The country’s energy deficit is likely to improve as hydro power stations are in a position to ramp up their generation capacity following healthy rainfall in the second fortnight of July, wiping out initial shortfall in rains.
The cumulative storage position of the 81 major reservoirs in the country has more than doubled to 74.3 billion cubic metres (bcm) at the end of the second week of August, compared with 33.38 bcm a month earlier, according to the latest data available from the Ministry of Water Resources.
This has increased the power generation from the hydroelectric power stations to 12,850 giga watt hour (Gwh) at the end of July, an increase of 22 per cent over the previous month, according to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA).
“Surplus water availability in reservoirs always plays a major role in giving a boost to the hydro power generation status, especially in north-eastern and northern region,” said Amit Kumar, energy expert with PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Hydel power constitutes nearly a quarter of India’s total installed capacity of 150,000 Mw. These power plants, which depend on the rainfall pattern and reservoir storage, produce the maximum during this time when rainfall is at its best.
| HYDRO POWER GENERATION | ||
| Region | June | July |
| North | 5,968.90 | 7,003.20 |
| West | 1,113.95 | 1,386.51 |
| South | 2,339.19 | 2,744.29 |
| East | 657.00 | 1,022.62 |
| North-East | 475.00 | 693.34 |
| All-India | 10,554.00 | 12.85 |
| Source: Central Electricity Authority | ||
However, poor rainfall in some parts of the country in the first part of July threatened to decrease energy output from the renewable energy, with power utilities fearing that they would have to ration their energy distribution.
The peak power deficit in July rose to around 15 per cent, an increase of nearly 300 basis points from June. One of the reasons attributed for the increase was poor performance of hydel power stations.
According to data released by India Meteorological Department (IMD), the country continued to receive good rainfall during the week ended August 6, which is 7 per cent above normal.
On a cumulative basis, rainfall was 1 per cent below normal between June 1 and August 6, the department says. Only parts of Maharashtra and Karnataka recorded deficit rainfall, and incidentally these are the two states which have been experiencing higher level of power cuts for different user segments.
“Good water availability in the past one month from the reservoirs has lead to almost all our hydro power plants generating surplus power. Bhakra power station is now running at its maximum capacity of 1,200 Mw. Other hydro power houses which are being benefited are Behar, Pong, Anantpur and Mukeria,” said a senior official from the Punjab State Electricity Board.
In the northern region, where 11 major reservoirs are located, the total hydro power generation in the last month has increased to 7,003 Gwh compared with only 5,968 Gwh a month ago.
Of the total 81 reservoirs, 36 have significant hydro power potential with an installed capacity of more than 60 Mw each. The ministry has said that in 24 of these major reservoirs the storage build-up of water has risen more than the average storage of the last 10 years of about 47 per cent. Last month, only 17 of these 36 reservoirs had exceeded such storage levels, due to inadequate rains.
Similarly, in 58 out of these 81 reservoirs, the storage is more than 80 per cent of the average of the previous 10 years. Last month, however, only 45 reservoirs had recorded such storage levels.
