EMC director VK Damodaran told The Financial Express on Thursday that the executive committee of the institute, which met at Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday, cleared the Rs 75-lakh proposal to map the small hydro power potential of Kerala. The project would be co-financed by EMC and the ministry of non-conventional energy, New Delhi.

He said the project, unlike earlier ones, would use the latest technology available for assessing the hydro power potential. "We willuse the most modern available technology like GIS, satellite imageries, laser technology for mapping the hydro power potential in the state," Damodaran said, adding that the EMC would tie up with a host of premier research institutes for the purpose. Topping the list of research institutes which would associate with EMC in the exercise is the Hangzhou International Centre of China, a prominent body pioneering small hydro power technology under the aegis of International Network on Small Hydro Power.

The research institute, which had executed over a lakh projects the world over so far is co-promoted by international bodies like UNIDO, UNDP and the Chinese Government. The Chinese Government had agreed to part with the control of the institute to UNIDO soon, the EMC director said.

Other collaborators in the project would include the Kozhikode-based CWRD, Thiruvananthapuram-based CESS and the Alternative Hydro Centre, Roorkee. He said that with the collaboration of these institutes, the project would becompleted in 18 months after the formal clearance.

The project spanning over two phases, would cover both the identification and pre-feasibility stages. In the first phase, the project would explore over 400 potential sites, excluding that with a potential of over 100 mw, for identification of potential areas. "We are expecting at least 200 sites which can be taken up for further development," he said. The expectation is based on an earlier survey conducted by the agency in 1981 in which it has identified 50 out of 90 sites surveyed. The combined capacity of the projects could be known only after the survey was completed, he added.

After the identification of sites, the research body will prepare a pre-feasibility report which will cover the entire gamut of project development, including the selection of promoters from different sectors. "The pre-feasibility report provides, among other things, technology selection, priority of the projects and which sector it should be developed in," the EMC directorsaid.