The AP State Energy Department has decided to temporarily shut down its hydel power generation unit at Upper Sileru in the Eastern Ghats bordering Odisha, in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, as an energy conservation measure (saving of water).
The water saved can be used to restart plant operations when needed during peak summer, possibly from May, it is said.
The move will not only save the natural resource (water) required for power generation during the peak season (summer), but also save money (₹430-500 crore) for the State government. In summer, the State government usually spends at least ₹10 per unit to purchase power from open markets if demand is high.
The decision has been taken for two main reasons — the State has adequate power supply for all its consumers without any need to rely on private players and the saved natural resource (water) will become useful in summer.
Water shortage predicted
Due to insufficient rainfall in the catchment areas of the Eastern Ghats of AOB, AP Power Generation Corporation Limited (APGENCO) has predicted shortage of water for hydel power plants in the State. The major hydropower generation units like the Srisailam in south coastal Andhra Pradesh have already shut down due to lack of water in its resources, including the Krishna river.
So, at least to run the Sileru hydel project in summer, APGENCO has stopped it now.
Confirming this to The Hindu on Tuesday, APGENCO Managing Director K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu said, “We now have enough power to meet the demand in the State. In order to maintain adequate power supply even in summer without any interruptions or emergency load reliefs, we have taken this decision to temporarily stop power generation from the Upper Sileru hydel unit. At least 430 million units of electricity can be generated for 40 days in peak summer from this project with the water stored (40-50 TMC) now, which will cost ₹430-500 crore if we need to buy from the open market later.”
No impact on rabi crop
On the other hand, sources in the Irrigation Department said that due to the temporary suspension of the Sileru hydel project operation, the supply of water to the rabi crop (the second crop of paddy) has stopped in the Godavari delta.
“The Godavari delta usually depends on the Sileru Complex for rabi crops every year. Whenever the Sileru project is operational, the Godavari delta receives water as the gates are opened. However, there has been no problem to the delta this time as we too have sufficient water,“ said an irrigation official.
