North-East India’s look out for Renewable Energy

India is making advances in cleaner energy every day. From adaptation finance to investments in mitigation strategies, we are striving towards securing a better planet for all. Clean, renewable energy is important for this very goal. Energy and power requirements of the modern world are not miniscule by any measure. Sustainably tending to them is a need of the hour.

In this series of articles, we look at the current picture of energy infrastructure in various regions such as Northern, and Central councils of India and how to improve their positions using renewable energy.

In this article, we will look at the states in the Northeast region of India. In the Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim are the states. However, we have seen the position of Sikkim in the last article on Eastern India. Thus, in this article, we will focus on the first seven states, colloquially known as ‘the Seven Sisters’.

Demand-Supply Analysis

Power Requirements and Demand Matching

It is clear from the table above that the power requirements of the states in the North Eastern Zone are very low. Bar Assam, all states have power requirements of less than 250 crore units net. Hilly terrain, torrential rains and scattered population clusters lead to lack of industrialization in these states. That is the reason why power requirements are so low in these states. Assam being a more industrialized and affluent state amongst others, it requires more units of power.

However, on the flip side, these states exhibition next to no demand and supply mismatches in power infrastructure. In 2023-24, Manipur was the only state in the region with some of its power demand being unmet. Even then, the gap was very small of 10 Megawatt.

Per Capita Power Availability:

As stated before, the population in these states is scattered, and engaged more in primacy and tertiary sector, than manufacturing. The power requirements are low on the demand side. This picture is seen in the supply side too.

We can see that in all the states, power availability per capita is less than 1 Megawatt per hour. Surprisingly, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have higher power availability per person in the group.

Low demand and low supply of power in these states speak volumes about the levels of economic prosperity in the region. They also hamper growth prospects of these states.

Installed Power Capacity:

The state of installed power infrastructure goes hand in hand with the trends in power requirements. Assam, the centre of economic activity in the North East, has the largest installed power capacity in the group. However, massive gap is seen between the numbers of Assam and that of other states. Nagaland, standing last in the group, has as low installed capacity as 208 MW.

Apart from the geographical reasons, internal disturbances in the region also render it averse to infrastructure and investment.

Path Towards Sustainability: State-wise Approach

Arunachal Pradesh: Predominance of Hydro Energy

Arunachal Pradesh derives almost 99% of its installed power through large and small hydro projects.

Government Recommendations

Maintenance of hydro projects
Encouraging people to opt for rooftop solar panels.

Private Sector Role:

Invest in off-grid solar installations.
Invest in groung mounted solar installations.

Assam: Potential for Solar Upscaling

Although currently Assam relies more on hydro power, the state has good potential for increasing solar capacity.