Hydropower underutilised in Tamil Nadu

While TN has total hydro installed capacity of 2,203 MW, the state has not fared well in harnessing hydro-energy. Rather than relying on available hydro capacities, the state manages its variability through coal-based plants. 

Several hydropower projects, across the central, state and private sectors, with a cumulative capacity of over 13,000 MW are witnessing significant time and cost overruns, says a PwC-Assocham report titled Accelerating Hydropower Development in India for Sustainable Energy Security. 

In Tamil Nadu, compared to the total hydro installed capacity of 2,203 MW, the total non-irrigation-based capacity is only 1,325 MW. Due to this, the entire installed hydro capacity is not available for balancing the intermittency of wind. The June–September period usually observes high inflows to the reservoirs, mandating the operation of hydro stations only at full load. Thus, the pumped storage scheme of 400 MW to the Kadamparai Dam is not available for provisioning balancing support, the reports says.