Restrict power drawl as three hydro plants shut due to silt
August 21, 2012 12:34 PM
By Vinod Gupta
CHANDIGARH: Northern Regional Load Dispatch Centre (NRLDC) has advised the northern state to restrict drawl of power for smooth operation of grid as three hydro-power plants which supply about 2954 MW of electricity to the region have been shut down temporarily.

The 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri, 1,000 MW Karcham-Wangtoo, 300 MW Chamera II and 231 MW Chamera III hydro-power projects have been shut temporarily due to high silt levels in water, as per NRLDC website. There is shortfall of more than 3,000 MW supply to the Northern Grid due to non-generation by the three hydro projects

The share of Punjab is 54.47 MW from Chamera I, 27.64 MW from Chamera II. 25.49 MW from Chamera III and194 MW from Naphtha Jhakri hydro projects (NJPC). The share of Haryana is 84 MW from ChameraI, 19 MW from Chamera II, 20 MW from Chamera III and 102 Mw from NJPC.

In Punjab 210 MW unit 2 of Lehra Mohabatt thermal plant has been shut down following boiler leakage .The unit is likely to be revived tomorrow. One 110 Mw unit at Bhatinda is also under shut down due to coal mill problems for last one week. Punjab’s own generation is around 2769 MW today.

The power shortage in Punjab is 271 lac units and power supply is 1711 lac units. The thermal generation in state is 495 lac units. The minimum power cuts in various cities varies from 3 to 5 hours daily .Important cities face 3 hour power cuts while other face more than 5 hours cuts.

In Haryana 600 MW Khedar unit 1 running at full load tripped today at about 9.30 AM. 660 MW units at Jhajjar thermal plant is under forced shut down due to coal handling problem for the last 12 days. The authorities hope to revive the unit tomorrow. The power shortage in state is 185 lac units while thermal generation on Monday was 653 lac units.

There has not been much improvement in water level of reservoirs in region. Water level in Bhakra is 1606.18 feet which is still 60 feet down as compared to last year’s level of 1666 feet. Pong reservoir is at 1349 feet against last year’s level of 1387 feet. Ranjit Sagar Dam level is 510 meters against last year’s level of 518.6 meters.