The Hindu Business Line : `Micro hydro plants can provide cheap power to villagers'

QUALITY electricity for villagers at affordable rates may sound strange considering the present situation in the country. But it is possible to provide reliable electricity to villagers using their own resources, says Prof S.S. Murthy of Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.

Delivering a lecture on `Standalone micro/pico hydroelectric plants: A technological milestone in renewable energy', organised by the Mangalore chapter of Institution of Engineers on Tuesday, he said there is good potential for establishing micro and pico hydroelectric plants in Western Ghats and the Himalayas, and Jammu-Kashmir and north-eastern States.

Prof Murthy, who holds patents in micro hydroelectric applications, said power would be available for villagers with their own resources at Rs 3 a unit with an investment of Rs 1.41 lakh per kilowatt.

"Future of the country will be in decentralised power generation," he said. In the case of centralised power generation, one unit of electricity will cost around Rs 20 for a villager.

He said five such hydroelectric plants have been established in Western Ghat region of Karnataka under a Department of Science and Technology project.

While the Banjaru micro hydroelectric project in Dakshina Kannada district is generating 8 kilowatt of power catering to the needs of 33 houses in Banjaru village, a 5-kilowatt plant at Menasinahadya village in Chikmagalur district is providing electricity to 20 houses. The 3-kilowatt Asolli plant in Uttara Kannada district is supplying electricity to seven houses and the 4-kilowatt Sirimane plant in Chikmagalur district to 12 houses. A single house in Jambardi village of Hassan district is getting power from a 3-kilowatt plant, he said. A 10-kilowatt plant is enough to supply electricity to a small village.

Stating that water resources of the Western Ghat region can be effectively utilised in establishing many such projects, Prof Murthy said he is ready to share his expertise on the subject with the interested entrepreneurs.

There is also a need to explore the export potential of this technology to South America, Canada, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, he added.

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