Koyna steps up to meet Maharashtra’s growing power demand

Koyna dam is one of the largest in the state and the plant can generate 1,983 MW of power.

In the meantime, the water resources department that owns Koyna dam has already sanctioned an additional 10 TMC of water for hydro-electricity generation and has demanded five TMC more.

“In the last rain year (June to May), we generated 3,219 million units and this May, we will be generating 3,706 million units. This year, we got our plant serviced and it is operating in full capacity now. We generate electricity as per the demand of the state load dispatch centre in Kalwa. Early Friday morning, we generated 1,883 MW of electricity,” Sanjay Chopade, the chief engineer of the Koyna project, said.

Koyna accounts for 1,800-2000 MW of power in Maharashtra.

Koyna dam is one of the largest in the state and the plant can generate 1,983 MW of power.

“There was heavy dependence on us during September 2021 when water had entered coal mines and we ran our plant to the optimum capacity,” said Rajesh Kumbhar, the superintending engineer of the Koyna project. “This year, we were allocated 67.5 TMC of water for generating electricity and exhausted it some days back. We were granted another 10 TMC of water. This will be over by May 15-20. We have asked for an additional five TMC and this will have to be granted to feed the state’s needs. At present, there are meetings at the highest level for an additional five TMC of water.”

The total generation capacity of Maharashtra Electricity Generation Company Limited is around 13,000 MW.

The total generation capacity of Maharashtra Electricity Generation Company Limited is around 13,000 MW but at present, they can generate only about 8,000 MW. Koyna accounts for 1,800-2000 MW. The rest of the electricity is purchased from the market or from the national grid.