Evaluating hydroelectric potential in Alaknanda basin, Uttarakhand using the snowmelt runoff model (SRM)

Abstract Hydropower is one of the best renewable energy sources to meet India's rapidly growing energy demand. The Remote Sensing and GIS tools provide reliable information for assessing the available water of the Himalayan rivers. In this study, the basin is divided into 12 elevation zones, and temperature and precipitation were extrapolated within these zones. The MODIS (Terra&Aqua) cloud-free images have been used for mapping the Snow Cover Area and it was found that the SCA will vary from 18–72 % during the simulation period. The model simulation period is divided into calibration (2003–2015) and validation (2016–2019). During the study, it was observed that the model efficiency parameters significantly exceeded the acceptable range. In this study, the snowmelt's contribution increases until zone 8; after this, the snowmelt contribution decreases, and the snow accumulation increases. Also, the Hydro-Electric Power (HEP) generation of the basin is modeled with the help of a power equation for a turbine efficiency of 0.8. The simulation of daily streamflow and generated HEP are compared with the measured values, and both tracked the observed pattern very precisely. The findings of the present study will be implemented on the other ungauged basins and could help us to identify the potential sites for HEP with the help of RS and GIS tools.