HEAVY SILT - `Shortage' of 2,300 MW with closing of 3 power projects in HP
Gaurav Bisht
SHIMLA:
Heavy silt on Monday forced the closure of three major hydel projects in Himachal Pradesh. This is likely to result in power shortage of 2,300 MW in the northern grid.
The Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) shut down the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri power project in Kinnaur after the silt level increased suddenly due to continuous rain in the catchment areas of the Sutlej and its tributaries Spiti, Baspa and Pareecho rivers.

The silt content in the river increased more than the permissible limit of 7,500 parts per million (PPM), forcing the authorities to suspend power generation, said project head NC Bansal.

According to project officials, the silt level had increased to 1,73,000 particles per million leading to closure of all the five turbines of the project that has its powerhouse at Jhakri.

The SJVNL's biggest project supplies electricity to New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Chandigarh. The Nathpa-Jhakri project generates about 38 million of units everyday.

Though the silt level in the Sutlej has started declining, the SJVNL authorities are not sure when the project will resume generation. “Right now, we cannot say anything, flushing of the dam will be started after silt level is reduced to the permissible limit of 8,000 PPM,“ said Bansal.

The quartzite contents in the silt of the Sutlej had caused heavy damage to the machinery and turbines. The project was shut down at 2am on Monday.

Heavy silting has also led to closure of Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corporation Limited's (JKHCL) 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo power project in Kinnaur district.

The project's reach is between Karcham and Wangtoo villages in the district, just upstream of the Nathpa-Jhakri hydroelectric project presently under construction.

At present, only two turbines of the project, generating 600 MW of electricity, were functional. The project was to start full generation on August 15.