ELECTRICITY – AVAILABILITY,ACCESSIBILITY AND AFFORDABILITY IN NORTH EAST REGION OF INDIA
India’s need for power cannot be over emphasized. The present installed capacity of power is 3,50,000 MW along with captive capacity of another 50,000 MW. With a population of 1.3 billion the per capita consumption of electricity, which is an yardstick to measure the economy of a country. is 1200 kwh, as against 13,000 kwh in USA, 8,000 kwh in Europe, with the world average of 2,500 kwh. . However for the NER which has a much lower population density as compared to rest of India the corresponding figure is…………
The population is slated to rise 1.5% every year. In order to keep pace with the projected economic growth, the consequential energy demand of the country will rise and, the installed capacity augmented to take care of the additional investments; but what happens to the per capita? How will it rise and touch the world average and go beyond the world average in the foreseeable future. . The rising energy demand leads to three basic questions-availability, affordability and accessibility. Will the power be accessible in every nook and corner of the country?
The north eastern region of India is vast, and the transmission and distribution network falls far short of its requirement. What would therefore be a solution and a practical one to bring electricity to all, specially in the north eastern region? Is decentralized generation-solar power, wind power, biomass power and so on the answer? Secondly, the cost of power. Can the India and specially north east afford it ?
Various reports on power generation potential the Brahmaputra basin is in public realms. In October 2015 by the Central Electricity Authority measured the potential in the Brahmaputra basin to be 66,065 MW and mentions that nearly 87.80% of the potential is yet to be taken up. India has been on a dam planning spree to utilize this potential. 44 dams had been commissioned on the Siang alone. This ad-hoc planning hydropower projects without considering it’s effects on ecology and displacement of human habitation can prove disastrous to our ecology. A Central Water Commission report recommended scrapping of 15 out of 44 dams. So although in paper the north east has a very large resource of big hydro how many can be really harnessed without disturbing the ecology of the surrounding is a million dollar question. The idle hydel projects and full reservoirs on Teesta in Sikkim is a case in point.
The north east region has abundant renewable resources such as Wind, Solar, Biomass and Hydro. Should we not develop more and more of these resources and be self dependent on power ? So what is the solution for India’s North East region? Is it going to be decentralized generation based on solar, wind and small hydros? How far can we depend on transmission network reaching all the remote corners? Is it worth it? What about the tariff? Is it feasible to go for house to house metering and billing or is it the distribution system be localized through a community organization. We need power, but it must be affordable. The world figures show that only 10% of the total family expenditure can be estimated for electricity costs. Beyond that it becomes unaffordable.
These are some of the vital issues that will be deliberated upon and discussed in this seminar by experts and distinguished participants in order to draw a roadmap to achieve energy security for north east India of the Future.