Rising silt keeps Himachal hydropower plants shut
August 21st, 2012 - 5:34 pm ICT by IANSShimla, Aug 21 (IANS) Three mega hydropower plants in Himachal Pradesh remained shut for the second day Tuesday due to high silt level in rivers, triggering a power shortage in northern states.
The country’s biggest hydropower plant, the 1,500 MW Nathpa Jhakri power project, and Jaypee Karcham Hydro Corp Ltd’s 1,000 MW Karcham Wangtoo Hydroelectric Project, both located in Kinnaur district, have been closed since Monday, project officials said here.
The silt level in the Satluj river, on which the Nathpa Jhakri power project is located, was more than the permissible limit, V.K. Verma, deputy general manager, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd that operates the 1,500 MW Nathpa-Jhakri project, told IANS.
He said the silt level rose due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas.
Likewise, Jaypee’s hydroelectric project located upstream of the Nathpa Jhakri project and NHPC’s 300 MW Chamera stage II located on river Ravi in Chamba district have been shut.
The closure of the plants has led to a power crisis in the northern region. The northern power grid came under strain as the states procuring power from the projects were forced to overdraw from the grid.
The projects supply power mainly to Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
- Himachal's hydropower plants shut, power shortage in north (Lead) - Aug 21, 2012
- Himachal hydropower projects shut, north India hit - Aug 02, 2012
- Himachal hydro projects resume power generation - Aug 03, 2012
- Himachal hydropower plants remain shut for third day - Aug 22, 2012
- Hydropower projects remain shut, north India hit - Jul 26, 2011
- Himachal rivers in spate, alert sounded - Jul 26, 2011
- Jaypee's hydro project in Himachal starts partial generation - Jun 06, 2011
- Jaypee's Himachal hydro unit to be commissioned May 15 - May 11, 2011
- Himachal hydropower generation hit by extreme cold - Jan 22, 2012
- Chill freezes Himachal's hydropower generation - Oct 14, 2011
- Jaypee's transmission line synchronized with Powergrid - Mar 06, 2012
- Hydropower generation resumes in Himachal - Jul 30, 2012
- Power supply restored in Himachal - Jul 31, 2012
- Himachal remains 'power-full' after bountiful monsoon - Dec 18, 2010
- Jaypee's hydropower corridor to be set up this month - Jul 03, 2011
Tags: catchment areas, chamba district, corp ltd, hydroelectric project, hydropower plant, hydropower plants, jammu and kashmir, jaypee, nhpc, nigam ltd, northern states, power shortage, project officials, river ravi, s 300, satluj river, silt, uttarakhand, v k verma, vidyut