NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA), a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries. The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC. The award for Teesta-V Power Station was announced yesterday during the World Hydropower Congress, 2021. The award had been conferred to Teesta-V Power Station based on its sustainability assessment undertaken by a team of accredited lead assessors of IHA in 2019 using the Operation Stage tool of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA.
The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants. The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development. The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects. It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria. Assessments are based on objective evidence and the results are presented in a standardized report.