From the Desk of Asia- Africa Regional Seminar on SHP from 11 – 15 November organized by UNIDO Regional Centre on Small Hydro Power, C/o Energy Management Centre-Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India
at Hotel Residency Tower, Thiruvananthapuram

Small Hydro Power – the most feasible power generation alternative- Kadavoor Sivadasan, Minister for Electricity, Government of Kerala

The rising cost of thermal power, harmful carbon dioxide emission from diesel power plants and the negative environmental impacts like submergence of forests, of large hydro plants demand renewed emphasis on small hydro power as the most feasible alternate power generation model, said the Minister for Electricity, 
Shri. Kadavoor Sivadasan, while inaugurating the five-day Asia – Africa Regional Seminar on Small Hydro Power organized by the UNIDO Regional Centre for Small Hydro.  He said that there are about 400 SHP sites identified in Kerala with a total installed capacity of 1000 MW and annual power generation potential al, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Maldives, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda and Philippines  Shri. Alexander Varghese explained the initiation of UNIDO in providing clean and green power to the rural communities in Asia and Africa.  Shri. K. M. Dharesan Unnithan, Technical Director, UNIDO Regional Centre for Small Hydro Power proposed vote of thanks.

82% of Global Hydro Power yet to be tapped -
Prof. V. K. Damodaran, MD, International Network on Small Hydro Power, Hangzhou, China  

During the deliberations of the five-day Asia-Africa Regional Seminar on Small Hydro Power, organized in Thiruvananthapuram by the UNIDO Regional Centre on Small Hydro Power functioning at the Energy Management Centre-Kerala, participated by delegates from China, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Rwanda, Uganda, Sudan, Nigeria, Tanzania and India during the opening remarks, Prof. V. K. Damodaran MD of IN-SHP, revealed that 82% of global hydro power is yet to be tapped.    Underlining the benefits of SHP and projecting the SHP business potential, he cited SHP development in China, who is now the world leader in this field. Though India commissioned its first hydro power plant in 1897, about 8 years ahead of China, subsequently China went ahead and made tremendous capacity addition in SHP, focusing on Cascade station concept, cluster development, mini grid concept, people’s participation and recently on public-private participation.  One of the secrets of success of SHP in China is its multipronged development approach of creating community development centers  powered  by SHP, developing fisheries, irrigation, tourism using the water storage and creating local level development.

Cleaner Energy for Producting Use-
Alexander Varghese Energy and Cleaner Production Branch, UNIDO, Vienna, Austria

Energy being a pre-requisite for sustainable development and achieving the goals of the Millennium Declaration of the UN, which include halving extreme poverty, ensuring environmental sustainability etc., the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) has designed different innovative energy programmes.  Mr. Alexander Varghese, Industrial Development Officer of UNIDO, Vienna in his presentation today, explained UNIDO’s programme strategy on Rural energy focusing on combining generation and distribution of energy with complementary income generation activities for the rural people and creating community development centers powered by renewable energy. To promote global reach of cleaner energy service, UNIDO has been creating local and regional Centres  partnering  with local institution.  Shri. K M Dharesan Unnithan in his presentation has narrated the evolution of UNIDO RC at EMC, with its concept development in 1998 and inauguration of the Centre during 2003, in order to provide training and technical service for SHP development in Asia and Africa.

SHP Programmes in India- 
Dr. Praveen Saxena,Director,Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Source,Government of India

Dr. Praveen Saxena, Director of MNES, in his presentation gave an overview of SHP programme in India.  The hydropower share in India has declined from 44 % in 1970 to 25% in 2003.  In order to atleast maintain this share of hydropower, Government of India has announced, in August 1998 Policy on Hydro Power Development and the Prime Minister has launched the 50000 MW hydropower feasibility initiatives on 24 May 2003.  In India, hydro projects upto 25 MW have been categorized as SHP India, as the only one country with an exclusive Ministry for Non-Conventional Energy Sources, is giving much emphasis on SHP development, particularly in the North-Eastern States and Himalayan region, where lies the maximum untapped potential.  Ministry is giving good incentives such as financial assistance for surveys, investigation and DPR Preparation, Project subsidies and support for renovation and modernization.