The Government of Assam and the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop Subansiri lower hydroelectric project located along the borders of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The project capacity will be 2 GW.

According to the official statement by the NHPC, Subansiri lower hydroelectric project will be the largest hydro project of the country that’s currently under construction with an installed capacity of 2 GW and a forecasted annual generation of 7,421.59 million units.

The statement further states that the Subansiri lower hydroelectric project, developed and conceived by the Brahmputra Board, will also be able to control floods by moderating the flood in the Subansiri river.

The construction activities of the Subansiri hydroelectric project was stopped since 2011 due to agitation by some activist groups., according to the NHPC.

As reported by Mercom, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) in March this year, approved the proposal put forward by the Ministry of Power to include large hydropower projects over 25 MW under the aegis of renewable energy.

India, which is the seventh-largest producer of hydroelectric power in the world, has a goal of installing 175 GW of renewable energy by 2022. Achieving this goal became a little bit easier by adding large hydro projects to the mix. Out of the 305 GW of total installed power capacity in India, nearly 43 GW comes from the large hydroelectric power projects and 44 GW from other renewables.

In July 2019, Mercom had reported that the Union Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced small hydropower programs to provide central financial assistance to both government and private sectors involved in developing such projects. The estimated potential generation from existing 4604.81 MW of installed capacity is 1,2101 MU at 30% plant load factor.

According to Union Minister of State for New and Renewable Energy, R.K.Singh’s recent question and answer session in the Lok Sabha, the aggregate capacity of SHP projects commissioned until June 30, 2019, in the country was nearly 4,604.81 MW while, 116 SHP projects aggregating 589.99 MW are currently under construction.