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Power Policy |
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Power Scenario in the State - Then |
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- The first power project in Meghalaya is a mini- hydel project in the northern part of Shillong established in 1925 with an installation capacity of 3x125 KVA T.G. sets utilizing the drop of the wah Umkhrah at Beadon falls. Subsequently, this power station at Sonapani was enlarged in stages with 3 (three) more sets of different capacities adding 1600KVA to the installed capacity. This privately own hydro-electric power station catered to the need of Shillong city since 1925 and was in operation until April, 1982.
- The first small hydro-electric project in the North-East, the Umtru H. E. Project with 8.4 MW was constructed near Byrnihat in 1953 and was commissioned in July, 1957. Umiam Stage-I, Stage-II, Umiam-Umtru Stage-III (Kyrdemkulai) and Umiam-Umtru Stage-IV were also commissioned in Meghalaya. Until the commissioning of the Loktak H.E. Project in Manipur and Kopili H.E. Project in Assam, the state of Meghalaya pioneered the development of water power generation.
- Prior to commissioning of the Umiam H.E. Project Stage-I in 1965 the electric power supply needs of Shillong were met from small hydro mentioned above and diesel power stations of capacity 1500 KW and 800 KW respectively. The diesel sets have since been disposed off and the small hydro sets have spent their life.
- The electric energy generated by Meghalaya during the year 1975 was 176MU and 70% of that was supplied to Assam at a very nominal rate as envisaged in the terms of agreement during bifurcation. At that point of time, only Shillong, the capital city and few places like Sumer, Byrnihat and other towns / villages numbering only 261 enjoyed electricity. As a matter of fact, the consumers of the whole state numbered just 7400, while the rest of the population depended on fossil fuel and some diesel power generation for cooking, heating and even lighting.
- The responsibility for power supply in the area of the present day State of Meghalaya was under Assam State Electricity Board (ASEB) and after bifurcation in 1975, the Meghalaya State Electricity Board (MeSEB) came into existence on 21st January, 1975.
- During the bifurcation, Meghalaya inherited 5 (five) power stations including one which was under construction. The names of the power stations, capacity and the year of commissioning are indicated below:
| Sonapani Mini Hydro Plant |
1.305 MW |
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1925 |
| Umtru Power Station |
11.20 MW |
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1957 |
| Umiam Stage-I Power Station |
36.00 MW |
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1965 |
| Umiam Stage-II Power Station |
18.00 MW |
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1970 |
| Nangalbibra Thermal Power Station |
5.00 MW |
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1975 |
| Umiam-Umtru Stage-III P/S |
60.00 MW |
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(under construction) |
- Since 1975, much has happened. The 5 MW thermal power which is to serve as a base load station at Nangalbibra in Garo Hills was abandoned in 1981 due to uneconomic operation. The State’s own generation can no longer cope up with the growing demand inside the State. The inter-state transmission network is inadequate to enable the state to meet its own internal demand, even though, the Central power share is available in the NE grid. The position of state owned generation is thus as follows:-
| Umtru Power Station |
11.20 MW |
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1957 |
| Umiam Stage-I Power Station |
36.00 MW |
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1965 |
| Umiam Stage-II Power Station |
18.00 MW |
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1970 |
| Umiam-Umtru Stage-III P/S |
60.00 MW |
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1979 |
| Umiam-Umtru Stage-IV P/S |
60.00 MW |
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1992 |
| Myndtu-Leshka H. E. Project |
84.00 MW |
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(under construction) |
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