Power generation at Kaptai plant drops

News Desk :
The power generation at the hydro power station in Kaptai has been falling due to scarcity of water.
ATM Abduzzaher, managing engineer of Kaptai Hydro Power Station, said only 40 MW power is being produced from the power station due to lack of water as the water receded to 15 feet below from the rule carve.
However, it has the capacity to produce 240 MW power from five generators but only one generator is active now, he said.
Meanwhile, contacted, manager (acting) and executive engineer of Karnafuli Hydroelectric Power Station, Jalal Uddin, said that from the five units, only 40 megawatt electricity was being produced at this moment from the second unit, reports UNB.
‘We’ve done some repair work in the first unit and it will resume shortly. However, we can’t operate the other three units due to lack of water in the lake,’ said Jalal.
If the authorities concerned would be able to operate five generators at a time, then it could be possible to produce 242 MW power but due to water crisis, only the No 2 generator is active, he added.
There is no hope to increase the water level as there is no possibility of rainfall activities.
Meanwhile, 5 MW power is being produced from solar panel adjacent to the main dam of the lake and it total only 45 MW power is being generated from the power station which is being added to the national grid.
According to data from the control room of the power plant, the amount of water in Kaptai Lake was 90.09 ft mean sea level (MSL) till Sunday morning. It was supposed to be 106.4 MSL as per the rule carve of the lake.
Kaptai Lake can contain water up to 109 MSL.

A total of 240MW electricity can be produced by the five units of the hydropower station. However, both power production and navigation get disrupted during the dry season which lasts from October to February.