Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams on the river Krishna, brimming with heavy water inflows, due to floods in catchment areas, have boosted hydel power generation in the region.

With fresh inflows from dams upstream in Karnataka, the power generation companies of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have happy tidings.

Apart from letting out water, the pump houses at Jurala are generating close to 474 MW (Upper Jurala 234 MW and Lower Jurala 240 MW). At Srisailam, the left bank power house of 900 MW (6 x 150) and right bank power house of 770 MW (7 x 110 MW) are generating power. The Tail Pond unit of 50 MW is also contributing to hydel power output.

Nagarjunsagar has lifted all its crest gates to release water and is generating 815 MW, apart from its left Canal unit of 60 MW contributing to power output.

Together these projects are generating more than 3,200 MW which is useful to both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Apart from enabling the generation companies to backdown on coal-fired plants, they help them take up some maintenance work.

Grid management

According to D Prabhakar Rao, CMD of TSGenco, “The flexible reversible pumping facilities at Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar have been beneficial for grid management and resulted in substantial savings, minimising costly purchases during peak load hours.”

Both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana gain from Srisailam dam with power houses on both sides of the dam.

According to APGenco, it expects to generate power from Srisailam dam and save over ₹215 crore. If the current flows continue, it augurs well for more hydel power generation for both the States.

According to latest data from the Reservoir Storage Monitoring System, the water level at the Srisailam dam has reached 882 feet against full reservoir level (FRL) of 885 feet and its storage is at 196 tmc against storage capacity of 215 tmc.

At the Nagarjunasagar dam too, downstream of Srisailam, the water level has reached 586 feet against FRL of 590 feet, with its storage at 299 tmcagainst full capacity of 312 tmc.

The Srisailam dam has been receiving close to 10 lakh cusecs of water from Jurala project and other sources, forcing it to release water from all its crest gates and generate power from both of its power houses on either side of the dam.

The Jurala project has been releasing water it has been receiving from Almatti in Karantaka and other sources.

With the flood flow going up from various sources, the pump power houses at Jurala, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar and other multi-purpose projects are generating at their full capacity.

After nearly a decade, these dams have been seeing such huge water inflows. In 2009, due to the Krishna floods, there was similar situation.