September 06, 2008

Indian small hydropower projects have carbon credit potential

BL reported that India, which accounts for 31% of world’s clean development mechanism projects, sees a huge opportunity for small hydropower projects to get carbon credits or certified emission reductions.

There is an estimated potential of 15,000 MW from small hydropower projects in India out of which, about 2,000 MW has been tapped so far.

Mr V Subramanian union secretary in the ministry of new and renewable energy said that “This shows that there is a significant potential for taking up clean development mechanism projects in this segment. We have 70 small hydro projects in the pipeline to get the clean development mechanism status. Of these, 31 have already been registered, while 34 are at the validation stage.” He also pointed to the lack of understanding about clean development mechanism requirements and methodologies.

Mr Michel JL Pommier regional coordinator (South Asian Region) of World Bank’s Carbon Finance arm said that hydropower was a huge opportunity. He added that “There are projects Okayed in countries like Brazil and Pakistan. This is a good opportunity for India.”