Hydro power potential in South Asia

Himalayan rivers offer immense potential to the power sector in South Asia. China has been building huge dams on Bramhaputra river. India needs to form a coalition with its neighbouring countries like Nepal,Bhutan,Bangladesh and even Pakistan to tap the potential of these rivers as far as power generation is concerned. This region is so blessed by water and sun, if the hydropower potential and solar power potential is harnessed, we would not required to sign and nuclear power treaty with any nation in the world. All we need to do is get our act together and expedite the projects.

Here I share a good read on The Economist on the hydro power potential in the Himalayan region.

South Asia’s hydro-politics

Solarizing the nation is the only way forward

This article is in continuation to my blog on policy making. Here I am listing a few goodreads about how the government is going ahead on solar policy. As I had mentioned earlier, India has the potential of about 400-700GW of solar energy. But a decent target of 50GW over 10 years can make wonders in this sector. On the one hand it is good idea to augment the solar capacity in India, but we need to keep in mind that most of the solar panels are imported, thereby adding to our import bill and a soaring CAD. India needs to substantially invest in R&D as far as solar energy is concerned, because this does not include any natural resource constraint. A lot of research is going on in the world on solar energy and India should take lead here in providing latest technologies and not just be a the receiving end. Its is my firm belief that a solarizing revolution can take us on the path of energy security in years to come. Below are a few reads which should convince us that the government is serious about it and is taking some steps.

Welcome push to solar

Small rooftop solar plants to create 3.25 lakh jobs in 10 years

Ministry targets 1 lakh MW from renewables in 5 years

Sun shines on solar stocks as Govt promises PSU order

Disruptive Potential of Solar Power, a McKinsey Report

I have been a big proponent of harnessing India's solar potential. It is believed that India's solar energy potential varies from 300GW to 700GW. India's current electricity capacity stands around 200GW. Even if we set a target of achieving 50GW of Solar power generation in next 10 years, it can make wonders for our country thereby protecting environment and also giving a boost to Modiji's energy security dream.

Here's a report by McKinsey which describes the potential of solar energy and how the world is responding to it...

Disruptive Potential of Solar

And I hope, even if half of the above target is achieved before 2019 polls, Modiji would have a new slogan "We have SOLARIZED the nation", a slap on the face of the people who accuse him of polarizing.. :)