Losses mount to Rs 100 crore as Nathpa Jhakri remains shut

Shimla, Aug 4 (UNI) Losses due to non-generation of power in the 1500 MW Nathpa Jhakri hydro power project in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh crossed Rs 100 crore with the plant remaining closed for the twelfth day today, a company official today said.

''All the six units of 250 MW each remained closed for the twelfth day today with the silt level in the reservoir touching 20,000 parts per million (ppm) as against a permissible limit of 4,000 ppm,'' he told UNI over the telephone here.

The plant was closed on July 24 last month after the silt level in the reservoir climbed up to 12,000 ppm, hours after it restarted power generation following its closure for flushing out silt in the reservoir on July 22.

The spokesman said the water discharge in the reservoir was also high at over 1,500 cusecs as against a normal discharge of 500 to 600 cusecs.

The losses to the company would be far higher if the plant continued generating power with high silt content in the reservoir as against keeping the plant shut due to high silt, he said.

''Besides high losses, precious time would also be lost in repairing the machines, in case, they continued generating power with high silt content in the reservoir,'' he said.

The spokesman said the plant had already generated over 3,000 million units (MUs) of power this year up till now as against a total capacity of 6,034 MUs.

The company was still hopeful of generating about 6,000 MUs till the year end even after keeping the plant shut during the rainy season, which otherwise would not be possible, if the machinery was damaged, he said.

The six 250 MW units of the plant generate about 36 million unit of power each day.

The Nathpa Jhakri hydro power project also remained closed for three days on July 10, 11, and 12, causing a loss of Rs 25 crore to Central and the State government, which has 25 per cent stake in the plant.

UNI AS JN VA BST1719