Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Stress on small power projects, says Balan

Photo: S. Gopakumar

Focus on power: Electricity Minister A.K. Balan inaugurating an international seminar on small hydroelectric project in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. –

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The State is placing particular stress on setting up a string of small hydroelectric projects with an aim to add at least 100 MW of installed power generation capacity to its grid in the next three years, Electricity Minister A.K. Balan has said.

He was inaugurating an international seminar on ‘Small hydro power’ here on Wednesday. With the State’s economy growing at a rate of more than 8 per cent, the demand for energy would go up by quantum leaps in the years to come. The State was, therefore, pursuing all options for enhancing its power generation capacity, Mr. Balan said.

The seminar, which would continue till Friday, is being organised by the regional centre of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) for Small Hydro Power. Delegates from several Asian and African countries are attending.

Mr. Balan said the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) had estimated the small hydroelectric potential in the State to be in the region of 1,000 MW. The State had made a good beginning in exploiting this and four such projects (generating 12 MW) set up recently were working quite satisfactorily. Reducing the cost of the required technology was the challenge now, he said.

The technical sessions of the seminar will discuss the experiences of countries such as Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and India in developing small hydroelectric projects; policy initiatives of these countries in this sector and region-specific technology issues. China, which is in the forefront of the world nations in the small hydro-power sector, also has sent a delegation to the seminar.

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