Late monsoon hits hydropower generation: NHPC

NEW DELHI: Delayed monsoon have reduced hydropower generation by up to 7% in the past 10 days because of lower availability of water, the country's top hydropower producer NHPC said on Wednesday.

The drop in generation amounts to about 7-8 million units a day, said A B L Srivastava, NHPC's director for finance, told reporters.

"This is not a drastic reduction though. We have managed to generate more than the design energy at every plant," he said.

Monsoon rainfall has been 31% below normal so far this season, slowing down the replenishment of depleted reservoirs. The delayed and below-normal rainfall has also raised power demand particularly for air-conditioning.

NHPC also announced the commissioning of its 231-mw Chamera-III hydroelectric project in Himanchal Pradesh. All three units of the project have been put on commercial operation.

With the commissioning of this project, the installed capacity of NHPC has reached 5,526 mw. In the current financial year, NHPC has earmarked capacity addition of 1,212 mw, including the MoU of 777 mw with the government. The capital outlay for 2012-13 is 4,090 crore.