Move to tap 150k mw hydel potential to hit India's ecology badly: expert

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Kolkata: India's plan to tap 1,50,000 mw of hydro potential to meet its target of generating 3,98,000mw by 2030 will bring about a major ecological disaster, according to Jean-Joseph Boillot, co-chairman of Euro-India Economic & Business Group (EIEBG) and former financial counseller of the French Embassy in New Delhi. He was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

EIEBG is a business group working in India for about a year.

According to International Energy Agency (IEA) report, India 's energy demand will double by 2030 with an average of 3.8% per year. The gross power generation capacity addition would exceed 400 gigawatt (gw), which would be equal to the present combined capacity of Japan , Korea and Australia .

India is trying to over-harness its hydro capacity to meet its energy demand which will be around 3,98,000mw by 2025-2030. But Boillot said there is the need to be cautious as over-harnessing of hydro potential has caused a major disaster in China .

Boillot said although India has given priority to non-conventional power production, it has no projections of capacity addition from biomass. He said India can generate maximum power from solar energy.