India hydropower station hits record electricity targets

The Indian government said today that the country’s largest hydropower station has hit a major electricity generation milestone. And its ripple effect is benefiting all the states in Northern India.

Shimla-based hydroelectric power company Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam’s 1,500 megawatt Nathpa Jhakri Hydro Power Station generated a record of 1.14 million units of electricity, against a target of about 1 million units last month. The previous best target had been just over 1 million units, achieved in July of last year.

The underground power station, located in the state of Himachal Pradesh, generates 36.9 million units of electricity daily.

Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam is a joint venture of the governments of India and Himachal Pradesh, with an authorized share capital of Rs 4,500 crore ($949.4 million).

The facility’s cumulative generation through July 31 of the current fiscal year was 3.3 million units, against a target of 3.2 million. The achievement comes at a time when the country is facing power shortages due to a weak monsoon season and less available river water.

The Indian government has had programs to promote power generation from renewable sources for the last 25 years, but the cumulative power generation from these sources is only around 12,000 MW (see Indian businesses lament lack of renewable energy).

Despite India's growing cleantech sectors such as solar manufacturing, 85 percent of what India manufacturers is exported to developed countries, according to India's Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry (see Spire to send solar line to India, UK helps India revisit solar-powered rickshaws, and Indian scientists: Water heating is the best use of solar).

The Himachal Pradesh plant’s availability factor—the amount of time a power plant can produce electricity over a certain period, divided by the amount of time in the period—for the month of July was 105.26 percent, with the cumulative factor for the station at 102.88 percent. This marks the highest factor achieved by a central sector hydro power station operating in the northern grid.

According to Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam’s Director Shri Singh, this record generation happened because of proper management of silt, water, and machines related to the station’s operation and maintenance.

According to state-run National Hydroelectric Power Corp., India's largest producer of hydroelectric power, India realistically has 84,000 MW of hydropower potential (see NHPC plans 100 MW Madhya Pradesh wind farm). The country is the fifth-largest producer of hydropower in the world (see India launches disputed hydropower plant).