Arunachal Pradesh is banking on its micro, mini, and small hydropower projects to earn carbon credits, said officials.
According to Arunachal government officials, the move will add to the efforts for India to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070.
“Out of the total hydropower plants in the state, 98 micro, mini and small hydropower plants with a combined installed capacity of 50.295 MW have been considered for carbon credits registration and assets management for the year 2014-2020,” said a top government official.
These hydropower plants are run-of-river plants, and eligible for carbon credit. Micro-hydro projects are those up to 200 KW capacity, mini up to 2 MW and small up to 25 MW.
The state Hydro Power Development Department is the renewable energy-producing entity that will claim Carbon Credits, which are issued by the Universal Carbon Registry.
Deputy Chief Minister, Chowna Mein, who is also in-charge of the Department, was instrumental in getting the Carbon Assets Management (Carbon Credits Trading) for hydropower plants.
With state-owned 135 plants, the Department has power worth 74.88 million units, which is equivalent to 54,410 Carbon Credits annually and can earn approximately Rs 1.15 crore at present rate. Of the three-stage process of registration, credit realisation and trading, the state is through with the first one.
Hydropower and Planning commissioner Prashant Lokhande said the government expects to get credits somewhere in 3-4 months or at max, six months.
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Once that is done, trading can be done any time, he said.
Once anointed as the powerhouse of the nation for its vast potential of 50,000 MW plus hydropower, Arunachal Pradesh has been catering to its villages spread over the mighty Himalayas with such small, micro, and mini hydropower projects on smaller springs, rivers even as it aims at selling power from mega hydropower projects on bigger rivers.
Recently, Arunachal Pradesh has announced 50 micro and mini-hydropower projects under the Golden Jubilee Border Village Illumination programme in a phased manner.
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In the first phase, 17 micro and mini-hydropower projects with an installed capacity of 1,255 KW are planned.