Power output at Sharavathy doubled ahead of summer

Power generation at the Sharavathy Generating Station (SGS) in Shivamogga district has been doubled, from 5 million units per day to 10 million units, as the state government gears up to meet the energy requirement in the summer.

The SGS contributes almost 30% of electric power generated in Karnataka and has the capacity to generate 24 million units per day. The SGS is the backbone of Karnataka’s power generating arsenal. Its 10 units have an installed capacity of 1,035 MW.

Power generation at other stations has also gone up. The Mahatma Gandhi Jog Falls Power House is generating 0.4 to 0.5 million units per day against its actual capacity of 3.33 million units. The Linganamakki Power House has two units with an installed capacity of 55 MW. The Gerusoppa Power House’s four units have an installed capacity to generate 240 MW.

In all, 12-15 million units of power is being generated per day at four plants — Sharavathy, Mahatma Gandhi, Linganamakki and Gerusoppa. The government is banking heavily on hydro power generation as it is cheaper than thermal power. Hydro power costs just 50 paise per unit compared with Rs 2.5 per unit of thermal power.

Around 8,000 cusecs of water is required to generate 10 million units of power per day. The water level in the Linganamakki dam on Monday stood at 1,782.90 feet against the maximum level of 1,819 feet. The inflow was 168 cusecs and outflow 5,921 cusecs.

Officials in the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) indicate that power generation may be scaled up in the coming days to ensure smooth supply in the summer.

R Y Shirali, in-charge chief engineer of the Sharavathy project, said the quantum of power generation varied as per the demand. “We have scaled up generation as the demand for hydro power has gone up. Still, power generation is below the maximum capacity. If we start generating power to the maximum capacity, water in the dam will run out in just 20 days.

Our brief is to generate adequate power for uninterrupted supply during the summer,” he told DH over phone.
DH News Service

2 RTPS units stop production
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