Looking ahead: Trends in hydro business opportunities
Changing government policies and economic forces are presenting new opportunities and challenges for hydropower developers and suppliers. To highlight some of the trends, HRW examines the business picture in three key countries: India, Brazil, and Turkey. Indian utilities have nearly 24,000 megawatts (MW) of installed hydro capacity, almost one-fourth of the country`s generating capability. Hydro plants produced almost 70 million megawatt-hours of electricity in 1993, an increase of nearly 40 percent from ten years before. Growth shows in installed power generation capacity for all generations resources, including hydro, in India from 1950 to 1992. Experts estimate another 40,000 to 100,000 MW of hydro could be developed in India, based on today`s economics and technology. There is a significant interest among Indian energy planners and prospective project developers in turning the country`s hydro potential into reality. Hydropower has played an important role in Brazil`s economy during this century. Electricity provided the primary fuel for a remarkable 600 percent expansion of the Brazilian economy in the 1970`s and 1980`s- and in Brazil, electricity means hydro. Hydro accounted for more than 97 percent of the 250 million megawatt-hours (MWH) of electricity Brazilians consumed in 1994. Brazilian energy planners believe the outlook for future growth in hydro generating reserves is as bright as its past. Economic reforms and a strong commitment by the national government to water resources development have sparked new interest in Turkey as a source of substantial hydropower business opportunities. Among other developments, new tenders are scheduled for elements of the huge Southeastern Anotolia Project (GAP). The Turkish government also has initiated a new private power development program that will include an initial group of six hydro projects.
- OSTI ID:
- 272723
- Journal Information:
- Hydro Review Worldwide, Vol. 3, Issue 3; Other Information: PBD: 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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