologies, resource assessment, extension, etc. India can definitely look towards using non-polluting renewable sources of energy. By doing so, it will not only meet the needs of the required power but will also create millions of jobs. India must think of wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal and biogas as alternate sources of energy.

At present, India's installed power capacity is 302.83 GW with renewable energy contributing 39.26GW or 13%. The focus is now on mainstreaming renewable energy technologies so that it becomes cost-effective.

India is the fifth largest wind energy producer in the world. Rest of the energy is constituted by small hydro power, bio-energy and solar energy.

India is new to wind power, which started in 1990s, but within a short span of time, our country has become the fifth largest country in terms of total installed capacity of wind power. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and West Bengal are the main states where wind power plants of different capacity have been installed. Out of total power of the country, 1.6% is generated through wind.

Solar energy is an inexhaustible source of energy available in abundance in India. Every year, India is showered with about 5,000 TWh of solar power. Power problem in India can be solved even by utilising a tenth of this available resource.

The Indian Solar Loan Programme is one of the most impressive programmes supported by the United Nations Environment Programme. It has also won the Energy Globe Award for Sustainability. Finance has been provided for more than 16,000 solar home systems through 2,000 banks in just three years under this programme.

The US-India Energy partnership program known as SERIUS (the Solar Energy Research Institute for India and the United States) is another very impressive programme. SERIUS will create jobs, much needed power, and it will also be safe to the environment.

India also established the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) in late 2009. Its mission is to produce 100 GW of energy from solar by 2022.

Every year, about 55 million tonnes of municipal solid waste and 38 billion litres of sewage are generated in the urban areas of India. In addition, large quantities of solid and liquid wastes are generated by industries. Waste generation in India is expected to increase rapidly in the future. As more people migrate to urban areas and as incomes increase, consumption levels are likely to rise, as are rates of waste generation. It is estimated that the amount of waste generated in India will increase at a per capita rate of approximately 1-1.33% annually. This has significant impacts on the amount of land that is and will be needed for disposal, economic costs of collecting and transporting waste, and the environmental consequences of increased MSW generation levels.

In its 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017), the Indian Government has set a target of adding 18.5 GW of renewable energy sources to the generation mix, out of which 11 GW is Wind Energy.

Solar cities have been launched by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. Under this scheme upto Rs. 50 lakhs given per city to support/encourage Urban Local Bodies.

Shale gas in India

• Shale refers to a sedimentary rock resulted from compaction process of small old rocks containing mud and minerals – such as quartz and calcite, trapped beneath the earth surface. The shale gas is the natural gas trapped within these shale rocks. It is one of the unconventional type of natural gas along with coal bed methane, tight sandstones, and methane hydrates.

Problems in Extraction

• The importance of shale gas can be gauged from the fact that an estimated 35% of world surface rock is made of shale formations. However, extraction of shale gas is difficult and tardy process. The difficulty is mainly because of less permeability of the shale rocks, which does not allow significant fluid flow. Due to low permeability, commercially viable production of shale gas needs fracturing of the rocks for, the fracturing provides permeability. For many years, this gas was produced from natural fractures, but as there was development of modern technologies such as horizontal drilling / hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking); more and more artificial fractures around the well bores were created. This skyrocketed the production of shale gas and led to the so called Shale Gas Boom in United States. This shale gas boom has also contributed partially in the recent fall of global oil prices. The hydraulic farming aided shale gas production has rejuvenated the natural gas industry in the United States.

Shale Gas in India

• Various estimates, including those by leading firms, put Indian reserves of shale oil and gas at large numbers describing Shale oil and gas are more widespread than natural oil and gas. Major regions of availability are Gujarat, Rajasthan, central India, KG Basin and offshore areas in Bay of Bengal.
• Jambusar located near Vadodara in Gujarat is India’s first shale gas exploratory successfully drilled in Cambay region.