Hydropower generation from Jammu and Kashmir may increase by 30% this season

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In a first, the Centre is attempting to run the hydropower plants based in Jammu and Kashmir at full capacity, a move that could increase power generation from the Union Territory by up to 30 percent, sources privy to the development told Moneycontrol.

India has six operational hydropower plants in J&K with a combined capacity of 3,030 megawatts (MW). However, the actual generation from these plants has always remained fairly low, ranging between 1,500-2,000 MW, because of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which meant India could not fill its reservoirs up to the designed capacities.

Read More: World Bank rules out intervention in IWT amid India-Pakistan tensions

Lower reservoir storage directly impacts hydropower generation by reducing the availability of water for turbines, which leads to decreased electricity production.

“We are looking at increasing electricity generation from the operational hydropower plants in J&K by 20-50 percent. But, since hydro is also contingent to weather factors, we would state a conservative number of 30 percent,” said one senior government official requesting anonymity.

Also Read: Transmission network for biggest hydropower plant on Indus river system

This comes in the backdrop of India asserting that it will not go back on its decision of putting the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, despite an agreement to end hostilities on the western border with Pakistan.

Read: Govt approves transmission network for biggest hydropower plant on Indus river system

“Until now, all hydropower plants on the Indus River system, including the eastern ones, were compelled to run much below capacity due to objections from Pakistan. This summer would be the first time when the government will attempt to run all of them in full capacity,” the official said.

The biggest operational hydro power project in the region - the 900 MW Baglihar plant on the Chenab river - has a design pondage of 37.50 Million Cubic Metre (MCM). But, since Pakistan had raised an objection to the project, a neutral expert assigned by the World Bank reduced the permissible water storage capacity for the plant to 32.56 MCM.

Read More: India to commission 2 power projects on Chenab in 2026, contractors summoned

The 330 MW Kishanganga project also has faced the same issue ever since it was commissioned in 2018.

“It is not only about filling the reservoirs, Pakistan used the IWT even to restrict India on flushing exercises during the monsoon season, which is meant to clear sedimentation. It would not allow us to reduce the level of reservoirs below a particular level, which is different for every plant. But now, we are not bound by any such restrictions,” said a second senior official.

After India announced that the IWT has been kept in abeyance, efforts have begun to frequently fill the reservoirs of hydropower plants, followed by flushing the waters to clear sedimentation, a process that is expected to help improve power generation.

Most recently, it was the Salal and Baglihar dams which were once again flushed out.