BHUBANESWAR: Despite the depletion of water level of major reservoirs this summer, the state government has been able to meet around 22 per cent of its peak power demand from hydel sources. Even with restriction of the Water Resources department on release of water from reservoirs for power generation, the state-run Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) has been contributing 540 MW of power on average from its seven hydropower stations including Machkund which is under the administrative control of Andhra Pradesh government.
The power demand of the state was around 5,301 MW at 11.30 pm on Wednesday night and the morning peak demand as on 9 am on Thursday was 4,995 MW. The total electricity contribution from the hydropower stations during the evening peak on Wednesday was 1,220 MW.The generation from the state’s own thermal power plants was 1,187 MW during evening peak hours while OPGC’s supply to the state grid was 1314 MW during peak hours of morning.
Water level in seven reservoirs where hydro power stations are located are in better position than last year. Hirakud dam, one of the largest dams in the country, has a full reservoir capacity of 630 feet. The water level in the dam has come down to 601.29 feet against 600.58 feet last year.With an average generation of around 200 MW and peak generation of 450 MW from Burla and Chipilima hydro power plants, the water level has gone down by two feet in the last nine days. However, the low water level of Indravati dam remains a matter of concern.
Indravati hydro power station with a generating capacity of 600 MW is the major supplier of cheap power to the state. The water level in the dam is 12 metre below the full reservoir level (FRL) of 642 metre. The current water level in the reservoir is 630.46 metres. With one unit of 150 MW under maintenance, the average generation from the hydro station is around 220 MW. With the availability of about 1600 MW from central sector, he state has been overdrawing from the eastern region grid (EREB) due to surge in power demand.