Hydro output soars to 1,200 MW

“As on December 12, the power drawn from the central grid was 4,760 MW, while hydro power had gone up to 1,390 MW. The total output on Monday was 12,790 MW which may not see a drastic rise as the winter is approaching,” a TANGEDCO official said. The power demand in the state used to be around 12,000 MW per day during the monsoon season. During rain, the demand dips to less than 11,000 MW and rises slightly in the absence of rains. At present, the peak demand in a day has reached a peak during the evening time at 14,000 MW and during the rest of the day, it stays below 13,000 MW. 

Wind power during the last week had come down drastically to 40 to 10 MW, while hydro power had risen to about 1,200 MW per day in the last one week. Although, this is nearly half of the total capacity of 2,307 MW, hydro power is keeping the situation afloat for TANGEDCO among renewables. 

Officials added that hydro power generation could have been more if release of water in Cauvery had not been stopped. “Usually, power could be generated in the check dams at Chekkanur, Nerinjipet, Koneripatti, Uratchikottai when water is released from the Mettur dam. Each of the dams could produce up to 30 MW each when the height of water in the check dams go to nine metres,” the official added.