Hydropower generation recorded a drop of 17.5% and 16% in months of April and May, respectively, due to scanty rains and less snowfall in the north in 2016-17.
Heavy snowfall in north this year portends healthy growth in hydropower generation in the first quarter of the coming financial year compared with last year, when the output fell by about 2% because of less snowfall and scanty rains.
Hydropower generation recorded a drop of 17.5% and 16% in months of April and May, respectively, due to scanty rains and less snowfall in the north in 2016-17.
The generation picked with arrival of rains in June.
“The snowfall had a positive impact on hydropower generation in most projects located in northern states including Uttrakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh,” a senior executive with National Hydro Power Corporation Limited told ET.
A senior SJVNL executive told ET: “Snowfall has been better than previous year in the catchment area and is likely to improve hydrology in the region.”Central public sector company SJVN Limited operates and owns country’s largest hydro power project of capacity 1,500 MW in Himachal Pradesh.
“Snowfall will boost generation in first quarter. Monsoon is crucial for total hydropower output that peaks in months of July, August and September with rains,” he said.
The overall hydropower generation in the country had been patchy in the past five years. Droughts in the past two years had checked growth in hydropower generation in the country.
The generation in 2015-16 had dropped by 11% to 121.377 billion units compared to 134.848 billion units in 2013-14. In the current fiscal, the hydropower generation is less than the last fiscal due to less snowfall and delayed scattered rains.