Heavy rains push up cumulative storage in hydel reservoirs to a record level of 86%

Record high hydel reservoir storage in Karnataka's Western Ghats boosts power generation potential, benefiting consumers and Escoms.

The recent spell of heavy rains in Karnataka’s Western Ghats region has brightened its power scenario as the cumulative storage in all three major hydel reservoirs of the State has increased to a record level of 86% as against the level of 49% during the corresponding period last year.

Officials of the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited observe that this is the first time in recent years that the cumulative storage has touched such a high level within a span of a little over two months of the monsoon period. Generally, the storage in these reservoirs reaches the maximum or near the maximum by September. But copious rains in the Western Ghats in the last few weeks have resulted in these reservoirs getting a high quantum of inflows.

In fact, the last 10 years’ data shows the only other highest level by this corresponding period was in 2018, when the cumulative storage had touched 74.75%, followed by 73.94% in 2021.

The three major hydel reservoirs of Linganamakki, Supa and Mani had a cumulative storage of 49.46% on August 6, 2023, as against 86.65% now.

In terms of energy availability, the present cumulative storage could help generate 7,529 million units as against the previous year’s 4,298 million units.

This would mean that the State can generate an average of 22.88 million units of energy a day till June 30, 2024, which marks the beginning of the next water year for the power sector as these reservoirs would start reporting significant inflows then. As against this, the State was in a position to generate an average of 13.06 Million Units a day last year.

Experts in the power sector have been emphasising that healthy storage in hydel reservoirs is key to the management of peak power demand in a state like Karnataka, which witnesses the shooting of demand during peak hours. In addition to this, the availability of hydel power to the maximum potential reduces the financial burden for the Escoms as well as consumers as the average cost of power generation from these three major hydel reservoirs is cheaper compared with other sources.