VIJAYAWADA: The Energy department has brought the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal Power House, which has been under repair and maintenance for about a year, into generation as water has been released by the Water Resources department. The Energy department is expecting 10 million units per day of hydel power generation for the next 10 days, which will effectively save Rs 1-2 crore for every MU.
According to information, the first of the three units started generation from Wednesday. APGENCO has three 30 MW units on the right canal. With the Water Resources department releasing water through the right canal to meet the needs of Guntur and Prakasam districts, the officials got the units up and running. Two of the three units are expected to generate 5 MU each for the next 10 days.
The same has been confirmed by joint managing director of APTRANSCO KVN Chakradhar Babu, who coordinated with APGENCO and Water Resources department. With this, the power utilities, which have been purchasing power from exchanges duly backing down the thermal plants whose average cost of power is higher than that available in open market currently, will be able to save Rs 1-2 crore per MU.
The debt-ridden State power utilities are using all the ammunition at its disposal to effectively bring down the average power purchase costs, which have burdened them over the years. By purchasing power from exchanges during the lockdown, the department managed to save Rs 188.06 crore (March - 56.08 crore and April - 131.98 crore).