Live
- NASA Tracks Five Giant Asteroids on Close Approach to Earth Today
- Pushpa 2 Hits ₹1000 Crore in 6 Days: How It Compares to Other Top Indian Films
- Vivo X200 and X200 Pro Launched in India: Price, Specifications, and Features
- Nitin Gadkari Admits Feeling Embarrassed at Global Summits Over Rising Road Accidents in India
- Comprehensive Review on Indiramma Housing Survey and Welfare Initiatives Conducted via Video Conference
- Jogulamba Temple Records Rs 1.06 Crore Hundi Revenue in 150 Days
- Opposition Slams ‘One Nation, One Election’ Bill as Anti-Democratic; BJP Allies Support the Move
- Celebrate Karthigai Maha Deepam Virtually with Sri Mandir’s LIVE Darshan Experience
- BJP Extends Support to Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan Employees' Strike, Demands Immediate Regularization and Welfare Benefits
- Dr. M. Priyanka Stresses Quality Education, Nutritious Meals, and Cleanliness in Schools
Dry spell may trigger power crisis
The dry spell in Telangana is causing worry for the power utilities and they fear that it may lead to power crisis in the coming days. Telangana State has 4,325 MW of installed power capacity and about 50 per cent of it is hydel power. Normally, by now all the hydel units should have started power generation and the power utilities resort to shutting down of the thermal units in a phased manner for overhauling.
Hydel power output plunges
Hyderabad: The dry spell in Telangana is causing worry for the power utilities and they fear that it may lead to power crisis in the coming days. Telangana State has 4,325 MW of installed power capacity and about 50 per cent of it is hydel power. Normally, by now all the hydel units should have started power generation and the power utilities resort to shutting down of the thermal units in a phased manner for overhauling.
But this season with no inflows into the reservoirs and water levels reaching dead storage levels, the hydel units have registered zero Plant Load Factor (PLF). In the past, the hydel units used to generate about 900 MW per day. Talking to The Hans India, Telangana State GENCO (TSGENCO) officials said that all the nine hydel plants with 2,018 MW installed capacity were shut down due to the lack of water in the reservoirs.
The two main hydel units -Srisailam Left Bank Canal project with 900 MW capacity and Nagarjuna Sagar power plant with 875 MW have stopped power generation as the water levels in the reservoir reached 802 and 510 feet respectively as against the FRL (Full Reservoir Levels) of 885 feet at Srisailam and 590 feet at Nagarjuna Sagar. The officials said that the other plants Priyadarshini Jurala (234 MW), Pochampad (36 MW), Singur (15 MW), Nizamsagar (10 MW), Peddapalli Mini Hydro (9.2 MW) and Palair Mini Hydro (2 MW) were also lying idle after water levels in the reservoirs fell down drastically.
If the situation continues to remain the same, the officials said the State would face power crisis and they would be forced to scout for power purchase from all available sources at market price which could put heavy financial burden on the power utilities. Under the present conditions, the Energy department estimated that the power demand will increase to over 150 MU (million Units) from the present 145 MU.
At present, Genco was generating 40 MU and it was getting the remaining 104 MU of power from Central Generation Stations (CGSs). Though hydel power was not available even to the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, the situation there was different. Even in AP, all the nine hydel power generation units were lying idle but the quantum of hydel power generated there is much less as compared to Telangana State.
Andhra Pradesh installed hydel capacity of 1,747 MW and generates power at 50 per cent plant load factor under normal circumstances. APGENCO Director ( Hydel) B Samuel told The Hans India that hydel power could not be generated from Machkund (84 MW), Tungabhadra (57 MW), Donkarai ( 25 MW), Nagarjuna Sagar Right Bank Canal (90 MW), Penna Ahobilam (20 MW) and Chettipeta Mini Hydro project with one MW capacity due to non availability of water.
APTRASNCO Chairman and Managing Director K Vijayanand said that though the State would not face any power crisis due to non availability of hydel power, government was taking all precautions to meet the increasing demand.
By:Patan Afzal Babu
