Small Hydropower Market Trends

Growth Drivers

• Increasing Installation of Small Hydropower Plants to Meet the Need for Electricity – Small hydropower plants are environmentally friendly and require less investment compared to other hydropower. The transmission loss of electricity is also very low with high efficiency and high-capacity factor. The flow of water required is also less and makes them acceptable even in a small water body. All these factors are estimated to propel the market growth in the coming years. As per the estimations, about 26 small hydropower with varied capacities were installed across India alone by the end of 2021.
• Rising Demand for Clean Energy Generation Owing to Environmental Pollution – The escalating emissions of greenhouse gases and rising global carbon footprint are causing huge damage to the climate. The concentration of carbon dioxide released from greenhouse gases was estimated to reach over 400 parts per million in the year 2020 across the world. Hence, the growing preference for renewable energy across the world and the increasing investment in power generation from wind, hydroelectric, bioenergy, and solar sources are predicted to augment the growth of the market.
•  Surge in the Construction of Hydropower Projects – As per the estimations in 2021, more than 500 dams are newly under construction or planned to construct globally in protected areas such as national parks, natural lands, and reservoirs where indigenous people live. Moreover, the U.S. generated more than 18% of the utility-scale energy in the year 2020 with more than 7% coming from hydropower sources. Such plans & projects depict the upcoming expansion of the small hydropower market value.

Challenges

• Growing Number of Ecological Issues – The small hydropower is highly sensitive to fluctuations caused by rainfall as the reservoirs lack the presence of plants and the flow of water increases during rain. The constant pressure or water flow is required for this hydropower which is estimated to hamper the market growth.
• Increasing Prices of Fossil Fuels across the World
• Lack of Professionals to Operate the Small Hydropower Stations