Himachal power plant resumes generation

SHIMLA - Power supply to north Indian states, including Delhi, was restored Tuesday as the country’s largest hydropower plant in Himachal Pradesh resumed generation after remaining closed for more than 15 hours, an official said here.

Generation in the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri project was temporarily suspended Monday night as the silt level suddenly rose in the Sutlej river - on which the project is located - due to heavy rain in the region.

The generation in all the six units of 250 MW each resumed around 2 p.m. after the silt content in the river came down within the permissible limit of 4,000 and 5,000 ppm (part per million), Vijay Verma, the deputy general manager of the Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd (SJVNL), the company that operates the plant, told IANS.

He said power supply to the buyer states had been normalised.

This was this season’s fourth closure of the plant. Earlier, the plant was closed for five days from July 26 due to rise in silt.

The closure of power generation has caused a daily loss of Rs.9 crore to project authorities.

The SJVNL, a joint venture between the central government and the Himachal government, daily generates about 38 million units, which are supplied to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.