IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v76y2015icp220-233.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainability suspense of small hydropower projects: A study from western Himalayan region of India

Author

Listed:
  • Kumar, Deepak
  • Katoch, S.S.

Abstract

Small hydropower projects (SHPs), though generally considered more environmentally benign and socially acceptable as compared to large projects, yet their overall sustainability is under suspicion in the Himalayan regions. Almost all SHPs in this region are being developed as run of the river mode which generally causes less/no submergence and quite less displacement of people as compared to large reservoir based hydropower production mode. However, in the absence of proper planning and monitoring mechanism, these projects are causing implacable tunnelling of hills, choking of streams, conversion of streams into dry ditches and long term socio-environmental impacts. This paper presents a SHP development study from hydro rich Beas river basin of Himachal Pradesh, a state nestled in western Himalayan region of India. In depth field studies, focus group discussions with the project affected people and interaction with project proponents of five SHPs in this region suggest that sustainability issues with respect to SHPs are not small vis-a-vis size of their installed capacity. There is an urgent need to take steps to include SHPs having an installed capacity of above 10 MW into the ambit of environment clearance process which is absent in many countries of the world at present.

Suggested Citation

  • Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2015. "Sustainability suspense of small hydropower projects: A study from western Himalayan region of India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 220-233.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:76:y:2015:i:c:p:220-233
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.025
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096014811400740X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2014.11.025?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dursun, Bahtiyar & Gokcol, Cihan, 2011. "The role of hydroelectric power and contribution of small hydropower plants for sustainable development in Turkey," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 1227-1235.
    2. Malesios, Chrisovalantis & Arabatzis, Garyfallos, 2010. "Small hydropower stations in Greece: The local people's attitudes in a mountainous prefecture," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 2492-2510, December.
    3. Ranganathan, V, 1997. "Hydropower and environment in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 435-438, March.
    4. Zimny, Jacek & Michalak, Piotr & Bielik, Sebastian & Szczotka, Krzysztof, 2013. "Directions in development of hydropower in the world, in Europe and Poland in the period 1995–2011," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 117-130.
    5. Nautiyal, Himanshu & Singal, S.K. & Varun & Sharma, Aashish, 2011. "Small hydropower for sustainable energy development in India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2021-2027, May.
    6. Taele, B.M. & Mokhutšoane, L. & Hapazari, I., 2012. "An overview of small hydropower development in Lesotho: Challenges and prospects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 448-452.
    7. Kosnik, Lea, 2010. "The potential for small scale hydropower development in the US," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 5512-5519, October.
    8. Kaldellis, J.K., 2007. "The contribution of small hydro power stations to the electricity generation in Greece: Technical and economic considerations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 2187-2196, April.
    9. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2014. "Harnessing ‘water tower’ into ‘power tower’: A small hydropower development study from an Indian prefecture in western Himalayas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 87-101.
    10. Abbasi, Tasneem & Abbasi, S.A., 2011. "Small hydro and the environmental implications of its extensive utilization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2134-2143, May.
    11. Xingang, Zhao & Lu, Liu & Xiaomeng, Liu & Jieyu, Wang & Pingkuo, Liu, 2012. "A critical-analysis on the development of China hydropower," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 1-6.
    12. Morimoto, Risako, 2013. "Incorporating socio-environmental considerations into project assessment models using multi-criteria analysis: A case study of Sri Lankan hydropower projects," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 643-653.
    13. Bahadori, Alireza & Zahedi, Gholamreza & Zendehboudi, Sohrab, 2013. "An overview of Australia's hydropower energy: Status and future prospects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 565-569.
    14. Sternberg, R., 2008. "Hydropower: Dimensions of social and environmental coexistence," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 1588-1621, August.
    15. Osmani, Atif & Zhang, Jun & Gonela, Vinay & Awudu, Iddrisu, 2013. "Electricity generation from renewables in the United States: Resource potential, current usage, technical status, challenges, strategies, policies, and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 454-472.
    16. Paish, Oliver, 2002. "Small hydro power: technology and current status," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 6(6), pages 537-556, December.
    17. Rojanamon, Pannathat & Chaisomphob, Taweep & Bureekul, Thawilwadee, 2009. "Application of geographical information system to site selection of small run-of-river hydropower project by considering engineering/economic/environmental criteria and social impact," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2336-2348, December.
    18. Martins, Douglas Eduardo Costa & Seiffert, Mari Elizabete Bernardini & Dziedzic, Maurício, 2013. "The importance of clean development mechanism for small hydro power plants," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 643-647.
    19. Ribeiro, Fernando & Ferreira, Paula & Araújo, Madalena, 2011. "The inclusion of social aspects in power planning," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(9), pages 4361-4369.
    20. Liu, Jian & Zuo, Jian & Sun, Zhiyu & Zillante, George & Chen, Xianming, 2013. "Sustainability in hydropower development—A case study," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 19(C), pages 230-237.
    21. Chang, XiaoLin & Liu, Xinghong & Zhou, Wei, 2010. "Hydropower in China at present and its further development," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(11), pages 4400-4406.
    22. Reddy, V. Ratna & Uitto, Juha I. & Frans, Dirk R. & Matin, Nilufar, 2006. "Achieving global environmental benefits through local development of clean energy? The case of small hilly hydel in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(18), pages 4069-4080, December.
    23. Purohit, Pallav, 2008. "Small hydro power projects under clean development mechanism in India: A preliminary assessment," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 2000-2015, June.
    24. Sharma, Naveen Kumar & Tiwari, Prashant Kumar & Sood, Yog Raj, 2013. "A comprehensive analysis of strategies, policies and development of hydropower in India: Special emphasis on small hydro power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 460-470.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tabi, Andrea & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2017. "Keep it local and fish-friendly: Social acceptance of hydropower projects in Switzerland," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 68(P1), pages 763-773.
    2. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2016. "Environmental sustainability of run of the river hydropower projects: A study from western Himalayan region of India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 599-607.
    3. Alan Paul Diduck & Andrew John Sinclair, 2016. "Small Hydro Development in the Indian Himalaya : Implications for Environmental Assessment Reform," Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management (JEAPM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(02), pages 1-24, June.
    4. Weiyao Tang & Zongmin Li & Yan Tu, 2018. "Sustainability Risk Evaluation for Large-Scale Hydropower Projects with Hybrid Uncertainty," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    5. Jelena Cvijović & Vladimir Obradović & Marija Todorović, 2021. "Stakeholder Management and Project Sustainability—A Throw of the Dice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-22, August.
    6. Kumar Sharma, Ameesh & Thakur, N.S., 2017. "Assessing the impact of small hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir: A study from north-western Himalayan region of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 679-693.
    7. Anuja Shaktawat & Shelly Vadhera, 2021. "Risk management of hydropower projects for sustainable development: a review," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 45-76, January.
    8. Năstase, Gabriel & Şerban, Alexandru & Năstase, Alina Florentina & Dragomir, George & Brezeanu, Alin Ionuţ & Iordan, Nicolae Fani, 2017. "Hydropower development in Romania. A review from its beginnings to the present," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 297-312.
    9. Sharma, Ameesh Kumar & Thakur, N.S., 2015. "Resource potential and development of small hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir in the western Himalayan region: India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1354-1368.
    10. Kumar Sharma, Ameesh & Thakur, N.S., 2017. "Energy situation, current status and resource potential of run of the river (RoR) large hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir: India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 233-251.
    11. Elke Kellner, 2019. "Social Acceptance of a Multi-Purpose Reservoir in a Recently Deglaciated Landscape in the Swiss Alps," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.
    12. Mayeda, A.M. & Boyd, A.D., 2020. "Factors influencing public perceptions of hydropower projects: A systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    13. Mateusz Hämmerling & Joanna Kocięcka & Stanisław Zaborowski, 2021. "AHP as a Useful Tool in the Assessment of the Technical Condition of Hydrotechnical Constructions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-26, January.
    14. Kelly-Richards, Sarah & Silber-Coats, Noah & Crootof, Arica & Tecklin, David & Bauer, Carl, 2017. "Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 251-264.
    15. S. Krithi, 2021. "State, Labour and Emerging Natural Resource Regimes: A Case Study of Forest- Based Livelihoods in Chamba, Himachal Pradesh," Journal of South Asian Development, , vol. 16(3), pages 433-454, December.
    16. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2015. "Small hydropower development in western Himalayas: Strategy for faster implementation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 571-578.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2014. "Harnessing ‘water tower’ into ‘power tower’: A small hydropower development study from an Indian prefecture in western Himalayas," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 87-101.
    2. Sharma, Ameesh Kumar & Thakur, N.S., 2015. "Resource potential and development of small hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir in the western Himalayan region: India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1354-1368.
    3. Kumar Sharma, Ameesh & Thakur, N.S., 2017. "Assessing the impact of small hydropower projects in Jammu and Kashmir: A study from north-western Himalayan region of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 679-693.
    4. Kelly-Richards, Sarah & Silber-Coats, Noah & Crootof, Arica & Tecklin, David & Bauer, Carl, 2017. "Governing the transition to renewable energy: A review of impacts and policy issues in the small hydropower boom," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 251-264.
    5. Wagner, Beatrice & Hauer, Christoph & Schoder, Angelika & Habersack, Helmut, 2015. "A review of hydropower in Austria: Past, present and future development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 304-314.
    6. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2015. "Small hydropower development in western Himalayas: Strategy for faster implementation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 571-578.
    7. Cheng, Chuntian & Liu, Benxi & Chau, Kwok-Wing & Li, Gang & Liao, Shengli, 2015. "China׳s small hydropower and its dispatching management," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 43-55.
    8. Ptak, Thomas & Crootof, Arica & Harlan, Tyler & Kelly, Sarah, 2022. "Critically evaluating the purported global “boom” in small hydropower development through spatial and temporal analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    9. Tahseen, Samiha & Karney, Bryan W., 2017. "Reviewing and critiquing published approaches to the sustainability assessment of hydropower," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 225-234.
    10. Mishra, Mukesh Kumar & Khare, Nilay & Agrawal, Alka Bani, 2015. "Small hydro power in India: Current status and future perspectives," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 101-115.
    11. Kumar Sharma, Ameesh & Thakur, N.S., 2017. "Energy situation, current status and resource potential of run of the river (RoR) large hydro power projects in Jammu and Kashmir: India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 233-251.
    12. Höffken, Johanna I., 2014. "A closer look at small hydropower projects in India: Social acceptability of two storage-based projects in Karnataka," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 155-166.
    13. Mishra, Sachin & Singal, S.K. & Khatod, D.K., 2011. "Optimal installation of small hydropower plant—A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3862-3869.
    14. Xu, Jiuping & Ni, Ting, 2017. "Integrated technological paradigm-based soft paths towards sustainable development of small hydropower," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 623-634.
    15. Farooq, Muhammad Khalid & Kumar, S., 2013. "An assessment of renewable energy potential for electricity generation in Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 240-254.
    16. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2014. "Sustainability indicators for run of the river (RoR) hydropower projects in hydro rich regions of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 101-108.
    17. Zhang, Jin & Xu, Linyu & Li, Xiaojin, 2015. "Review on the externalities of hydropower: A comparison between large and small hydropower projects in Tibet based on the CO2 equivalent," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 176-185.
    18. Balkhair, Khaled S. & Rahman, Khalil Ur, 2017. "Sustainable and economical small-scale and low-head hydropower generation: A promising alternative potential solution for energy generation at local and regional scale," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 378-391.
    19. Sharma, Naveen Kumar & Tiwari, Prashant Kumar & Sood, Yog Raj, 2013. "A comprehensive analysis of strategies, policies and development of hydropower in India: Special emphasis on small hydro power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 460-470.
    20. Kumar, Deepak & Katoch, S.S., 2016. "Environmental sustainability of run of the river hydropower projects: A study from western Himalayan region of India," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 599-607.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:76:y:2015:i:c:p:220-233. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.