Himachal remains ‘power-full’ after bountiful monsoon

SHIMLA - Bountiful rains during the monsoon this year have helped Himachal Pradesh remain “power-full”.

Officials said plentiful flow in most of the rivers has allowed hydropower generation to remain good at a time when it generally reaches its lowest ebb due to the freezing of glaciers in winter.

“All the 21 run-of-river hydropower projects are generating good amount of electricity even these days. The projects are daily producing 35 lakh units due to sufficient water in the rivers,” state electricity board director Suneel Grover told IANS.

He said the total production in winters generally comes down to around 25 lakh units per day from the optimum generation of 85 lakh units per day.

“Still, we are daily producing 10 lakh units extra, which means electricity worth Rs.30 lakh,” he added.

Hydroelectric power generation in the state increases in summer while it comes down to just 20-25 percent during winter (from December to March) due to the freezing of the glaciers.

Besides the state-run projects, there are 13 major hydropower plants that are run either by the central government, private players or joint venture companies. All these are also generating good amount of electricity.

N.C. Bansal, general manager of Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd that owns the 1,500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri project in Kinnaur district, said generation at the plant is still 100 lakh units per day against the generation normally of 75-80 lakh units during winter.

The project optimally generates 380 lakh units a day.

Bansal attributed the good power generation to sufficient flow in the Satluj river on which the project is located.

“The river discharge is 100 cubic metres per second against 80 cubic metres a second in December,” he said.

Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh buy power from the Nathpa-Jhakri project, the country’s largest hydropower plant.

Grover said that of the 21 state-run projects, the 60 MW Giri project in Sirmaur district is alone generating two lakh units extra daily.

“The Giri river (a rain-fed tributary of the Yamuna) still has sufficient flow of water due to surplus monsoon rains in its catchment. This helps the Giri plant (near Dhaula Kuan in Sirmaur district) to operate at its optimum capacity,” he added.

The rainfall during this year’s monsoon was 16 percent more than the normal in the state, compared to a 36 percent deficit last year.

“From June 1 to Sep 28 (the day the monsoon withdrew), the state experienced 977.4 mm of rain against the normal of 831.7 mm,” meteorological office director Manmohan Singh said here.

He added that the monsoon this year broke a 15-year-old record.

Himachal Pradesh has abundant water resources with a power potential of about 23,000 MW. About 6,480 MW have been harnessed till now by the central and state governments, private players and joint venture companies.

In the coming fiscal, the state government proposes to add more than 600 MW with the commissioning of Allain Duhangan, Malana II, Budhil, Chamera III and some other small projects.

Currently, 13 hydropower projects in the state sector, six in central and joint sector and 19 in the private sector with a combined generation capacity of 5,809.1 MW are under execution.