Exploit hydropower to meet power need

"Bhutan is ready to sell electricity to anybody. How do you sell the electricity is most important. It is not something you place on a truck and transport. You have to have transmission lines that will pass through India. So, the arrangement has to be between India and Bangladesh"
"For hydroelectricity, we need catchment areas for rains. In Bhutan, we have some hydroelectric projects. Wherever we do that, we have to maintain the catchment areas, which means, we do not allow the felling of trees and habitation. So, it is important that you tap that potential as soon as possible"
South Asian countries in the Himalayan region should exploit their hydropower potential to help the region meet its growing demand for electricity and spur rapid economic growth, says an expert.
"The potential is enormous," says Lyonpo Om Pradhan, chairman of Druk Holding and Investments (DHI), one of the largest corporations in Bhutan.
He said Bhutan has an economically viable hydro-electric capacity of 23,000 megawatts and Nepal, its next door neighbour, has a capacity of 42,000 megawatts. India also has a potential to generate hundreds of thousands of megawatts of electricity from hydropower.
"But South Asia has exploited only 12.5 percent of its hydroelectric potential. It means nearly 88 percent of its potential is unexplored," he told The Daily Star in an interview on Sunday in Dhaka.
Earlier this week, the former Bhutanese minister was in Dhaka to attend the fourth South Asia Economic Summit organised by Centre for Policy Dialogue, a local think-tank.
Pradhan said the countries should speed up efforts to utilise their hydropower potential before it is too late. "My concern is that if the South Asian countries do not take action to exploit this huge resource, it can deplete."
He says there are two main reasons as to why the resource will deplete -- people could start residing in these areas and when a population builds, it will be difficult to relocate them; and secondly, climate change is taking place.
"For hydroelectricity, we need catchment areas for rains.” And if there are no hydroelectric projects, there will be no incentives to maintain these catchment areas, he adds.
"In Bhutan, we have some hydroelectric projects. Wherever we do that, we have to maintain the catchment areas, which means, we do not allow the felling of trees and habitation. So, it is important that you tap that potential as soon as possible."
His concerns are that the potential to generate electricity through hydroelectric projects will deplete in the Himalayan region, including Bhutan, if there are no clear cut policies and programmes.
Pradhan said the Himalayan Kingdom has a clear policy on hydroelectric development. "We have a potential tpo generate 23,000 MW of electricity. Out of this, we now produce only 1,500 MW."
"We have a programme to install a capacity of 10,000 MW by 2020. By 2020, we would have about 13,000 MW of electricity. So, Bhutan is fully exploiting its potential."
Bhutan's per capita consumption of electricity is 2,100 kilowatt-hours as of 2009, which is the highest in South Asia. Its population stands at 708,500 as of 2010.
"We want other areas in the Himalayan region, such as Nepal, India and Pakistan, to also exploit their potential as well. That will help regional development," he adds.
Bhutan runs a programme called 'Electricity for All by 2030'.
"We can set up power-intensive industries like ferrosilicon and calcium carbide. We have no problems in setting these up as we have power. Power is the key ingredient for development."
Bhutan now produces about 1,500 MW of electricity. About 80 percent of the country's electricity goes to India.
"The government of India helped us set up the hydroelectric project. Whatever surplus capacity we have, which we can not use, we sell to them."
Pradhan said Bangladesh should engage in dialogues with India to buy power from Bhutan.
"Bangladesh spoke to us to buy power. We said you will have to talk with India because the transmission line goes through Indian territories. Unless there is a transmission line from India to Bangladesh, the power cannot go."
He said the current climate in the Indo-Bangla relationship could help reach an understanding.
"Bangladesh is now talking with India. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh came to Bangladesh. I think two advisers to the prime minister are also talking to their Bangladeshi counterparts."
He says, "The relationship between Bangladesh and India has improved, especially after the Indian prime minister's visit. The present government has good relations with New Delhi. As far as Bhutan is concerned, the problem is between Bangladesh and India, not with Bhutan."
"Bhutan is ready to sell electricity to anybody. How do you sell the electricity is most important. It is not something you place on a truck and transport. You have to have transmission lines that will pass through India. So, the arrangement has to be between India and Bangladesh."
He said price of Bhutanese electricity, at less than two Indian rupees a unit, is really cheap.
Bhutan will invest about $10 billion until 2020 to produce 10,000 MW of electricity. "It's a huge investment. We are giving a lot of employment to South Asians. I also see some Bangladeshis among them."
He said by 2030, the country would definitely be able to ensure electricity for its population. "We are already on our way to achieving the target. We now cover 80 percent of our population."
Pradhan's DHI is a government organisation and owns all the commercial investments of the government from hydropower to telecommunication to natural resources and banking.

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