KURNOOL: In a significant achievement, the Srisailam reservoir has surpassed its electricity production targets due to abundant rainfall and water availability in just 70 days, said Tirumala Prasad, Chief Engineer of Srisailam Right Bank Hydro Electrical Station (SRBHES) in Andhra Pradesh.
Favorable conditions such as close supervision by officials, staff performance, and effective machinery maintenance contributed to the successful production of 1129.7 million units of electricity, exceeding the initial target of 1,000 million units for 2025-26.
Speaking to TNIE, Prasad said power generation reached this milestone utilising nearly 189.5 TMC ft of water from the dam. However, production had to be halted as water levels dropped recently. Water from the Srisailam dam is being redirected for agricultural needs, sourced from Pothireddypadu reservoir.
As per the Irrigation department bulletin, the dam has 206.099 TMC ft of water against a total storage capacity of 215.80 TMC ft, with the water level at 883.30 feet, close to the full reservoir level of 885 feet. The dam is receiving 65,865 cusecs of water inflow from the Tungabhadra and Krishna rivers, while 1,02,877 cusecs are being released.
Water is drawn for various needs, including 30,737 cusecs for Andhra Pradesh Power House, 35,315 cusecs for Telangana Power House, 1600 cusecs for Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation, 23,000 cusecs for Pothireddypadu balancing reservoir, and 3225 cusecs for Handri Neeva Srujala Sravanthi canal.
The 2023-24 annual target was 850 MU, but only one million units of power was generated for the whole year due to the unavailability of water at the dam, officials said.
Tirumala Prasad, Chief Engineer of AP Power House, said the previous year had sufficient power generation, but this year they’ve received much floodwater into the reservoir.
The total installed capacity at Srisailam Right Power House is 770 megawatts, with seven power generators, each having a capacity of 110 MW, he said. Full generation started from 30 June 2025, with all seven generators brought online one by one. With sufficient water availability, they crossed their target early. Regular use of power generators was trouble-free due to excellent maintenance of the power house by the staff, Prasad added.