With the monsoon remaining active all over the State and water level in all reservoirs in comfortable position, the State Government has surrendered nearly 200 MW of power to the Central pool to save cost.
The State Government is drawing less power from the Eastern Region Electricity Board (EREB) than its schedule during the last couple of days due to better availability of hydro power. Thermal power from the Central pool is costlier than the power procured from the captive generating plants (CGPs), sources in Gridco said.
With spilling from Hirakhud, Indravati and Rengali reservoirs, the Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) has maximised its generation from all the hydro power stations.
While the average hydro power generation is 1250 MW, the peak generation is more than 1,600 MW, the sources said. Water level in all the reservoirs, including Balimela and Upper Kolab, are more than the level during the corresponding period last year.
Water level in Balimela is over 1483 ft as against 1458 ft during this day last year. The full reservoir level of Balimela is 1516 ft. The water resources department has opened 19 gates of Hirakud with more than three lakh cusecs of water entering the dam. Water level in Indravati reservoir is one and half metres less that the full reservoir level.