Renewable Energy Options in Uttarakhand state of India

Present investigation is aimed on the study of renewable energy options in Himalayan state Uttarakhand. This paper deals with present status of Uttarakhand in production of renewable energy and potential for increasing production and adoption of more renewable energy options. Methodology of the present investigation includes data collection through study of Government publications of national and international level on energy statistics and survey of Himalayan ecology. At present Uttarakhand have 1.86 GW power production capacities, which is 0.76% of total power capacity (245 GW) of India. Similarly Uttarakhand shares 0.21 GW renewable energy power capacities, which is 0.66% of total renewable energy capacity of India. Presently most of the renewable energy in Uttarakhand comes from Small Hydro Projects (SHP) that amounts to 0.175 GW. Thus major part (83%) of renewable energy in Himalayan state Uttarakhand comes from SHP and only small fraction from other renewable energy resources. The part of solar energy production is 0.005 GW. At present there is no wind energy plant in Uttarakhand, but state has potential of 0.534 GW. Beside solar and wind energy, there are hot water springs available in Uttarakhand, which can serve directly thermal energy or may produce electricity. Large amount of available biomass is one more option of renewable energy.