Climate change poses big risk to hydel and thermal electricity generation: WB report June 19: A World Bank-sponsored report has turned the torchlight on the grave risks posed by climate change to both hydro and thermal power generation in South Asia including India. 8The report says: “With the projected increasing variability of and long-term decreases in river flow associated with climate change, electricity generation via hydropower systems will become more difficult to forecast. This uncertainty poses a major challenge for the design and operation of hydropower plants. Increasing siltation of river systems also poses a risk to hydropower. India, for example, has already recorded many cases of malfunctioning power turbines due to high levels of siltation 8Yet another climate-induced risk for hydropower systems is physical damage due to landslides, floods, flash floods, glacial lake outbursts, and other climate-related natural disasters.” 8The report captioned ‘Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience’ has been prepared for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics. 8It says: “The high proportion of electricity generation in South Asia that requires a water supply points to the potential vulnerability of the region’s electricity sector to changes in river flow and in water temperature. Hydroelectricity is dependant only on river runoff.” It notes that thermo electricity, on the other hand, is influenced by both river runoff and, more generally, the availability and temperature of water resources. 8It says: “The primary source of vulnerability to a thermal power plant from climate change is potential impacts on its cooling system as the full efficiency of a plant depends on a constant supply of fresh water at low temperatures.” 8Quoting different documents, the report points out that India is currently planning large investments in hydropower to close its energy gap and to provide the energy required for its targeted 8–9 percent economic growth rate. This is in spite of the potential negative impacts on local communities and river ecosystems. The major as yet unexploited hydropower potential lies in the Northeast and Himalayan regions. As it is estimated that so far only 32 percent of India’s hydropower potential, estimated at 149 GW, is being utilized, India is planning to harness the estimated additional capacity of 98,863 MW in the future. energylineindia/
Posted on: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 05:09:19 +0000