Around 200 MW of power supply to the national grid was affected due to avalanche in Uttarakhand as local administration shut down two plants, Tehri and Koteshwar, as a precautionary measure. The hydro power plants in the affected area are mostly under-construction or fall in small hydro project category which are of up to 25MW. These small hydro projects are mainly state owned.
Earlier in the day, a glacier broke off in Joshimath in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district which caused a massive flood in the Dhauli Ganga river and endangered lives of people living along its banks. It is reported that massive destruction is feared and many people were missing after the disaster.
An official on the condition of anonymity told PTI, "The local authorities have shut two power plants- Tehri and Koteshwar as a precautionary measure in view of the disaster. This has affected the overall power supply of not more than 200 MW to the national grid." The official added that all big hydro projects (of over 25MW capacity) are mostly under-construction and there is no point of power supply disruption due to those.
However, it is feared that there is financial loss of crores of rupees due to the disaster as one of the dams at a big hydro power project of state-run NTPC was breached. "One of the dams of big NTPC hydro power project at Tapovan Vishnugad was breached. The actual loss would be ascertained once the water recedes."
Earlier in the day, NTPC also confirmed that the avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged its under-construction hydropower project. NTPC tweeted, "An avalanche near Tapovan in Uttarakhand has damaged a part of our under-construction hydropower project in the region. While rescue operation is on, situation is being monitored continuously with the help of district administration and police."
The Tapovan Vishnugad power plant is a 520MW run-of-river project which is being constructed on Dhauliganga River in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand. The Tehri (1000MW) and Koteshwar (400MW) projects are operated by THDC India Ltd which is a subsidiary of NTPC.
Last year, the NTPC had acquired 74.496 per cent equity stake of the government in THDC India Limited (THDCIL) for Rs 7,500 crore.
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